Articles by Gael Dutigny
We sat down with David Laney and Topher Gaylord to find out what they thought key differences were between the US and Europe when it comes to athletes running UTMB Mont-Blanc.
After a DNF in 2024 and an immediate visit to a local witch store to redeem myself to Santa Muerte, I was eager to return to Puerto Vallarta Mexico by UTMB and finish the 100k. Unfortunately, in the days and weeks leading up to the race in early February, the small coastal city was shaken by cartel violence.
Before I dig deeper into my Black Canyon Ultras weekend, I’ll say this: being an ultra trail runner doesn’t have to mean living out of a van or leaning into a dirtbag camping vibe. After years of accepting discomfort in races around the world, I decided to treat myself for once.
52. 3. 8. 37. 4. 3. 10. 17. 46. 5.0.0. Those are the GPS coordinates to the Ark of God (just kidding). This series of numbers is, simply put, the backbone of my life, the egomaniac virtuous circle that has fueled all my...
La Diagonale Des Fous, also known as Le Grand Raid de la Réunion, literally "the diagonal of the madmen," was established in 1989 and is the oldest French ultra-trail event. For anyone but the French, it's extremely exo...
The importance of mental health is still vastly underrated. I spoke to Dr. Michael Gervais, a high-performance psychologist and key asset to many professional teams and athletes in the United States, to find out more abo...
The Hong Kong 100 course includes over 17,000 feet of elevation gain with hundreds of stairs, trails and sandy beaches along the course. courtesy Hong Kong 100 One of my favorite things in life is traveling across the w...
Last November, I tried to run one of the offered distances in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, by UTMB, and failed quite miserably. I was caught by surprise because of the difficulty…
Staged at the Peoria Sports Complex in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, Across the Years is an event that features a variety of distances, ranging from the 6-day to the marathon, including 100-mile and 200-mile races, 24 to 72-hour races and even a Last Person Standing competition.
On the last weekend of October, the little town of Albi in the south of France hosted a prestigious but grassroots event: the Albi24H (which will host the 24-hour World Championships next October*). I was there, scouting...
The author (right) and Paul Templer at the 2024 Marathon Des Sables. courtesy Marathon Des Sables Marathon Des Sables (MDS) is one of those few races that shapes, defines and breaks people. MDS is...
After a 37-years run under the management of the event’s iconic founder, Patrick Bauer, the Marathon Des Sables (MDS) changed ownership earlier this year. I have raced this event nine times under Bauer's direction and re...
Born in Manila, Philippines, almost 35 years ago, Jeremiah Maestre moved to America when he was three. His journey, first in boxing and now in ultrarunning, is about inspiring people to find themselves through sports.
Can we predict the upcoming UTMB Mont-Blanc podium? Let’s see. Kilian and François will not start. Jim wants to double it. Tom wants to copy and paste Jim. Pau wants redemption. Aurélien will be the most confident man on...
The Tarawera course includes rocky and rooty trails. Cameron Mackenzie / Graeme Murray Few know that if Zen philosophy originated in India and progressed from China to Japan, it has now and withou...
Spectators cheer on finishers at the 2023 UTMB. David Miller Sometimes, social media tends to make things look more important. As intense as the comments have been, I understand the UTMB brand and the UTMB...
No other athlete is as responsible for the economic boom of trail and ultrarunning as Kilian Jornet. His youthful spirit, humility and victories have strengthened us, and everyone in the industry has benefited from his t...
One of the most recent mental health research papers was written in 2021 by Jill A. Colangelo, an American sports psychiatry expert who’s also an ultrarunner. Her thesis from Harvard concluded that th...
Margot Fleming’s father, Thomas J. Fleming, won the New York Marathon in 1973 and 1975, and was runner-up in the Boston Marathon in 1973 and 1974. Margot runs longer distances, like her mother, and has numerous 100-mile finishes under her belt. We sat down with her to find out more about her family’s history with running and her love of the sport.
During his career, my dad moved our little Parisian family to Mexico City in the 80s for three years without much warning. My life was very privileged, and I still have fond memories. I’ll forever be grateful to this...
Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz won Hardrock by 50 minutes over Beñat Marmissolle, another Frenchman, and more than 2 hours ahead of the first American, Courtney Dauwalter. He took the time to reflect on his win with us and other things ultrarunning related, including the upcoming UTMB and the Diagonale Des Fous in the Reunion Island in October.
You don’t actually have to get wet to understand surfing. And when I say surfing, I mean all board sports including skateboarding and snowboarding. Am I saying that all surfers, skateboarder...
There is more to France, and French territories, than UTMB. Here are a few French ultramarathons to add to your international radar. All five are both epic and memorable. La 6000D Views of the c...
