It’s Labor Day weekend in the U.S., and I bet just about everyone could use a day off after this past weekend of racing. The UTMB Mont Blanc festival and its group of races in Chamonix, France, were incredibly exciting and had the world watching. All of those races are highlighted below, as well as a few smaller races happening over the long weekend.
You can check out our race coverage from earlier in the week:
- Sibusiso Kubheka Breaks 6 Hours for 100km in Adidas-Sponsored Time Trial Event “Chasing 100”
- 2025 TDS Results: Careth Arnold and Antoine Charvolin Win
- 2025 OCC Results: Jim Walmsley, Joyline Chepngeno Win Dramatic Races on Alternate Course
- 2025 CCC Results: Martyna Młynarczyk Wins Duel, Francesco Puppi Dominates
- 2025 UTMB Results: Tom Evans and Ruth Croft Weather the Storm and Win
UTMB – Chamonix, France
Weather hit some of the earlier-week UTMB Mont Blanc festival races causing reroutes, and it did for the 108-mile big loop too. Overnight rain and snow added to the already incredible challenge. Before the race, recent rock slides had resulted in a detour that added about two kilometers to the course, and then during the race, weather forced about two kilometers to be taken away to avoid a technical pass that was covered in snow.
The start of the 2025 UTMB. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Race winners each earned 20,000 Euro as part of a total 119,000 Euro prize purse.
We’ll go light on the UTMB race dynamics here — you can find that in our in-depth results article — and instead go deep on the long list of top runners who raced.
Women
Second a year ago, Ruth Croft (New Zealand) brought intensity from the start. Croft went to the lead early, spent the middle part of the race in third, and then ran past Camille Bruyas (France) and Courtney Dauwalter (U.S.) in the second half.
Croft won in 22:56, becoming the first woman to win all three of the UTMB World Series Finals races: OCC in 2015, CCC in 2019, and now UTMB. Croft is also among a select group of both Western States 100 and UTMB winners, the former which she won in 2022.
Bruyas matched her 2021 finish place with another runner-up finish in 23:28, and Katharina Hartmuth (Germany) matched her 2025 Hardrock 100 finish place with another third-place run in 24:16.
The first American woman was Lauren Puretz in eighth place.
Ruth Croft, the 2025 UTMB women’s champion. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
The women’s top 10 was:
- Ruth Croft (New Zealand) – 22:56:23
- Camille Bruyas (France) – 23:28:48
- Katharina Hartmuth (Germany) – 24:16:39
- Anna Carlsson (Sweden) – 24:39:42
- Maëlle Deruaz (France) – 24:43:02
- Magali Mellon (France) – 24:48:12
- Lucy Bartholomew (Australia) – 24:51:32
- Lauren Puretz (U.S.) – 24:54:57
- Claudia Tremps (Spain) – 25:05:07
- Courtney Dauwalter (U.S.) – 25:50:38
The separate race recap went deep on race dynamics, but I always like to double back and see how everyone mentioned in the women’s race preview actually did. And here’s that.
- 11. Emma Stuart (Ireland) – 25:57:55
- 12. Susanne Zahlauer (Germany) – 26:19:45
- 13. Maite Maiora (Spain) – 27:17:41
- 14. Laura Hansen (U.S.) – 27:43:53
- 15. Mélanie Delasoie (Switzerland) – 27:49:17
- 16. Kelsey Hogan (Canada) – 28:23:27
- 17. Lindsey Dwyer (U.S.) – 28:30:55
- 18. Elena Horton (U.S.) – 29:23:30
- 19. Heather Jackson (U.S.) – 29:33:00
- 22. Marisa Romeo (U.S.) – 30:18:06
- 23. Arden Young (Canada) – 30:22:53
- 25. Mercedes Vince (Canada) – 30:42:51
- 27. Britta Clark (U.S.) – 31:11:19
- 28. Marta Muixi (Spain) – 31:12:05
- 34. Maria Fuentes (Spain) – 32:32:30
- 35. Kerry-Ann Marshall (South Africa) – 32:43:43
- 37. Maria Dalzot (U.S.) – 32:54:01
- 39. Alyssa Clark (U.S.) – 33:03:32
- 41. Katie Wright (New Zealand) – 33:05:26
- 42. Ildikó Wermescher (Hungary) – 33:39:44
- 55. Kanako Edamoto (Japan) – 36:30:13
- 69. Emily Hawgood (Zimbabwe) – 38:11:16
Camille Bruyas on her way to second place at the 2025 UTMB. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Drops included:
- Johanna Antila (Finland)
- Emily Brunt (Australia)
- Lin Chen (China)
- Enrica Dematteis (Italy)
- Rong-Hua Deng (China)
- Katarzyna Dombrowska (Poland)
- Manon Gras (France)
- Abby Hall (U.S.)
