DU MONT-BLANC press release !
A perfect sports plateau!
This 5th edition will be marked by the presence of an exceptional sports plateau bringing together almost all of the best world specialists in ultra-trailing. In particular, it will be a theatre for Europe/USA confrontation without precedent.
The winners of the first four editions, Dawa Sherpa ( Nepal ), Vincent Delebarre ( France ), Christophe Jaquerod ( Switzerland ) and Marco Olmo ( Italy ) will all come together, for the first time, on the Starting Line. Their experience of the race and their prestigious record of achievements make them the big favourites!
Present alongside them, representing the USA :
- Scott Jurek (USA), 7 times winner of the Western States 100 miles , winner of the Badwater and of the Spartathlon
- Karl Metzer (USA), winner of six “ 100 miles ” in 2006, voted best “ultrarunner” for 2006 in the USA
- Hal Koerner, winner in June 2007 of the Western States 100 miles
- Dean Karnazes, the extreme runner of the The North Face team who is specifically training this year for The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ®
One will also be able to count on runners from the Ile de la Réunion : Wilfrid Ouledi, Thierry Chambry, Nico Dijoux et Thierry Techer, respectively 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th in the Grand Raid de la Réunion 2006, behind Vincent Delebarre et Christophe Jaquerod.
Also present :
- Jens Lukas ( Germany ), European Champion of the 24h, twice winner of the Fortiche de Maurienne and 4th in the 2006 UTMB
- Gilles Diehl, winner of the Grand Raid de la Réunion, 5 times positioned in the Marathon des Sables
- Sébastien Chaigneau, recent winner of the great Raid du Mercantour
- Lhoucine Akhdar, 3rd in the Marathon des Sables
As well as the best French specialists in trailing : Serge Barthes, Samuel Bonaudo, Benoît Laval, Pascal Paracuellos, Guillaume Millet , Antoine Guillon , Stéphane Grivel, David Pasquio, Patrice Kervevan.
With the females, the last two winners will also be on the Starting Line:
- Karine Herry, thrice victorious in 2006 in The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ®, in the Grand Raid de la Réunion and the Templiers.
- Elisabeth Hawker 2005 winner and 100 km world champion in 2006.
Elisabeth will head The North Face women team which includes two other challengers for victory: Nikki Kimball who has just won the Western State 100 miles and Diane Van Deren, who has won a great many 100-mile events across-the-Atlantic.
The other lady leaders will without doubt be Alexandra Rousset (lady winner of the 2004 Grand Raid de la Réunion), Marguerite Hoarau (2nd in the 2006 Grand Raid de la Réunion) and Ginette Moretto (1st in the 2000 Templiers).
The impressive number of enrolment demands and the very high sporting level of this race presage a 2007 edition without precedent.
And what if the 163 km were to be run in less than 21 hours?
Go get them Karl ! Bahahah - 10 scrapes!
13 Responses to “DU MONT-BLANC press release !”
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Themocracy
By Bob Gentile, August 8, 2007 @ 12:13 pm
WOW what a line up…BATTLE On!!!
Best Wishes Karl!!!
By Billy D, August 8, 2007 @ 12:13 pm
Is Matt Carpenter in this deal? I wish this thing was televised. Good luck SpeedGoat!
By Karl, August 8, 2007 @ 12:42 pm
Matt Carpenter is running Pikes Peak in a few weeks. I would have to guess the reason he is staying home is the money thing. Pikes Peak has $30,000 in prize money this year. I think the winner gets $5000. The winning Prize at Mont Blanc is a HUGE COWBELL. It would be cool to be ringing that thing at the Speedgoat 50k, eh? This race can be followed online. If you want it televised, contact NBC and see what they say. Baaaahhhh -wahsatchspeedgoat
By Brennen, August 8, 2007 @ 1:34 pm
“As well as the best French specialists in trailing : Serge Barthes, Samuel Bonaudo, Benoît Laval, Pascal Paracuellos, Guillaume Millet , Antoine Guillon , Stéphane Grivel, David Pasquio, Patrice Kervevan.”
Daggum right they’ll be “trailing”–trailing behind the likes of Meltzer, Koerner, and Jurek!
Not really an ugly American,
Brennen
By Jill, August 9, 2007 @ 7:07 am
Go Karl go!!!! Show the Europeans how it’s done!!! I think you, Scott and Hal will rock!!! Here’s to more cowbell!!!!!
By olga, August 9, 2007 @ 7:55 am
Wow, this is QUALITY never seen before! Don’t let Amricans down, boyz!
By Ben, August 10, 2007 @ 8:48 am
Wow. I can just imagine how that bell would sound echoing through the trails of Big Cottonwood Canyon! You can do it guys. Represent the Americans well and have a good race.
By CharlieM, August 10, 2007 @ 10:34 am
My Hollywood prediction: Karno will win it all, passing Karl and Scott at 150K. EndurancePlanet will do a podcast interview on the course, as Dean is passing them, and Scott and Dean will share a friendly high-five, thus ending all the recent trail running controversy, once and for all.
My real prediction: the previous European winners will conspire to trip the Americans (like the Italian cyclists in “Breaking Away”), and mayhem will ensue.
Good luck to all, good luck Karl. I ran Massanutten this year, and I was only 13 hours behind you. One day, one day….I will triumph. - CharlieM
By Geoff Roes, August 11, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
That’s going to be some serious talent lining up for that one. can’t wait to “watch” it online. how did the treadmill thing go?
By Karl, August 11, 2007 @ 3:30 pm
Mackey won the treadmill, at 1.58 miles. I got lucky and beat Scott 1.50-1.44. I think he was sandbagging! Off to France, Merci! Karl Baaahhhhh
By BFT, August 24, 2007 @ 11:13 am
And what about that Anton Krupicka?
I expect we will be hearing more from him in the future too.
1st place at Leadville this year, second place 3 hours behind! What the hell?
BFT
By WSG, August 24, 2007 @ 11:29 am
Anton is a force to be rekon with, he ran by me at leadville coming down Hope pass with Kyle Skaggs looking like he out for a jog. Anton has Matt Carpenters record in his cross hairs! The new generation of fast trail runners is upon us! Go Anton!!