Chamonix, France, August 30. Krissy Moehl of Seattle won the 7th annual Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, a 103-mile circumnavigation of Mont Blanc, which starts and finishes in Chamonix. The race, which goes from France into Italy and Switzerland before returning to France, has more than 31,000 feet of elevation gain. Defending champion Lizzy Hawker of England was second, more than an hour behind. Moehl became the second American woman to win the race. Nikki Kimball won in 2007.
Kilian Jornet of Spain successfully defended his title, winning the overall race by more than an hour.
Moehl finished eleventh overall and was the top American finisher. Scott Jurek of Seattle and Joe Grant of Portland, Oregon tied for 19th in 26:07:19. Topher Gaylord of Los Angeles was 24th in 26:47:28. Of the 2282 starters, 1382 finished, with the last finisher taking 46:37.
Photo at left: Rob Apple leading a crowd up Arete Mont Favre (Susan Donnelly photo)
Men
1. Kilian Jornet, 22, Puigcerda, Spain, 21:33:18
2. Sebastien Chaignieu, 27, Veyrier du Lac, France, 22:36:45
3. Tsuyoshi Kaburagi, 40, Takasaki, Japan, 22:48:36
4. Uli Calmbach, 40, Danzdorf, Germany, 23:10:49
5. Lionel Trivel, 28, Yssingeau, France, 23:34:28
Women
1. Kristin Moehl, 30, Seattle, WA, 24:56:01
2. Elizabeth Hawker, 33, Winterthur, England, 26:04:42
3. Monica Aguilera Viladomiu, Barcelona, Spain, 29:17:31
4. Denise Zimmermann, Mels, Switzerland, 31:16:38
5. (tie) Julia Rousset, Carpentras, France, 33:17:53
(tie) Audrey Ehanno, Murat, France, 33:17:53