UTMB Instant Reactions

Welcome to Day 6 of Good Morning, Mont Blanc. This is the inaugural year of Freetrail’s daily morning show, kicking off with the 20th anniversary of the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB), the most important global event in the sport of trail running. The show is hosted each day by professional athlete, Dylan Bowman.
Dylan is joined on Day 6 by Katie Asmuth, Topher Gaylord and Kim Gaylord. Topher and Kim helped found UTMB and have been here every single year since 2003. Dylan has been coming to Chamonix since 2013, exactly a decade. Katie is in Chamonix for the first time. They discuss the early results of the race and watch the livestream as more finishers come in.
There is laughter, there are tears, and this might be our favorite show of the week. Make sure you tune in and hit subscribe if you’re watching on KZbin. If you’re listening as a podcast and you like the show, please leave us a review.
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Our Sponsors
Thanks to our sponsors who are making this show possible, Hoka and CamelBak.
Hoka and UTMB were born in the Alps - fueled by the thrill of flying up and down mountains.
Trail running is in Hoka's DNA, and they are proud to be the 2023 UTMB World Series Premier Partner and help share the sport with as many people as possible
Check out Hoka's AR experience and join athletes like Jim Walmsley for a run in the alps.
CamelBak invented the hydration pack category a couple decades ago and has remained on the forefront of innovation for this very important product sector. Outside of footwear, the pack is the most critical piece of running gear and you’ll see a bunch of people trusting CamelBak throughout race week out on the trails around the Mont Blanc.
If you’re here in Chamonix, there is a public event hosted by CamelBak on Thursday from 6-8pm at Folie Douce Hotel in Chamonix - there will be a panel discussion, followed by an open bar/mixer. They will also be previewing some of their 2024 products in the space. Again it’s open to the public so feel free to stop by on Thursday, the Freetrail team will be there. If you can’t make it, they have a booth at the expo, so stop by and check it all out.

[@benbooth598]

Loved Good Morning Mont Blanc this week. Each guest was really insightful & informative. Build up to each race perfectly. Huge congrats to Dbo & all behind the scenes. Hope to see something like this again before a western states or UTMB 🥂

[@Tamer_108]

Yep loved this, was basically the best media coverage of UTMB I saw

[@Freetrail]

Thank you!! Really appreciate you watching and sharing feedback. The plan is to expand the model to other events!

[@Freetrail]

@@Tamer_108 Thanks so much!

[@chriscorvino]

This was the best coverage - a real high water mark. Great mix of traditional sports media and the long form personalization that the internet has birthed. Breakfast at Wimbledon + insider obsessive ‘zine coverage. I can’t say enough good things.

[@timpfluger]

I loved how they were referring to Courtney wearing “the yellow Jersey”

[@pasadenaphil8804]

These post-event wrap-ups are as good as the races themselves. It really helps to have people who really know the runners and understand the drama behind the scenes explaining it to us. There is a lot going on in these races. It's not just watching people run. These wraps allow us to appreciate the greatness of what we just witnessed. I really look forward to them.

[@Freetrail]

Appreciate that so much!!

[@dansouth2088]

What a day!! Thank you for all the fantastic coverage this past week!!!

[@Freetrail]

Thanks for watching!!

[@Sanko1960]

This conversation was super terrific. So cool to hear all of your first hand observations. Thank you!

[@anastasiafua]

Great show - I’m new to this sport but the interviews with the runners have been amazing. Informative!

[@Freetrail]

Thank you!

[@dbk81]

The chainsaw guy was running behind Jim at one point. UTMB is building to a Tour de France type atmosphere, it’s awesome to see the crowds and feel the vibe.

[@Freetrail]

💯

[@ildikopeter7850]

I'm not sure the runners appreciate that.// Zach was saying in his interview here that the noise was deafening. Too much. This is lack of respect for the runners, this much noise/crazyness. Why bring your chainsaw and just make brutal noise? What is the point? Is that the spirit of ultra running? Mountains nature? No. That is complete lack of respect in my opinion.

[@runfilrun7]

Love the Hal Koerner story! Thanks for sharing Topher!

[@taylorross862]

So good! Thanks for everything so far this week guys! Added a lot to the stories!

[@Freetrail]

Thanks for watching!!

[@GlennGabrielMedia]

Best sport ever. Best episode ever (so far).

[@karenjones180]

Ludo is the French Jeff Browning!

[@expatadventureturkey9324]

Always enjoy Freetrail content, what a great race year for Jim and Zack! And not to mention the Queen of Ultra Trail Running Courtney D. Trifecta 🇺🇸🤙🏽

[@ellensilva3122]

We all cried too Katie haha

[@jtk534]

Big Jim and Zach finishing 1, 2 may cause serious trail running growth in the US. Not to mention what Courtney continues to do for that cause. Banner year for US, including CCC.

[@timpfluger]

Showing off all this Freetrail gear and waiting for it to restock so you can take my money! Thanks for a great week of shows and interviews.

[@Freetrail]

Lol, we'll re-open the store when we get home this week!

[@KMCB12]

Watching Katie watch the end of Courtney's race is one of my very favorite things.

[@reimon9781]

But do we have footage of DBo losing his mind on the streets of Chamonix after that 1&2 podium spots for the American Men? 🤔

[@staciawarwick2499]

Yes, I demand this footage as well 😂

[@Freetrail]

Luckily there was no footage of last night! 🤣

[@codyrobinson5130]

Gotta drop that mtn szn shirt asap, Dbo. Neeeeeed it

[@Freetrail]

We'll get them on the website as soon as we get home!

[@Shevock]

Zach is going to win this at some point. I hope to see Jim racing other races now. Other challenges

[@Freetrail]

We're doing a post-race interview today. I'll ask about future goals!

[@ildikopeter7850]

Jim said in irunfar interview that he wants to win utmb again. I too want Zach to win now, Jim should let other runners win. But this must be some kind of drog, look at the winners of utmb, Kilian 3-4times, Francois 3 times, Xavier 3 times... like once a winner, is not enough, you have to keep coming back. Zach has so much more humility, he was real happy with his 2nd place, and said like yeah next year do something else and come back another year, but that now the pressure's off. Jim did not seem happy with his 1st place, not as Zach is happy with his 2nd and his performance. I truly love and appreciate Zach's personality and humbleness.

[@LisaDanylchuk]

I find it disappointing that @Freetrail chose to record this during Courtney’s finish. Either wait for the first 3 (better first 10) female finishers before you do a race recap, or call it “instant reactions to the men’s race”

[@Freetrail]

We spent the entirety of the following show on the women’s race. Did you happen to listen to that? We do so much to elevate women’s racing - we have three podcasts in our network exclusively hosted by female pros. If it’s not good enough for you, we understand if you unfollow!

[@LisaDanylchuk]

@@Freetrail this isn’t about equal coverage, it’s about equal attention. I’ve listened to a ton of your UTMB coverage and I appreciate it. I am really hoping you’ll hear this point though - it felt like an act of disrespect to be doing something else during the #1 female’s finish (especially with the triple record being completed in that very moment). I’m not planning to unfollow, but do hope you’ll take the time to consider this perspective.

[@shanedoyle8933]

Course record?

[@94franz]

haha certainly not/ modified route as a matter of fact. But this does not make Jim's and Zach's performances less awesome and historical.

[@bernardknoll-ej5nq]

“Highest ranking American” “MALE MALE” Weird, pretty sure saying first American or first American male works. Highest ranking American would still be Jim since he placed 1st overall.