The 2026 Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc delivered history-making performances at the front of the pack — but for some of the most celebrated names in ultrarunning, the legendary 108-mile loop around Mont Blanc ended far too soon.
While Ben Dhiman and Blandine L’Hirondel were busy etching their names into the record books with the fastest men’s and women’s times ever recorded at UTMB, a staggering list of pre-race favorites were quietly making their way to the DNF board.
Three-time champion Courtney Dauwalter, Western States record-holder Vincent Bouillard, and an entire professional team all fell before the finish line — and the reasons why are as dramatic as the race itself.
Here’s the full breakdown of what went wrong for the sport’s biggest stars at one of trail running’s most unforgiving events.
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Two Legends Who Never Made It to the Start Line
Before a single shoe hit the trail, the sport lost two of its most iconic names to injury.
Jim Walmsley, the 2023 UTMB champion, withdrew just days before the race with a persistent knee injury — the same one that forced him off the course at Western States earlier this summer.
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I have to train a bit around what I can handle, focus more on PT exercises, and looking forward to take some time to cheer on friends this week.
Walmsley wasn’t alone in his heartbreak. Four-time UTMB champion Kilian Jornet announced his withdrawal the very same day — after a punishing 56-mile reconnaissance run on the course the day before confirmed his own knee wasn’t ready.
I saw after five hours when I was feeling very good, the pain and all the other problems were again there. I decided to not run UTMB and to focus on some interventions to solve the problem for good.
Jornet shared the news while hiking with his youngest daughter on his back. Brutal in the best possible way.
The Stomach Bug That Took Down Two Elites Before Mile 20
A Chamonix stomach flu swept through the race week like a second competitor — and it was merciless.
Canyon Woodward, who placed eighth at Western States just two months prior, felt well enough to start but lasted only to the 32K checkpoint at Les Contamines.
Friday I felt good enough to get out of bed and decided to give it a whirl. I felt good and ran well for about 16 miles, then I think my stomach caught wind of the scale of the adventure I was plotting and said heck no.
China’s Fuzhao Xiang — a two-time Western States runner-up — exited at the exact same checkpoint, though for different reasons. She’d been battling an ankle injury since States and made a pre-race agreement with her team to reassess at mile 20.
Every kilometer on the trail, along with the entire lead-up to the race, was a battle. A struggle with my own mind, and a fight against injury. I have no regrets about choosing to start.
Dauwalter and Bouillard Both Bow Out at Mile 42 — Minutes Apart
Perhaps the most jaw-dropping subplot of the entire weekend: Courtney Dauwalter and Vincent Bouillard — two of the sport’s most decorated champions — both abandoned the race at Lac Combal (68K) within 13 minutes of each other.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
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Same checkpoint. Same night. Two legends.
Dauwalter, 41, arrived at UTMB fresh off yet another course-record win at the Hardrock 100 in July — a double she’d pulled off before. But this time, the accumulated fatigue may have caught up with her. Reports suggest she took a wrong turn early in the race, found herself outside the top 10, and ultimately made the call to stop before the brutal climb into Courmayeur.
We fully believed. We didn’t know if Hardrock still lingered, we didn’t know how my body would do, and we were ready for any result as long as we tried. Because how do you know if you don’t give it a shot?
Bouillard’s story runs remarkably parallel. After winning Western States in a course record this past June, the 2024 UTMB champion returned looking for back-to-back glory. He led early through Saint Gervais at mile 14, then fell back sharply once the course’s mountain terrain took hold.
Historical data had already predicted this outcome — runners doubling back from Western States to UTMB have consistently struggled, and this year proved no exception. Bouillard has yet to publicly address what happened.
Knee Injuries, Bad Feet, and a “Mechanical” Day From Hell
The carnage didn’t stop at Lac Combal. Rod Farvard, who’d been managing a knee issue heading into race week, found that training through it and racing hard on it were entirely different propositions.
Knee did not hold up unfortunately. Manageable through training but racing hard really aggravated it by the time we got to Notre Dame. Hobbling down descents so it was an easy call but for sure bummed! Long road of rehab ahead.
Chris Myers — who finished second at Western States last year — had his race unravel in an almost entirely avoidable way. An infected foot that began swelling the Monday before race day led to a last-minute course of antibiotics, and things deteriorated from there.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
The Monday before the race my foot started to swell painfully and I ultimately made the decision to start taking antibiotics the day before the race. The result was a downward spiral.
Myers held on impressively until mile 79 before his body forced the decision. Italy’s Martina Valmassoi lasted until mile 62, describing a race where she was burning energy reserves from the very first steps.
I’m actually really surprised I made it that far at really good speed. It was just too far to grind my teeth more.
An Entire Professional Team Goes Down
If one story captures the sheer brutality of 2026 UTMB, it’s this: every single athlete on The North Face’s UTMB roster DNFed.
Fan favorite Zach Miller — a former runner-up at UTMB — started characteristically hard and was still in the mix through the race’s toughest sections. Reports from the course placed him sitting trailside in Switzerland, refusing to quit, long after most would have called it. His race finally ended at mile 95.
The Chamonix flu is believed to have swept through the North Face team house during race week, potentially impacting Jon Albon, Josh Wade, Elsey Davis, and Kaytlyn Gerbin — all of whom also failed to finish.
With a 30.1% overall DNF rate across 2,406 starters, this year’s race was actually kinder than most — but for the sport’s biggest names, UTMB 2026 served its usual reminder that no résumé, no record, and no reputation can guarantee 108 miles around one of the world’s most demanding mountain courses.
The mountain doesn’t care who you are. It never does.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
