This week, 1000’s of runners are in Chamonix, France, for one of the anticipated occasions of the yr: the 2025 UTMB. For the individuals, that is the fruits of months or years of exhausting work and preparation. A whole lot of miles run, hurdles overcome, and bricks stacked, one after the other, till every runner is able to begin this race.
Each runner arrives at the beginning line with a novel degree of health, set of strengths, and capabilities to assist them full the race. These elements play into one thing they’ll all have to resolve on: their race technique. Do they exit quick and attempt to maintain on till the top? Do they hike the uphills and bomb the downhills? Do they push the ups and save their legs on the downs? Do they start with a reasonable tempo that they assume they’ll keep for a lot of the race?
UTMB is a notoriously difficult course, with this yr’s statistics at about 108 miles and with over 32,000 toes of elevation achieve. The steep climbs and punishing downhills have challenged runners through the years who wish to optimize their efficiency. Jim Walmsley has taught us that the road between a DNF and a course report may be razor-thin, with small tweaks in the way to strategy the course leading to considerably totally different outcomes.
On his fifth try in 2023, Jim Walmsley put collectively all of the items of UTMB for a win and new course report. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
On this article, we glance carefully at a number of the knowledge behind UTMB performances through the years. Collaborating with Zsolt Kovacs of Spectro.Life, we discover a number of the insights he has developed from years of analyzing UTMB efficiency knowledge. Spectro works with athletes to develop optimum race methods based mostly on customized operating fashions. I used their product to effectively tempo my first 100-mile race earlier this yr.
We take a look at basic traits seen by all finishers at UTMB and dive into the performances of some elite athletes to get a greater understanding of what the numbers inform us in regards to the optimum approach to race UTMB.
[Author’s Note: This analysis is based on data from UTMB’s live tracker, LiveTrail. Many factors go into performance that cannot be captured in these numbers.]
Depth Issue and Efficiency Drop in Current UTMB, CCC, and OCC Knowledge
Let’s begin by we name depth issue and the way it pertains to efficiency drop over races of assorted lengths on the UTMB Mont-Blanc competition. This could give us perspective on what efficiency knowledge ought to usually appear like at these races.
Depth issue is outlined as the share of the utmost one-hour effort the runner is ready to ship. The one-hour most effort is outlined as vital depth, which is analogous to FTP in biking. This metric is generally calculated based mostly on a personalised metabolic operating mannequin that equates operating speeds on hills to operating speeds on flat floor. Not accessing every runner’s private mannequin, Spectro makes use of a benchmark operating mannequin that we’ve discovered has a variation of two.5% on the most.
Efficiency drop is how a lot the depth issue modifications from the beginning of the race to the top of the race, both the end line or the checkpoint at which a runner drops out.
Trying on the under graph, we are able to see a transparent division between the DNFs and the finishers, when it comes to each their depth elements and efficiency drops:
Depth Elements and Efficiency Drops of All 2024 UTMB Finishers and DNFs
The depth elements and efficiency drops of all 2024 UTMB finishers, in addition to those that dropped from the race.
The DNFs with the best depth elements and the bottom efficiency drops, these within the prime left nook of the graph, most probably encountered some problem that ended their race very early, earlier than their tempo slowed. Different DNFs with excessive depth elements and excessive efficiency drop doubtless ran at too excessive an depth, which finally prompted their efficiency to drop a lot that they may now not proceed.
Finishers all had common depth elements under 75%, which reveals the vary of pacing acceptable for a course of UTMB’s nature.
The beginning of the 2022 UTMB. Photograph: iRunFar/Kirsten Kortebein
Efficiency drop varies with distance and the problem of the terrain. Intuitively, this is sensible, as we’d anticipate somebody operating the 50-kilometer OCC to have the ability to keep a better degree of effort by means of the top of the race than somebody operating the 108-mile UTMB. The graphs under present efficiency drop distributions for the 2024 UTMB, the 100k CCC in 2023, and the 2023 OCC. You may see that the imply efficiency drop for UTMB is -47.68%, CCC is -35.86%, and OCC is -26.19%.
2024 UTMB Finishers Efficiency Drop Distributions
A graph displaying the efficiency drop distributions for the 2024 UTMB.
2023 CCC Finishers Efficiency Drop Distributions
A graph displaying the efficiency drop distributions for the 2023 CCC.
2023 OCC Finishers Efficiency Drop Distributions
A graph displaying the efficiency drop distributions for the 2023 OCC.
2024 UTMB Males’s Podium Finisher Performances
Now, within the graph under, we zoom in on the highest 10 males finishers of the 2024 UTMB. We plot the depth issue on the y-axis and the gap on the x-axis, with every runner’s efficiency drop listed within the legend. We will see that some runners paced their races with comparatively even depth elements, whereas others had important swings. Clearly, all of them carried out fairly nicely, and we additionally see that their efficiency drop is low relative to the imply of -47.68% seen within the graph above.
Depth Elements and Efficiency Drops of the High 10 Males on the 2024 UTMB
A graph displaying the depth elements (on the y axis) and efficiency drops (within the legend) for the highest 10 males on the 2024 UTMB.
There’s a lot occurring within the above graph, however bear with me as we break it down right here in additional element.
For instance, Vincent Bouillard, who gained the lads’s race, had a efficiency drop of -26.2%. To see the place that quantity comes from, we take a look at the graph under, which has the race’s elevation profile, Bouillard’s depth issue throughout every part, and reveals the change over time. As outlined above, the efficiency drop is the change in depth issue from the start of the race to the top.
Depth Issue and Efficiency Drop of the 2024 UTMB Males’s Champion Vincent Bouillard
The depth issue and efficiency drop of the 2024 UTMB males’s champion Vincent Bouillard.