- Stephanie Howe (U.S.)
- Antonina Iushina (Neutral)
- Ingrid Lid (Norway)
- Paulina Krawczak (Poland)
- Inês Marques (Portugal)
- Oana Mihalcea (Romania)
- Ekaterina Mityaeva (Neutral)
- Kimino Miyazaki (Japan)
- Aleksandra Narkowicz (Poland)
- Mariya Nikolova (Bulgaria)
- Martina Klančnik Potrč (Slovenia)
- Dominique Van Mechgelen (Belgium)
- Yuan-Yuan Wu (China)
Runners in the pre-race preview that did not start were:
- Elisabeth Borgersen (Norway)
- Isabelle Dragon (France)
- Anna Li (France)
- Elisabeth Ríos (Bolivia)
It appears that the biggest overachiever — the first finisher not named in the race preview — was 20th-place Brooke Deans (U.S.) at 29:44:23.
Men
After dropping from UTMB two years in a row, Tom Evans (U.K.) got to the finish first. Evans won in 19:18 and, like women’s winner Croft, became both a Western States 100 (2023) and a UTMB winner. Evans won CCC in 2018, too, and now has two UTMB World Series Finals victories.
Tom Evans on his way to winning the 2024 UTMB. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Just like Evans, Ben Dhiman (U.S.) overcame two years in a row of drops and fulfilled some of the promise shown in earlier big mountain runs with a second-place finish in a time of 19:51.
Josh Wade (U.K.) continued his upward trajectory with a third-place finish in 20:05. Wade was 11th a year ago.
The men’s top 10 was:
- Tom Evans (U.K.) – 19:18:58
- Ben Dhiman (U.S.) – 19:51:37
- Josh Wade (U.K.) – 20:05:06
- Ji Duo (China) – 20:15:05
- Thibaut Garrivier (France) – 20:20:25
- Ludovic Pommeret (France) – 20:40:34
- Yannick Noël (France) – 21:03:41
- Jia-Sheng Shen (China) – 21:11:59
- Rod Farvard (U.S.) – 21:18:24
- Jia-Ju Zhao (China) – 21:19:47
The U.K.’s Josh Wade was a dark horse pick for many. After running in the back half of the men’s top 10 in the first half of the race, he moved up later to take third. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
And catching up on how everyone in the men’s race preview did, here’s what happened:
- 11. Baptiste Coatantiec (France) – 21:42:54
- 12. Antoine Lamboy-Martin (France) – 21:50:00
- 13. Canyon Woodward (U.S.) – 22:03:39
- 14. Kamil Leśniak (Poland) – 22:08:47
- 15. Gabriel Rueda (Argentina) – 22:11:25
- 16. Cody Lind (U.S.) – 22:11:28
- 19. Nicolas Gourdon (France) – 22:43:34
- 20. Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz (France) – 22:50:40
- 24. Ugo Ferrari (France) – 23:29:40
- 27. Stephen Kersh (U.S.) – 23:45:33
- 43. Karel Sabbe (Belgium) – 25:09:57
- 46. Jonas Russi (Switzerland) – 25:27:00
- 49. Matt Seidel (U.S.) – 25:34:29
- 53. Ferdinand Airault (France) – 25:45:08
- 56. Philipp Ausserhofer (Italy) – 25:52:18
- 61. Dakota Jones (U.S.) – 26:02:50
France’s Ludovic Pommeret, age 50 years young, took sixth at the 2025 UTMB after pacing smart all race and weathering the storms. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Drops included:
- Jonathan Albon (U.K.)