Marathon des Sables is a race where you can come out physically washed up but mentally stronger. As an eight-time finisher heading to my ninth start of this stage race happening in the Sahara in Morocco in a couple of days, I can share with you how I try to improve my gear every year. As you’re about to see, outdoor companies from across the globe are incredibly resourceful.
If you like adventurous trail running, India’s geography is to die for. Not only are the trails infinite, but the wildlife is at your fingertips—for the better, mostly. From the Himalayas to dense jungles a...
The author battles the elements of the Saraha Desert during Marathon des Sables. Courtesy Marathon des Sables Jordan Tropf, fifth overall and first American at Marathon des Sables (MDS) last year, as we...
Katie Schide was the first-place finisher at this year's UTMB. Courtesy UTMB / Pascal Tournaire After Katie Schide’s win at UTMB this past August—her third attempt—she and I had a heated debate over UT...
This past June, professor Guillaume Millet gathered some of his most trusted international colleagues and held an online trail running webinar divided in two parts: uphill trail running...
European males have dominated Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc since day one. Ex-Arizonian, HOKA athlete, and now French resident Jim Walmsley has been trying to change the game since his first attempt at UTMB in 2017, where he finished fifth (he didn’t finish in 2018 or 2021). What can Jim Walmsley do to win UTMB?
Marathon Des Sables (MDS) never shows mercy. I have taken that race for granted a few times and suffered the consequences. There’s always something new to learn. Some of the new things I tried went unexpectedly sideways this year. But hey, it’s all good: I survived and finished. Here is my humble take on a few items.
You and I both know it. European males have dominated Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) since day one. Even in 2003, when the race launched, Dawa Sherpa, a Nepalese living in Switzerland at the time, won over two Ameri...
Instead of gathering in Hong Kong, Vibram Hong Kong 100 runners from across the world were offered an alternative: run it anywhere, on their own course. The rules were straightforward: run the course in Hong Kong without any official support from the race organizers, only if you were a local resident. Or, run and match the distance and elevation from wherever you live. That’s the brilliant part.
Up in the mountains, Pau Capell’s mastery is unstoppable. The 29-year-old from Sant Boi de Llobregat, a small town near Barcelona, Spain, has every modern mountain trail runner in check. In 2019, he won the Ultra Trail d...
Many might know the name Katie Schide from her rank as #9 UltraRunner of the Year in 2018. Back then, she was living in Switzerland while pursuing her PhD, and placed second at UTMB CCC. In 2019, she went on to finish se...
The Hong Kong 100 happened right before the Coronavirus outbreak. It featured amazing local runners, most of them from mainland China, and showed how much we will be missing them this season if this world health crisis d...
At first, Escape from the Jungle, which will take place in the deep jungle of Belize during February 24–March 7, appeared to be an insanely dangerous event. The first week is called “Jungle Survival Training,” and local guides will follow each runner during the actual race, making sure participants will not…die.
In 2018, Dutch ultrarunner Ragna Debats became both Trail Running and Skyrunning World Champion. She was 39 years old. We met with her after her win at CCC in Chamonix to discuss her future goals.URM: Before we start tal...
The long stage is the most feared stage of the race. This year, for the 34th anniversary, it was sandy and hot. Not really a day at the beach.
This is my seventh Marathon des Sables, and it took me three days to write this story. Three days of heat, sand, wind and miles of stony plateau. Three days of acclimatization, digestion really, of what the desert had in store.
Hong Kong is one of the most amazing cities in the world. It’s vibrant, modern, eccentric, loud and charming as hell. The Vibram® Hong Kong 100, its most famous footrace, is hard but memorable, and terribly hot. In other...
The Marathon Des Sables is long (6 stages, 7 days) and exhausting: 155 miles on average each year, with temperatures always in the 90s. The only thing race management gives you is water, more or less, every six miles. All the rest you must carry in your 14-33 pound backpack. Here are my last-minute tips regarding gear for the 34th Marathon Des Sables.
We met with Marie Sammons, the director of the Ultra-Trail® World Tour, to ask her about the present and future of her organization.
Once again, I will share with you my humble perspectives on what happened at UTMB® this year. Sure, I run trail ultras myself, a little. But I’m mostly a critic. That’s what I do. Some of you will like this, some of you...
This is the last text from the Sahara, my friends, after three days of cruel intensity. Magdalena Boulet won the race easy. She still looks amazing. Most of us survived it, struggling.
The sandstorm happened last night at midnight and was awful. But it also gave birth to the best day we’ve had so far. The Sahara… go figure.
Gaël Couturier, five-time Marathon Des Sables finisher, reports while running the 2018 Marathon Des Sables in the Sahara desert in Morocco.