Marathon du Mont Blanc

The Marathon du Mont Blanc[1] is an annual marathon distance (42.195 km) alpine trail-running event held in Chamonix, France. The Marathon du Mont Blanc race is the titular event but the name also refers to the group of longer and shorter distance races one or more of which competitors can compete in over a three-day period starting on the last Friday in June.

The Marathon was first run in June 2003 however the shorter distance Cross du Mont-Blanc (23 km), which is utilises part of the same route as the Marathon has been run annually since 1979.

Overview

The Cross du Mont-Blanc was founded by Georges Costaz, the President of the Club alpin français Chamonix (CAF[2]) in 1979.[3] In 2003 on the 25th anniversary of the first running of the Cross du Mont-Blanc the Marathon du Mont Blanc event was added to the race schedule. The following year (2004) The 10 km du Mont-Blanc event was added and in 2011 the KM Vertical (2 km) was also included. In order to meet the requirements for hosting the Skyrunning World Championships in 2014[4] the 80 km du Mont-Blanc was added to the race schedule as a test event in 2013. The event also offers the "Mini Cross" (800m to 3 km) for 7 to 15 year old competitors.

The race is currently administered by Club des sports de Chamonix[5]

The Races

80km du Mont-Blanc

Distance: 83.7 km (2014)
Total Ascent: 6,026m
Start Time: 04:00
Course cut-off: 24 hours
Number of entries: 1000
Course Description:[6][7] Starting on the Place de l'Église in Central Chamonix the route climbs via Refuge de Bel Lachat to Le Brévent (2,525m), the runners then descend to Plan Praz. From Plan Praz the course traverses the Aiguilles Rouges to La Flégère and via Lac des Chéserys and Col de Montets to Le Buet (1,330m).
From Buet the trail climbs around 1,300m to the Col du Corbeau (2,602m) and then descends via Col du Passet and Chalets de la Loriaz to Vallorcine (1,260m).
From Vallorcine the route climbs steeply via Col des Posettes to Aiguillette des Posettes (2,201m) before descending just as steeply via Le Tour and Argentière to Les Bois (1,083m).
The trail then makes the last major ascent via Les Mottets and Gare du Montenvers to Signal (2,200m) where the runners traverse to Refuge du plan de l’aiguille (also 2,200m) before descending to the finish in Chamonix.

See also

Trail running
Ultramarathon
Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc

External links

  1. ↑ "Accueil". montblancmarathon.net.
  2. ↑ "Club alpin Français Chamonix - CAF Chamonix !". clubalpin-chamonix.com.
  3. ↑ http://www.montblancmarathon.net/images/mbmarathon/doc_pdf/DPmarathon2013light%20GB.pdf
  4. ↑ Administrator. "2014 Skyrunning World Championships". skyrunning.com.
  5. ↑ http://www.chamonixsport.com/Actualites/p/openPost/1986
  6. ↑ http://www.montblancmarathon.net/images/mbmarathon/doc_pdf/profil_80km.pdf
  7. ↑ http://www.montblancmarathon.net/images/mbmarathon/doc_pdf/Tableau_des_passages_80km.pdf