UTMB: Claassen Makes History for South Africa
Daniel Claassen became the first South African male to crack the top 10 at the holy grail of trail – the UTMB. Claassen finished fifth in the tough 153km TDS race in 19 hours 51 minutes 19 seconds behind winner Antoine Charvolin, who clocked 18:22.17. It was the best place finish by a South African man at a UTMB event in history as he consolidated his place at the top of the South African trail running standings.
…for the final third of the race, all I was doing was fixating over the iconic Chamonix finish line moment, Claassen said.
“For the final third of the race, all I was doing was fixating over the iconic Chamonix finish line moment. It makes the 20 hours of running and suffering worth it. The place where every runner feels like a winner and everyone’s personal journey gets recognised. No place like it,” Claassen said on Instagram.
The only other South African to have finished in the top 10 at UTMB events was Toni McCann who won the women’s 55km OCC in 2023 and the 100km CCC in 2024.
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Ultra-trail Mont Blanc (UTMB) is considered by many as one of the most prestigious and iconic trail running events in the world. Held annually in Chamonix, France, it attracts elite athletes and passionate trail runners from across the globe. More than 10000 runners participated in the event’s eight races, including the UTMB World Series Finals. Here’s a round-up of the top results over the past weekend:
After two DNFs, Tom Evans wins his first UTMB 100-mile title: Turns out, third time running the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc certainly was the charm for Tom Evans, even if the weather was decidedly not.
The 33-year-old former British army officer battled rain, snow, and sleet, a strong field of international runners, and about 9500m of elevation gain and loss on the weather-shortened 165km race (usually 174km) around the Mont Blanc massif on Friday and Saturday, en route to winning in 19:18:58. Evans won the CCC 100km in 2018 and the Western States 100 in 2023, but he dropped out of UTMB in both 2023 and 2024.
The race, although shortened slightly because of the bad weather through the night and early morning hours, sent runners through parts of France, Italy, and Switzerland before completing the loop around the Mont Blanc massif.
Evans called the win a career moment, but only the second-best thing that’s happened to him this year. Earlier this spring, his wife, Sophie, gave birth to their first child, daughter Phoebe.
“My goals today weren’t to win. My goals today were to be able to look at myself in the mirror after the race and be proud of what I’ve achieved,” Evans said after the race. “I stuck with a plan of just being really, really patient. And then at Arnuova, it kind of just all opened up and got a little bit of a gap, and from there I thought, ‘Right, here’s my opportunity, let’s try and take it.’
“I think with these things, if you try too hard to win, which I have done previously, it’s really difficult. So it was difficult anyway. But this year it was all about letting the race come to me, and it’s just the most incredible, spectacular race, and to have a victory at UTMB is a dream come true.”
Men’s Top 10 Results – UTMB 2025
- Tom Evans (Great Britain) – 19:18:58
- Ben Dhiman (USA) – 19:51:37
- Josh Wade (Great Britain) – 20:05:06
- Ji Duo (China) – 20:15:05
- Thibaut Garrivier (France) – 20:20:25
- Ludovic Pommeret (France) – 20:40:34
- Yannick Noël (France) – 21:03:41
- Jiasheng Shen (China) – 21:11:59
- Rod Farvard (USA) – 21:18:24
- Jiaju Zhao (China) – 21:19:47
Ruth Croft becomes the first woman to win the prestigious UTMB, CCC, and OCC trio: With her UTMB win, 36-year-old Croft is now the first woman to win all three of the UTMB World Series championship races in Chamonix. The New Zealand native won the CCC 100km in 2015 and the OCC 50km in 2018 and 2019, and finished second in the UTMB race last year.
Croft knew she had a tall task heading into this year’s UTMB – not only was the weather forecast predicting cold rain and snow, but there was also the notion of racing against American legend Courtney Dauwalter, who many consider the GOAT of ultra-distance trail running.
Dauwalter entered the race with three UTMB wins under her belt (2019, 2021, 2023) and a nearly unbeaten track record since 2019, a span during which she had won 25 of the 26 50km or longer races she finished. But although both the inclement weather and Dauwalter were formidable through the first half of the race, Croft was relentless in her pursuit of victory and overcame both to win in 22:56:23. Dauwalter finished 10th in 25:50:58. Her husband, Kevin Schmidt, told Runner’s World that she is not hurt but just had a rough day.
Croft also won the 2022 Western States 100 in California and the Tarawera Ultramarathon 100km race in New Zealand, but has had her eyes on UTMB the past few years. “It wasn’t necessarily the main goal, just kind of like a cherry on top,” she said. “I think it’s interesting to look back at 2015, which was my first year at Chamonix, when I won the CCC, and so it’s taken ten years to get to this point and win UTMB.”