Within the above graph, we are able to see that Bouillard had some spikes within the depth issue throughout the descents, that means he ran these more durable. It’s attention-grabbing to notice the place a few of these spikes happen for runners and their methods round attacking the climbs or the descents, in addition to earlier or later sections of the course, whereas ensuring their depth issue doesn’t drop an excessive amount of.
It’s also attention-grabbing to notice that the highest finishers are operating with a median depth issue of under 75%. For a race as lengthy and difficult as UTMB, with the ability to run effectively on this zone is vital for fulfillment.
Vincent Bouillard on his approach to successful the 2024 UTMB. Photograph courtesy of UTMB.
Subsequent, we look at the chart from males’s second-place finisher Baptiste Chassagne, who had a fair decrease efficiency drop of -22.4%, the bottom of all the highest 10 males.
Depth Issue and Efficiency Drop of the 2024 UTMB Males’s Second-Place Finisher Baptiste Chassagne
The depth issue and efficiency drop of the 2024 UTMB males’s second-place finisher Baptiste Chassagne.
Baptiste Chassagne was fairly stoked to take second on the 2024 UTMB. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Right here is yet one more graph from males’s fifth-place finisher Ludovic Pommeret, the place once more we are able to see surges in depth issue on sure parts of the course. Pommeret followers and followers know he’s a grasp downhiller, so it’s not a shock to see his depth issue to be fairly excessive on the downhills.
Depth Issue and Efficiency Drop of the 2024 UTMB Males’s Fifth-Place Finisher Ludovic Pommeret
The depth issue and efficiency drop of the 2024 UTMB males’s fifth-place finisher Ludovic Pommeret.
Ludovic Pommeret on his approach to ending fifth on the 2024 UTMB. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
2024 UTMB Girls’s Podium Finisher Performances
Now, on the ladies’s facet, we examine the depth issue for the highest 10 finishers. What caught out to me is that the typical depth issue began out larger and resulted in a higher common efficiency drop all through the race.
Depth Elements and Efficiency Drops of the High 10 Girls on the 2024 UTMB
A graph displaying the depth elements (on the y axis) and efficiency drops (within the legend) for the highest 10 girls on the 2024 UTMB.
To zoom in on tangible examples of differing efficiency drops, let’s look at the performances of the highest three girls finishers eventually yr’s UTMB.
The eventual girls’s winner, Katie Schide, began off the race nicely under course report tempo. She was at a excessive depth issue early on, however fell off over the course of the occasion with a -40.1% efficiency drop. Although her efficiency dropped considerably over the course of the race, her very excessive depth for lengthy within the first half constructed an unsurmountable lead over the remainder of the sphere.
Depth Issue and Efficiency Drop of the 2024 UTMB Girls’s Champion Katie Schide
The depth issue and efficiency drop of the 2024 UTMB girls’s champion Katie Schide.
Katie Schide after successful the 2024 UTMB. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Second-place finisher, Ruth Croft, then again, began off at a extra conservative tempo with a decrease depth issue at the start of the race. This strategy enabled her to restrict the efficiency drop over the course of the race to -19.3% and shut in spectacular vogue. Croft’s efficiency drop was the bottom of all the highest 10 ladies and men eventually yr’s race.
Depth Issue and Efficiency Drop of the 2024 UTMB Girls’s Second-Place Finisher Ruth Croft
The depth issue and efficiency drop of the 2024 UTMB girls’s second-place finisher Ruth Croft.
Ruth Croft flying by means of Champex-Lac throughout the 2024 UTMB. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Third-place finisher, Marianne Hogan, additionally began off at excessive depth and pushed exhausting at sure components of the course, which led to a -39.5% efficiency drop. Hogan was handed within the closing 15 kilometers by Croft. This tight end demonstrates the razor edge that defines optimum pacing methods and the significance of pushing the depth sufficient to place your self in a aggressive place whereas preserving it restrained sufficient to complete robust.
Depth Issue and Efficiency Drop of the 2024 UTMB Girls’s Third-Place Finisher Marianne Hogan
The depth issue and efficiency drop of the 2024 UTMB girls’s third-place finisher Marianne Hogan.
Marianne Hogan at Champex-Lac, on her approach to putting third on the 2024 UTMB. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
It’s attention-grabbing to see the variations in how athletes select to run the course and the way they keep their efficiency all through the period of the occasion. The 100-mile distance is stuffed with challenges, and drawback fixing is required to ship an optimum efficiency. Yearly, we see some runners exit quick and attempt to maintain on till the top, whereas others take a extra conservative strategy at the start and shut robust. As races begin quicker and quicker, it’s attention-grabbing to control this, and it will likely be one thing to look at at this yr’s occasion.
Closing Ideas
With this yr’s UTMB upon us, we are able to all observe and benefit from the race methods that every athlete implements. Good luck to every of you to find your preferrred pacing technique!
We hope this text provides you perception into how the depth issue can influence efficiency over the course of an occasion. As the info on this article present, preserving pacing technique in thoughts from the beginning of UTMB, or any extremely, can have important rewards on the tail finish of the occasion if you’ll be able to restrict the efficiency drop.
The solar units in Chamonix on Friday night because the 2024 UTMB racers head into the night time. Photograph: iRunFar/Kirsten Kortebein
Thanks to Spectro.Life for offering the info used on this article and their work across the UTMB occasion. In case you are inquisitive about studying extra about this subject or need assist creating your excellent pacing technique, attain out to the Spectro crew.
Name for Feedback
Have you ever skilled a big efficiency drop or “hit the wall?”
How have your views on pacing modified over time?
Are there any athletes you assume do an important job at strategizing their races?
What racing methods do you assume we’ll see at UTMB this weekend?
