The UTMB CCC (Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc Courmayeur – Champex – Chamonix) is a 100km race that is one of seven races featured in the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc event that takes place annually at Chamonix in France.

Here is our guide to the race, how to take part and how to follow live.

The CCC race takes place on Friday, August 25 and is scheduled to begin between 09:00-09:30 local time (08:00-08:30 UK time), with the first finishers expected to arrive at 19:30 (18:30). 

UTMB®TV is the television channel for directly experiencing all the highlights of the event (starts, live-coverage, interviews, films, following the race leader, finishes). 

LIVETRAIL® allows you to follow runners as they make their way round the course, giving estimated times and live tracking. 

UTMB® Live will carry live feeds of 15 webcams for different races across the UTMB weekend which will also package highlights for each runner as they make their way through their races. 

The route begins in the centre of Courmayeur and after the first kilometres on an original route – different from the UTMB® – runners will quickly climb to 2500m of altitude to enjoy an exceptional landscape, facing the Mont-Blanc and the Grandes Jorasses.  

The path to the Grand col Ferret (2537m) invites runners to enter Switzerland, where they will taste the incomparable welcome of the volunteers of La Fouly, Champex and Trient.  

Already in France but still so close to Switzerland, there will be the chance to exhibit the authenticity of Vallorcine, before climbing up to Vallons des Chezerys, which host a magnificent view over the Mont-Blanc chain. It is then time to finally reach the finish line in the heart of Chamonix.   

The course contains 6,100 metres of ascension and is 100km long. Competitors must complete the course in a time of 26 hours 30 minutes with a maximum start list of 1,900 runners. 

On course there will be seven aid stations at 13km, 25km, 40km, 53km, 70km, 80km and 92km. 

Competitors must provide a specific medical certificate in French in order to take part. The entry fee to take part in the OCC is €189 (£160). 

Runners using poles must do so from the start and carry them for the whole race. No poles are authorised in the spare bags.

There are some areas of the course where, for safety or environmental reasons, poles are forbidden. These areas are marked by specific signs. 

The popularity of the UTMB races makes them increasingly difficult to enter. All runners who want to qualify have to do so through a lottery. Previously, entry to the lottery came through a points system with runners securing points from competing in UTMB affiliated races. But from 2023 onwards that system is changing with entry to the lottery requiring runners to have at least one Running Stone which they have acquired in the previous two years. Runners can collect running stones by competing in one of the UTMB World Series races

Runners also need to have a valid UTMB Index in the category corresponding to the race. In the case of the CCC runners need a valid and up to date UTMB Index in the 50K, 100K or 100M category

2019 Luis Alberto Hernando Alzaga (ESP)

RUN247’s very own columnist Jon Albon will be in amongst the favourites to take the crown in the men’s race as he aims to follow last year’s OCC victory – he leads the field with a 945 UTMB performance index.

His nearest rivals are set to be the US pair of David Sinclair and 2017 CCC winner Hayden Hawks.

On the women’s side, Blandine L’Hirondel, the 2021 OCC race winner, is looking to add the 100km crown to her title from 12 months ago. She is the leading contender on the UTMB performance index.

She’ll be rivalled by Ruth Charlotte Croft who is looking for a second success over the 100km distance – she won the 2015 iteration of the race and is a two-time OCC winner.

Hot weather kit (may be required by the organization, depending on weather conditions) 

Cold weather kit (may be required by the organization, depending on weather conditions) 

*** it is possible to use the same glasses if they are suitable both for the sun and bad weather (such as glasses with photo-chromatic lenses) 

All clothing items must fit the runner – in terms of size – and they must not be altered in any way after leaving the factory. The mandatory gear must be carried in a running pack for the duration of the whole race.  The running pack is tagged during race-pack collection and must not be changed during the race. 

Other recommended equipment (including but not limited to)