The mystical Trail du Saint-Jacques by UTMB welcomes over 3,900 runners as French duo Duncan Perrillat and Maggy Bouisse first across the line
Maiden 100-mile victories for French athletes Perrillat and Bouisse.
Aurélie Paul (FRA) wins her category by an impressive margin in the 100km race.
Podium spots for UTMB World Series Elite Support Program Greek athletes, Konstantino Paradeisopoulos (1st, 50K) and Despoina Simantrakou (2nd, 100K).
Trail du Saint-Jacques by UTMB® delivered an incredible weekend of racing across the famous Camino de Santiago trails in the Haute-Loire region of France, with the 100-mile Ultra du Saint-Jacques kicking off proceedings and setting the tone with a mystical atmosphere. All finishers collected precious Running Stones allowing them to enter the lottery to the sought-after UTMB® Mont-Blanc for the 2024 edition onwards, the home of the UTMB® World Series Finals.
2022 French Marathon Champion, Duncan Perrillat (FRA – UTMB Index 599) proved to be the surprise victor of the weekend, winning the queen-race despite being new to the ultra-distance running. It turned out to be the weekend of dreams for the French runner’s debut UTMB World Series event, finishing first in 13:08:37.
“It was hard, but it was so good! What I find so cool with this race is that you really have all the terrain; you have a bit of road, you have dirt, you have sand, you have grass, you have big and small stones, huge, medium and small climbs, small descents, big descents. You really have everything in the race, it's cool and it's very hard at the same time,” said Perrillat who was joined on the all-French podium by Jonathan Moncany (13:31:48 – UTMB Index 809) and Victor Debil-Caux (13:51:53 – UTMB Index 757).
With Caroline Benoit (FRA – UTMB Index 572) withdrawing from the event after being in the lead, Maggy Bouisse (FRA – UTMB Index 655) ran her own race before celebrating her maiden victory over the 100-mile distance in 17:23:43. Souadia Blain (FRA – UTMB Index 587) battled it out with Bouisse throughout the race, before having to settle for second place and crossing the line in 17:35:02. Alice Olivier (FRA – UTMB Index 628) completed the all-French podium in 18:21:12. All three earn a place in the UTMB race at the UTMB World Series Finals in August, where Bouisse will look to build on her experience and result from 2022 where she finished 28th.
In the Grand Trail du Saint-Jacques (100K), the top three finished within 20 minutes of each other. Matthieu Simon (FRA – UTMB Index 860) proved victorious in 07:12:33 with Geoffrey Rocha (FRA – UTMB Index 762) and William Dupuis (FRA – UTMB Index 798) finishing second and third respectively in 07:25:59 and 07:32:22.
Aurélie Paul (FRA – UTMB Index 696) took the most commanding win of the weekend in the women’s race, winning with over one hour to spare ahead of Despoina Simantrakou (09:15:56 – GRC – UTMB Index 617) and Clémentine Balayn (09:37:17 – FRA – UTMB Index 591).
UTMB® World Series Elite Support program athlete and pre-race favorite, Konstantinos Paradeisopoulous (GRC – UTMB Index 870) took the win in the Maratrail – 50km. After suffering a DNF at UTMB Mont-Blanc CCC® last year, this result is an impressive comeback for the Greek runner who will look forward to returning to Chamonix in August to take on the OCC. It was a close battle for the top step however, with Ludvik Fernandes (FRA – UTMB Index 841) crossing the line just two minutes behind. Daniel Castillo (ESP – UTMB Index 867) completed the international podium in third.
In the women’s race, Mathilde Sagnes (FRA – UTMB Index 763) enjoyed her first 50K race victory after completing the course in 03:49:06. Laure Paradan (04:00:26 - FRA – UTMB Index 702) finished second with Celia Balcells-Serra (04:10:49 - ESP – UTMB Index 681) third.
With four race distances on offer, plus two Nordic walking events, almost 800 runners took on the Les Chibottes – 20K race distance. A hotly contested race, it was fast and furious from the outset with Thomas Lautier (FRA – UTMB Index 794) taking the win in 01:12:39. Ewen Porhial (FRA - UTMB Index 744) and Javier Dominguez-Ledo (ESP – UTMB Index 765) were hot on his heels in second and third with times of 01:13:19 and 01:15:44. Emilie Menuet (FRA – UTMB Index 677) established a gap in the women’s race to cross the line in 01:20:31, ahead of Clara Vallès de Lanuza (ESP) and Séverine Guerif (FRA – UTMB Index 557).
The UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Cathedral Notre-Dame du Puy proved the perfect finish line backdrop to conclude an incredible weekend of racing as almost 4,000 runners and 900 volunteers experienced the beauty and challenge of Ultra Trail du Saint-Jacques by UTMB.
Full results are available here.