- Matteo Anselmi (Italy)
- Valentin Benard (France)
- Alban Berson (France)
- Marek Causidis (Czech Republic)
- Ricardo Cherta (Spain)
- Théo Detienne (France)
- François D’Haene (France)
- Javi Dominguez (Spain)
- Aubin Ferrari (France)
- Simon Gosselin (France)
- Germain Grangier (France)
- Gediminas Grinius (Lithuania)
- Hayden Hawks (U.S.)
- Miguel Heras (Spain)
- Tom Joly (U.K.)
- Dan Jones (New Zealand)
- Terunobu Kurokawa (Japan)
- Ionel Manole (Romania)
- Jeff Mogavero (U.S.)
- Gilles Roux (Italy)
- Jason Schlarb (U.S.)
- Tim Tollefson (U.S.)
- Aleksei Tolstenko (Neutral)
- Jean-Philippe Tschumi (Switzerland)
- Pablo Villa (Spain)
Ben Dhiman finishing in second at the 2025 UTMB. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Runners in the preview that did not start were:
- Guo-Min Deng (China)
- Christian Meier (Canada)
I think that makes the first runner not named in the race preview 17th-place Guillaume Deneffe (Belgium) at 22:11:32.
CCC – Chamonix, France
The 100k race ran from Courmayeur, Italy, to Chamonix, France, on a route with 20,013 feet of climbing. It was the UTMB World Series Finals for the 100k distance and paid 13,000 Euro to its winners as part of a total 75,000 Euro prize purse.
Women
The previous three women’s winners Toni McCann (South Africa), Yngvild Kaspersen (Norway), and Blandine L’Hirondel (France), were all back this year. Neither McCann nor Kaspersen would finish, but L’Hirondel would battle late into the race.
Martyna Młynarczyk (Poland), the 2024 runner-up, hauled past L’Hirondel first and led for much of the race’s second half, but further back, Sylvia Nordskar (Norway) and Anna Tarasova (Spain) were absolutely rolling. Nordskar flew past Młynarczyk after 11 hours of running, and then 16 minutes later, Młynarczyk regained the lead and stayed just ahead of Nordskar over the final two kilometers. Młynarczyk won in 11:41, and Nordskar was second in 11:42 and only 18 seconds back.
Tarasova was third in 11:44.
Martyna Mlynarczyk, the 2025 CCC women’s champion. Photo: UTMB
The top five women were:
- Martyna Młynarczyk (Poland) – 11:41:55
- Sylvia Nordskar (Norway) – 11:42:13
- Anna Tarasova (Spain) – 11:44:18
- Blandine L’Hirondel (France) – 11:53:31
- Veronika Leng (Slovakia) – 12:00:27
Men
A big front group whittled down to just Francesco Puppi (Italy) and David Sinclair (U.S.) at Champex-Lac at mile 34. The two frontrunners were in and out of aid together, but Puppi went on blast through town and gained meaningful separation. He added to that lead on the race’s third of five big climbs and carried a lead the rest of the way. Puppi, in only his second 100k race ever, won in 10:06.
Sinclair stayed second in 10:13, and Drew Holmen (U.S.) closed hard to finish a close third in 10:16.
Francesco Puppi on his way to winning the 2025 CCC. Photo: UTMB
The top five men were:
- Francesco Puppi (Italy) – 10:06:02
- David Sinclair (U.S.) – 10:13:42
- Drew Holmen (U.S.) – 10:16:15
- Arnaud Bonin (France) – 10:26:03
- Jeshurun Small (U.S.) – 10:28:57
OCC – Chamonix, France
Rain in the lead-up to the race forced everything onto an alternate course. The new route was 61 kilometers (38 miles) and with 3,400 meters (11,155 feet) of elevation gain, focused on a big climb to a high point near Col de Balme in the second half of the race. Both the women’s and men’s races had especially close, dramatic finishes. The race was a UTMB World Series Finals for the 50k distance, and paid 13,000 Euro to its winners as part of a 75,000 Euro total cash purse to the top 10.
