Following the scandal that emerged after Martina Valmassoi’s post, I firmly believe it deserves a few thoughts from everyone.
For some years, I have disliked the direction of the UTMB world tour and, consequently, the entire Trail Running movement. Now I feel it is currently going too far.
The whole qualifying score system, where the amount of points you earn from the race only depends on how much the race organizer paid the ITRA company, ignoring how complex, technical, or spectacular the race is, sounds unethical, not to say like a mafia.
I earned most ITRA points in the worst shitholes and no points at all on top of the world’s most beautiful mountains in Austria. And next year is about to get even worse when the runners will be qualified for UTMB only by collecting enough “tuning stones” that they will earn only by racing at events owned by UTMB.
The second criticism highlighted by Martina is regarding the registration fee. Her complaint was not only about the outrageous price of €270 but also because Elite runners had no discount. In my opinion, this is the only fair choice UTMB has made since this sport is committed to equality, and Elites runners often have a sponsor that will pay their fee.
But. (There is a big BUT) from an organizational point of view, what would justify such a high price?
The Staff? Most of them are volunteers paid with food and drinks and a sweatshirt with a sponsor on it. Exactly. Sponsors, covering infrastructure costs at aid stations, food & beverages, and finisher prizes.
Than what? Prize money? Only €10.000 were allocated to prizes this year and only for the UTMB race. (none for TDS or PTL)
I have organized, since a couple of years now, a race that is nothing remotely comparable to UTMB. We have 200 registrants instead of 10.000, and we have only about 20 volunteers covering 24km of trails instead of 170km.
Our registration fee this year was €20, and with it, we managed, with no sponsors, to cover the costs for logistics, food & beverage at aid stations, and a small finisher prize (a Mug)
A stupid logic brings me to do simple maths where:
170km is around seven times 24km, but €270 is thirteen times €20.
And if we compare as an example, just the TDS having around 1600 runners paying for €270, with our 200 runners paying for €20, it makes a €423.000 income on a €4000. Over a hundred times more.
I fully understand that a race going over days and nights on Mont Blanc requires much more safety, rescuers, and infrastructure than any other race, but is it that much of a difference?
Or is it because the organizers are well aware that the unique spectacle between Chamonix, Courmayeur, and Champex is unrepeatable, and runners would pay any price to run it?
But why does UTMB acquire the right to charge these aberrant fees to run on mountains they do not own? Mountains should belong to the entire population.
Well, because UTMB is not a race anymore, but a Brand. And the law of economic demand explains that higher demand generates a higher price.
Is this legit? Yes. Is it ethically correct? No. Capitalism is not always (not to say never) ethically correct.
But this is probably one of the worst parts of Capitalism, where they savagely monetize people’s passion and love for nature.
Is this what made you deeply fall in love with this sport?
We all know most of us are hooked on running gear and spend crazy amounts of money on shoes, clothes, and electronic devices we actually do not need to run. But isn’t this going too far? UTMB isn’t even selling a physical product; it is literally selling Air. Fresh and clean Air indeed, but that we could have for free.
I am not suggesting anyone boycott a UTMB event, but just be curious, when subscribing to your next race, about who you are financing, what is the philosophy of the race and what are the founding values of the organization.
And if you are living close to the Mont Blanc region, start thinking of founding your race that stays in line with the authentic running values.