The Race that Changed Running

The Race that Changed Running: The Inside Story of UTMB is the definitive history of trail running’s biggest race, the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, now known as UTMB.

"Doug Mayer is the closest the race has to an oracle." - Runners World

Run the Alps founder Doug Mayer has been writing about the race for Trail Runner Magazine, Outside and other US media outlets for over a decade and tells the story of the founding of the race, the controversies over the years, and the event’s growth from a local idea to the multinational sports event it is today. 

"The more I wrote about the race, the more questions I had. Everyone, it seemed, had a strong opinion about the race, but few had a clear grip on anything more than the surface facts. Endless speculation seemed to be a part-time hobby for some Chamonix trail runners... Whatever you think of UTMB—and the opinions run the gamut—the race matters. And if you care about trail running, you need to care about what happens at UTMB. And yet there was so much static. What I wanted most—an honest, unvarnished look at the UTMB story—didn’t exist." - Doug Mayer, from The Race that Changed Running: The Inside Story of UTMB

Available in English and French: THE RACE THAT CHANGED RUNNING - THE INSIDE STORY OF UTMB  / LE TRAIL DEVENU LÉGENDE - DANS LES COULISSES DE L' UTMB

Forward by Kilian Jornet. 208 pages, with dozens of charts, color photos, and illustrations.