Catherine and Michel Poletti are the Co-Founders of the UTMB races series in Chamonix, France. They join the podcast to discuss their vision for trail running over the last two decades, their history with ITRA and the Ultra Trail World Tour, partnering with Ironman and building of the UTMB World Series, and their opinions on where our sport is heading in the years and decades to come.
Timestamps:
0:55) - similarities and differences between American and European racing
(4:43) - shaping American events in the image of UTMB versus maintaining their historical elements
(8:57) - reflecting on how well the UTMB World Series experiment has worked so far
(10:36) - how the vision for UTMB has changed or stayed the same over the last 20 years
(13:26) - incentives for growing UTMB
(19:21) - history with ITRA, Ultra Trail World Tour
(23:46) - genesis of partnership with Ironman
(31:44) - UTMB’s perspective on independent races
(36:10) - perspective on equality and sustainability issues in trail running
(45:54) - the independence of trail running
(52:46) - future of ultra trail running
(65:38) - final thoughts
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