Blandine L'Hirondel wins UTMB in 21:54:49 and completes the OCC, CCC and UTMB treble
The first woman under 22 hours walked the last descent into Chamonix and still won by 21 minutes from Rachel Entrekin; Emily Schmitz was third.
Photograph: The UTMB finish line in Chamonix, 2021, by Anthospace, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsBlandine L'Hirondel of France won the women's UTMB on Saturday in 21:54:49, 26th overall and the first time a woman has broken 22 hours around Mont Blanc. With the OCC in 2021 and the CCC in 2022, she is the second woman after Ruth Croft to win all three UTMB finals, and the first French winner of the women's race since Caroline Chaverot in 2016.
She and Rachel Entrekin of the United States were a minute apart at Les Chapieux, 52 km in. L'Hirondel had four minutes at Courmayeur, 15 at the Grand Col Ferret, 23 at La Fouly, 37 before Champex-Lac and 40:09 leaving Vallorcine with 18 km to go. Then she walked the final descent into Chamonix, taking 54:21 for it, and Entrekin took back 19 minutes. It was not enough. Entrekin, in her first UTMB, was second in 22:15:54, and Emily Schmitz, who had been 147th overall at Col de Voza, ran through to third in 22:17:28, a minute and a half back.
Katie Schide's 2024 time of 22:09:31 was set on a route 3 km longer and 215 m higher, so the comparison is not exact. Croft, the defending champion, withdrew two days before the start, and Courtney Dauwalter stopped at Lac Combal.
L'Hirondel is a two-time trail world champion who was third here in 2023 and fifth in 2024. She said at the finish that she did not yet believe it.
Forty minutes up and walking the last hill. The win was already in the bank; the time was a bonus she could not spend.
Sources: iRunFar; Marathon Handbook; Live for the Outdoors.
