The Ultra-Trail World Tour Comes to an End After 8 Years

Press Release / 20.12.2021

Over the 8 editions of the UTWT, Europe, Asia, America, and Oceania have all hosted numerous events that have allowed runners of various nationalities to push their limits beyond what they imagined possible. All runners, elite and amateur, have drawn strength from the wilderness, camaraderie, friendship, and mutual respect between participants to face all obstacles and finish the race.

After a year that was heavily disrupted by the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020, the Ultra-Trail® World Tour was finally able to return to its favourite playground in 2021. No less than 20 trail running events took place in 18 different countries.

When the global pandemic prevented the events from taking place, the trail running community stayed together and travelled many kilometres around the world through the UTWT Virtual Club. From Argentina to New Zealand, all the way through to Malaysia, runners from 65 different countries participated in one of the 12 virtual challenges. Some lucky ones even got to enjoy rewards offered by the races directly.

Thailand by UTMB Marks the End of the 2021 UTWT Circuit

Taking place last weekend, the Thailand by UTMB® race marked the end of the 2021 UTWT circuit, and the end of the Ultra-Trail® World Tour. For this occasion, the trail running community met in Asia around the highest mountain of Thailand: Doi Inthanon. Runners had the chance to get off the beaten track and experience a true adventure; crossing rivers, chasing hidden waterfalls, and passing royal burial grounds.

On the men's side, Jiaju Zhao was the best and set a new course record, finishing the race in 21:56:28. John Onifa arrived 39 minutes after Jiaju and more than 2 hours before Sange Sherpa who took the third place on the podium with a time of 25:18:30. On the women's side, Chinese Fuzhao Xiang dominated the race and arrived in 4th position overall. Kimino Miyazaki and Kaori Niwa crossed the finish line in second and third position respectively.

Courtney Dauwalter and Paul Capell: Champions of the 2021 UTWT Circuit

the year 2021 marked the return of the overall ranking. Note that the ranking was calculated on the four best results of each athlete over the last 36 months. Congratulations to Courtney Dauwalter and Pau Capell who are the 2021 Ultra-Trail World Tour Champions for the second time in a row!

Courtney won the Madeira Island Ultra-Trail® in 2019 and then the UTMB® (2019) which she also won this year before closing the season at Ultra-Trail Cape Town® where she finished in first position on the women's ranking.

As for Pau, he was crowned UTWT champion thanks to his 4 first places in 2019 on the Transgrancanaria HG, mozart 100®, Patagonia Run and UTMB®.

The Ultra Trail World Tour has Crossed It's Finish Line

And so we close those 8 beautiful years that the UTWT organisation have enjoyed sharing with the community. It is following a meeting between race directors in 2014 that the Ultra-Trail® World Tour was born, making way for the first circuit in 2014. 10 mythical races were already present: from the Diagonale des Fous to the UTMB®, including the oldest 100 miles: The Western States® 100-Mile Endurance Run. Very quickly, many races wanted to join the adventure.

In total, more than 62 000 runners participated in the 34 races taking place in 23 different countries.

The UTWT wants to thanks all the race directors and athletes whom the organisation loved to work with. And finally, all the community who have joined the circuit during those years.

(Ed. Many of the events in the series will continue as part of the new UTMB World Series.)