Women
Two-time Sierre-Zinal winner Joyline Chepngeno (Kenya) and defending OCC champ Miao Yao (China) established themselves at the front early and were never more than two minutes apart for any of the race. It was mile 31 that Chepngeno scored the last lead, and while she stumbled in the closing stretches, it was enough to hold off Yao’s charge. Chepngeno became the first-ever Kenyan to win a UTMB World Series Final in 5:34, and she was only 70 seconds ahead of second-place Yao. Judith Wyder (Switzerland) battled Maude Mathys (Switzerland) for the third podium spot. Wyder finished in 5:38 to Mathys’s 5:45 mark. Wyder was second here in 2024.
The 2025 OCC women’s podium (left to right): 2. Miao Yao, 1. Joyline Chepngeno, 3. Judith Wyder. Photo: UTMB
The top five women were:
- Joyline Chepngeno (Kenya) – 5:34:03
- Miao Yao (China) – 5:35:13
- Judith Wyder (Switzerland) – 5:38:22
- Maude Mathys (Switzerland) – 5:45:43
- Sara Alonso (Spain) – 5:50:26
[In 2015, Maude Mathys received a warning without suspension from the Disciplinary Chamber for Doping Cases of Swiss Olympic for two positive tests for clomifene (previously clomiphene) after it was determined that she was mistakenly taking the drug without first obtaining a World Anti-Doping Agency Therapeutic Use Exemption.]
Men
Jim Walmsley (U.S.) shook loose from early challengers like Petter Engdahl (Norway) and was alone at the front for most of the race. But like a dark horse on the outside lane, Cristian Minoggio (Italy) flew up the Col de Balme climb at mile 24 and launched off the top and down into Argentière at mile 31. He passed everyone doing it, including Walmsley. Minoggio poured it on leaving the aid station and a lead of over a minute with less than seven miles to go. Walmsley wasn’t done though and ran down Minoggio to finish ahead of him by 20 seconds in 5:00:35.
Like Minoggio, Andrzej Witek (Poland) rode a strong second half to finish third in 5:04.
The 2025 OCC men’s podium (left to right): 2. Cristian Minoggio, 1. Jim Walmsley, 3. Andrzej Witek. Photo: UTMB
The men’s top five was:
- Jim Walmsley (U.S.) – 5:00:35
- Cristian Minoggio (Italy) – 5:00:55
- Andrzej Witek (Poland) – 5:04:08
- Petter Engdahl (Norway) – 5:05:08
- Kristian Jones (U.K.) – 5:05:50
Additional Races and Runs
TDS – Chamonix, France
Weather forced a course reroute, but TDS was still regarded as more technical than any of the other UTMB races. The early-week contest was the competitive kickoff to the group of races too. The rerouted course ran 95 miles and had 29,500 feet of climbing from Courmayeur, Italy, to Chamonix, France.
Women’s race favorites Careth Arnold (U.S.), Ida-Sophie Hegemann (Germany), and Manon Bohard Callier (France) were together early, but Bohard Callier dropped near mile 41 and Hegemann did the same at mile 62. Arnold outlasted and outran everyone to a 22:58 finish time, making her the first-ever American winner of this race. Hélène Dassy (Belgium) scored a second-place 24:23 finish, and Elise Delannoy (France) got on the podium in 25:18 after Xueer Shang (China), who originally finished third, was moved to an unranked position following a “route error.”
French men took the first four spots and eight of the top 10. In a race of a number of leaders, Antoine Charvolin took the top spot with 25 miles to go and made it stick. Charvolin, last year’s CCC 13th-placer, won in 18:22. Big second-half moves from Gautier Airiau and Léo Rogaume led to podium spots in 18:28 and 18:39, respectively.
