Though this 12 months’s Extremely-Path du Mont-Blanc emerged as an American success story with U.S. extremely legends Jim Walmsley and Courtney Dauwalter topping the rostrum, Canada’s contingent in Chamonix had a lot to be happy with this previous weekend. Greater than 40 Canadians made the course cutoff of 46 hours and half-hour, and all have one thing to have a good time, no matter the place they positioned. Right here’s a have a look at how the Canadians fared at UTMB this weekend.
High 5
Simply lacking a spot on the rostrum was twin Canadian-French citizen Mathieu Blanchard. Ending fourth within the males’s race (20:54:25) and second in his class, Blanchard captured second place behind Kilian Jornet at final 12 months’s UTMB. His top-five end comes on the heels of his sixth-place end within the males’s race on the Western States Endurance Run in June.
“This 12 months I made a decision to tackle a monumental problem by trying the Western States + UTMB combo, and I’m extremely proud that I did,” Matheiu on Instagram on Sunday. He famous he struggled with “horrible leg pains” at UTMB, however that “the faces and phrases” of his beloved as soon as stored him going. “I shed big tears on the arrival (to the end line). Tears that have been positively not a disappointment with my consequence however fairly a mirrored image of the struggling I endured on this race. In addition they expressed the battle I needed to battle to get to that end line and never surrender.”
High 10
Ailsa MacDonald of Cochrane, Alta., ran 25:48:54 for seventh place within the girls’s race and second in her class. Her spectacular efficiency marked a welcome return to type for the runner, who DNFed at UTMB two years in the past. “Got here again for redemption and left fulfilled. After my DNF in 2021 I poured my coronary heart and soul into coaching for this race in hopes of constructing it to the end line,” she wrote on Instagram after the race. “The last word aim was to complete whereas staying passionate in regards to the sport. I figured if I may maintain it collectively I may make the 172km journey round Mont Blanc in lower than 26 hours which I figured would put me within the prime ten.”
She added whereas there have been some “robust moments” at UTMB this 12 months, “I positively slowed down for the previous couple of climbs and fell again a few locations however I nonetheless achieved my aim.”
High 20
Ending simply exterior of the highest 10 girls, Toronto native Clair Heslop—who was the primary Canadian to cross the end line at UTMB two years in the past when she completed in 18th place—ran 28:05:39 this 12 months to complete in eleventh and take third place simply behind MacDonald within the girls’s 40-44 class. Whereas she delivered a terrific efficiency, a publish she made on race day suggests Heslop already thought of this 12 months’s UTMB a hit earlier than it was even underway. “How is it already race day?? Already time to have a good time all of the onerous work and pleasure that acquired us all to the beginning line, and the grit and gratitude that may carry us to the end,” she wrote.
High 50
Ethan Peters of Fernie, B.C., who completed fourth at Canyons by UTMB in Might, ran 25:04:40 on the weekend to position thirty sixth among the many males and twenty first within the males’s 20-34 class.
Kelsey Hogan of Regular Brook, N.L., who this 12 months defended her title on the Quebec Mega Path 100-miler, ran 34:32:31 to position forty first amongst girls at UTMB.
High 100
Rounding out the Canadian runners who completed within the prime 100 of their races have been Flora Wing Yee Ching, who ran 37:08:58 to position fifty fifth amongst girls, and Véronique Drouin who completed in 41:12:59 to position ninety fifth.
Right here’s a have a look at the opposite Canadian finishers:
Girls
Ling Li Ding (43:20:19)
Tanya Donais (45:22:28)
Males
Samuel Frigon (30:43:21)
Brandon Lewis-Tremblay (31:14:06)
James Miles (31:37:09)
John Adams (31:37:55)
Bentley Regehr (32:48:48)
Matthew Dermody (33:15:30)
Yannick Bernard (33:17:54)
Anthony Fontaine (33:50:46)
Tyler Chapman (34:26:36)
Marc Roumagnac (34:48:58)
Michael O’Farrell (34:59:25)
Ryan Lakhram (35:47:18)
Marc-Antoine Millones (36:28:27)
Yannick Dailleau (37:23:37)
Brandon Mewhort (40:02:39)
Mathieu Lendick(40:31:26)
Olivier Michaud (41:09:40)
Steve Start (41:24:15)
Jonathan Tardif (41:24:16)
Steve Day (42:20:17)
Ben Benvie (42:26:37)
Xu Dong Wu (42:54:40)
Yong Chuang Chen (43:20:19)
Wilson Cheung (43:42:57)
Matthias Heinke (44:12:43)
Sebastian Warner (44:22:05)
Monty Christie (45:04:40)
Norman Nadon (45:16:51)
Markus Wipfli (45:22:28)
Jonathan Bolduc (45:30:36)
Jin Ma (45:34:58)
Hakime Bezza (46:01:32)