French runner Camille Bruyas finished second in 23:28:48, while Germany’s Katharina Hartmuth was third in 24:16:39.
Women’s Top 10 Results – UTMB 2025
- Ruth Croft (New Zealand) – 22:56:23
- Camille Bruyas (France) – 23:28:48
- Katharina Harmuth (Germany) – 24:16:39
- Anna Carlsson (Sweden) – 24:39:42
- Maëlle Deruaz (France) – 24:43:02
- Magali Mellon (France) – 24:48:12
- Lucy Bartholomew (Australia) – 24:51:32
- Lauren Puretz (USA) – 24:54:57
- Claudia Tremps (Spain) – 25:05:07
- Courtney Dauwalter (USA) – 25:50:38
2025 CCC 100km – UTMB World Series Final
This year’s CCC was considered by many as the most competitive race in the UTMB festival this past weekend. With an eye on proper recovery for next month’s World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Spain, some of the top runners who would usually race the full UTMB loop opted for the shorter CCC race.
It was clear skies for much of this race, which runs from Courmayeur, Italy, to Champex-Lac, Switzerland, and ultimately to the finish in Chamonix, France, hence the name CCC. The race totalled 20013 feet of elevation over its 100km distance.
Martyna Młynarczyk (Poland) battled a surprise late surge from Sylvia Nordskar (Norway) to win the women’s race in 11:41:55. Nordskar finished a mere 18 seconds behind as the two women ran the race’s second- and third-fastest times ever. Młynarczyk’s win was celebrated after she was disappointed at having to drop out of this year’s Western States 100, and it improved on her 2024 second-place CCC finish.
Men’s winner Francesco Puppi from Italy ran a calculated, clever race, leaving David Sinclair (USA) and everyone else behind over the race’s second half. Puppi’s 10:06:02 time was also the race’s second-fastest ever.
2025 CCC Men’s Results
- Francesco Puppi (Italy) – 10:06:02
- David Sinclair (USA) – 10:13:42
- Drew Holmen (USA) – 10:16:15
- Arnaud Bonin (France) – 10:26:03
- Jeshurun Small (USA) – 10:28:57
- Guang-Fu Meng (China) – 10:31:36
- Eli Hemming (USA) – 10:34:36
- Loïc Rolland (France) – 10:36:41
- Mario Olmedo (Spain) – 10:40:19
- Gui-Du Qin (China) – 10:43:24
2025 CCC Women’s Results
- Martyna Młynarczyk (Poland) – 11:41:55
- Sylvia Nordskar (Norway) – 11:42:13
- Anna Tarasova (Spain) – 11:44:18
- Blandine L’Hirondel (France) – 11:53:31
- Veronika Leng (Slovakia) – 12:00:27
- Lotti Brinks (USA) – 12:02:23
- Robyn Lesh (USA) – 12:16:10
- Julie Roux (France) – 12:24:18
- Jing-Yan Tang (China) – 12:42:54
- Allison Baca (USA) – 12:44:05
Orsières-Champex-Chamonix (OCC) 61km
Joyline Chepngeno becomes the first Kenyan to win OCC at UTMB: In the women’s race, Kenya’s Joyline Chepngeno ran a brave race in her first attempt at this distance and ran as dominantly as she has in the Golden Trail World Series the past two years. Just two weeks after winning the 19-mile Sierre-Zinal mountain race in Switzerland, she won OCC in 5:34:03, outrunning China’s Miao Yao (5:35:13) and Switzerland’s Judith Wyder (5:38:22). “The course was very hard for me, but I tried my best and I am happy with the result,” Chepngeno said.
Jim Walmsley wins OCC at UTMB: Jim Walmsley admitted on Thursday afternoon after winning the Orsières-Champex-Chamonix (OCC) trail running race in Chamonix, France, that it’s sometimes better to be lucky than good. And yet, he also proved it’s even better to be fast than to be lucky.
The American ultrarunning star dropped down from his usual 100-mile and 100km distances to compete in the shortest of the three UTMB races, but his versatile skill set and racing savvy still put him atop the podium after a gritty effort on the 61km.
The 35-year-old runner from Flagstaff, Arizona, opted not to run in the more prestigious UTMB race, where he became the first US male runner to win in 2023, because he wanted to make sure he’s fresh enough to compete in the 80km race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships from 25 to 28 September in Spain.
Top South African Performances:
TDS 153km
5 Daniel Claassen 19:51.19
CCC 101km
76 Thato Kabeli
OCC 57km
81 Kane Reilly 6:20.33
96 Jacques Buys 6:32:05
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