Careth Arnold wins the 2025 TDS. Photo: UTMB
Antoine Charvolin, the 2025 TDS winner. Photo: UTMB
MCC – Chamonix, France
The 25-mile race, part of the UTMB Mont Blanc festival, went from Martigny, Switzerland, to Chamonix, France, on Monday, August 25. The race is community-themed and earmarked mostly for event volunteers, partners, and local residents. As such, all of the top finishers were from the host country. Marine Quintard pulled away from Pauline Girardet and Iris Pessey to win the women’s crown. The three finished in 4:16, 4:21, and 4:25, respectively. Pessey was 11th at the Matterhorn Ultraks Skyrace only two days before. Just 17 seconds separated men’s winner Yoann Stuck and runner-up Léo Tuaz. Both ran 3:40, and Clément Génot was third in 3:41. Full results.
ETC – Courmayeur, Italy
At just nine miles, this was one of the UTMB Mont Blanc festival’s shorter races. It did still, however, gain almost 4,000 feet of elevation on its loop course. Mădălina Florea (Romania) ran away with the women’s win. She was over six minutes faster than everyone else in 1:30. Maria Fuentes (Spain) was second in 1:37, nearly a full minute in front of third-place Naomi Lang (U.K.) and her 1:38 mark. The top men ran it closer, but Alain Santamaria (Spain) still won by over a full minute too. He got to the finish in 1:21, and a bloodied Cesare Maestri (Italy) crossed next in 1:22. Maximilien Drion (Belgium) was third in 1:23. Full results.
Chasing 100 – Nardò, Italy
The event wasn’t world-record eligible, but Sibusiso Kubheka (South Africa) ran the first-ever sub-six-hour 100k in 5:59:20. Charlie Lawrence (U.S.) and Aleksandr Sorokin (Lithuania) ran 6:03:47 and 6:04:10, both also under Sorokin’s 6:05:35 world record. We haven’t previously written about Kubheka, but he ran a 61:36 half-marathon in 2021. He’d earlier raced 50k twice with a 2:42 best.
Sibusiso Kubheka on his way to running sub-six hours for 100 kilometers at the 2025 Chasing 100 event. Photo: adidas
World Masters Mountain Running Championships – Meduno, Italy
It was the event’s 24th edition, and there were nearly 1,200 runners from 36 different countries competing. The first race, the Uphill championships, ran 5k and 800 meters up to the top of Monte Valinis. Andrea Schweigkofler (Italy) and Justino Coronado (Mexico) won the women’s and men’s races in 41:22 and 32:40. Day two of the event had the 34k Long Distance championships on foothill trails that gained 1,850 meters. Christine Lundy (U.S.) and Tencho Zhekov (Bulgaria) were race winners in 3:44 and 2:57, respectively. Uphill full results. Long Distance full results.
Andrea Schweigkofler winning the 2025 World Masters Mountain Running Championships Uphill race. Photo: WMRA/Marco Gulberti
Justino Coronado on his way to winning the 2025 World Masters Mountain Running Championships Uphill race. Photo: WMRA/Marco Gulberti
Kauai Marathon – Poipu, Kauai, Hawai’i
U.S. Uphill team member Tyler McCandless is a perennial winner in Kauai. He won the half marathon this year in 1:06:52. Full results.
Grand Traverse – Crested Butte, Colorado
The 40-mile race goes from Crested Butte to Aspen. Callie Cooper and Will Murray won big in their respective races. Cooper ran 7:02, and Murray finished in 5:36, and no one was close to either. Full results.
The 2025 Grand Traverse women’s podium (left to right): 3. Julia Nyiro, 1. Callie Cooper, 2. Martha Clemmer. Photo courtesy of the race.
The 2025 Grand Traverse men’s podium (left to right): 3. Peter Burke, 1. Will Murray, 2. Kieran Nay. Photo courtesy of the race.
Call for Comments
- Wow, what can you say about that weekend?
- Does it have you eagerly anticipating some new matchups at the World Trail and Mountain Running Championships in late September?
