After spending two years in Arêches-Beaufort, France, Jim Walmsley is back at his home in Flagstaff, Arizona. Walmsley is taking time to rest and reflect on a successful year of firsts that saw him not only become the first American male to win UTMB in its 20-year history, but also set the course record. He also discovered a bit about himself in the process.
When asked how he felt about 2023, Walmsley said, “Starting the year out, it was a lot different. I came off of four months of skiing for the first time. That was all pretty new. I got to do some skimo races which was pretty fun, but the more interesting side of things was figuring out some of the vertical skimo races—just 20-minute races uphill. Doing more vertical races was the pioneer frontside of what I discovered in 2023. Perhaps I am a bit better at racing uphill than I thought I might be.”
Early in the year, he also won and set a course record at the Istria 100-miler—his first win at the distance beyond Western States. “One of the most interesting parts was how to transition from skiing back to running without getting injured and then opening up the year with a 100-miler in April. I’ve never raced a 100-miler that early in the year, plus the beginning of my running was delayed a lot. I think I started running really slow runs in the middle of February to get ready for that.” Starting with just 30 minutes each day, Walmsley began running again. For him, it was a new challenge and one that seemed to work.
However, once he began his next build for the World Trail Championships in June, injury struck. With two partial tears and one full tear of a ligament in his ankle—a severe grade three ankle sprain—he was sidelined for approximately six weeks and missed the championships. The injury also meant he’d be jumping right back into training to prepare for UTMB. “I cut it a little close with that. I had six weeks of not much running. It happened in early May and [I] had to restart again in mid-June.”
Once Walmsley healed enough to begin training again, it meant that maximizing the remainder of his weekly mileage was key. “It ended up putting the timeline to UTMB as close as possible. I had an ideal build-up, with one extra week to deal with, if anything didn’t go wrong—probably a nine-week build. I held out starting to run again as long as possible and started beating up the tendons, beating up the bones and muscles to handle the training—probably a month to six weeks after beginning the build.”
His longest run before UTMB ended up being on August 2, and was 50 miles with almost 24,000 feet of elevation gain. What happened next was history in every sense of the word—and was witnessed around the globe via livestream coverage. However, as Walmsley explains it, there were moments during the race when he realized how easily things could have gone the other way. “Something that was pretty special was that when one of us saw the opportunity to attack or move, we followed those instincts. Everybody’s aid stations were super on top of it, so no one was gaining significant times there. And then when Zach passed me on the balcony trail still in Italy, he didn’t wait a single second, he just went right past. I was at the beginning of my long lull.”
Paying attention to splits and knowing he wasn’t falling behind but also having issues descending, Walmsley continued to stay with Miller throughout the race. “When I got to catch Zach back, there wasn’t much of a hesitation and [I] just went right by. Looking back, both of us took our shots when we had them. It makes it a rewarding battle.”
Walmsley greets Zach Miller, who finished second, at the 2023 UTMB. Photo: David Miller
His win in 19:37:43 was a course record, beating Kilian Jornet’s 2022 time of 19:49:30 by just under 12 minutes. However, as the first American male to win UTMB, Walmsley reflected on finishing on the podium with Miller, who came in second in 19:58:58. “It was pretty special with Zach. If anything, there is a sense of guilt knowing that both of us have been in the same boat wanting to win UTMB and be the first American male. If I didn’t pass him, it would have been his moment. Still pretty fortunate and happy that I won.”
After UTMB, Walmsley continued to take advantage of his fitness by entering a couple more races. “Two weeks after UTMB there’s a backyard vertical kilometer race, and we have a bunch of professional skimo athletes who don’t do any trail running. But they are great athletes and very strong. It’s just kind of for fun and no expectations, but the last couple of years it’s gone well and I’ve won both times.”
Just four weeks after his win at UTMB, Walmsley stepped to the start line yet again, winning the Nice Côte d’Azur 100k and earning a Golden Ticket back to the 2024 Western States Endurance Run in June. Given the limited number of Golden Ticket races each year, he took advantage of the location and timing of Nice Côte d’Azur to run with friend and training partner Simon Gosselin who finished second and also received a Golden Ticket.
What does Walmsley have planned for 2024? He’ll start the year at Transgrancanaria and then return to France for the month of March to ski, and spend spring in Arizona while training for Western States. He’ll then head to Hardrock to support friends in the San Juans. In the second half of July, he’ll return to France once again, and finalize training for UTMB. “It’s more about trying to relax and enjoy being back in the US, and seeing friends and family and catching up, than refocusing and trying to do something at the end of the year.”