UTMB is the biggest trail race in the world, but why did it happen in France? The easy answer is Mont Blanc. The better answer has more to do with culture, timing, and the kind of endurance tradition that was already there long before UTMB existed.

Josh talks with Doug Mayer, founder of Run the Alps and author of The Race That Changed Running, about the deeper conditions that made UTMB possible, from old mountain races and ski mountaineering to the Pellettis’ execution and the way places like Vallorcine turned the race into something people gather around, not just run.

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Resources / Links

  1. Run the Alps
  2. Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races
  3. Josh Rosenthal on IG
  4. Borderlands.cc
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Related Episodes

  1. Ultra Running isn't Just Running


Presented by Kiprun.

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Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.

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