DU MONT-BLANC press release !
A perfect sports plateau!
This 5th edition will be marked by the presence of an exceptional sports plateau bringing together almost all of the best world specialists in ultra-trailing. In particular, it will be a theatre for Europe/USA confrontation without precedent.
The winners of the first four editions, Dawa Sherpa ( Nepal ), Vincent Delebarre ( France ), Christophe Jaquerod ( Switzerland ) and Marco Olmo ( Italy ) will all come together, for the first time, on the Starting Line. Their experience of the race and their prestigious record of achievements make them the big favourites!
Present alongside them, representing the USA :
* Scott Jurek (USA), 7 times winner of the Western States 100 miles , winner of the Badwater and of the Spartathlon
* Karl Metzer (USA), winner of six “ 100 miles ” in 2006, voted best “ultrarunner” for 2006 in the USA
* Hal Koerner, winner in June 2007 of the Western States 100 miles
* Dean Karnazes, the extreme runner of the The North Face team who is specifically training this year for The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ®
One will also be able to count on runners from the Ile de la Réunion : Wilfrid Ouledi, Thierry Chambry, Nico Dijoux et Thierry Techer, respectively 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th in the Grand Raid de la Réunion 2006, behind Vincent Delebarre et Christophe Jaquerod.
Also present :
* Jens Lukas ( Germany ), European Champion of the 24h, twice winner of the Fortiche de Maurienne and 4th in the 2006 UTMB
* Gilles Diehl, winner of the Grand Raid de la Réunion, 5 times positioned in the Marathon des Sables
* Sébastien Chaigneau, recent winner of the great Raid du Mercantour
* Lhoucine Akhdar, 3rd in the Marathon des Sables
As well as the best French specialists in trailing : Serge Barthes, Samuel Bonaudo, Benoît Laval, Pascal Paracuellos, Guillaume Millet , Antoine Guillon , Stéphane Grivel, David Pasquio, Patrice Kervevan.
With the females, the last two winners will also be on the Starting Line:
* Karine Herry, thrice victorious in 2006 in The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ®, in the Grand Raid de la Réunion and the Templiers.
* Elisabeth Hawker 2005 winner and 100 km world champion in 2006.
Elisabeth will head The North Face women team which includes two other challengers for victory: Nikki Kimball who has just won the Western State 100 miles and Diane Van Deren, who has won a great many 100-mile events across-the-Atlantic.
The other lady leaders will without doubt be Alexandra Rousset (lady winner of the 2004 Grand Raid de la Réunion), Marguerite Hoarau (2nd in the 2006 Grand Raid de la Réunion) and Ginette Moretto (1st in the 2000 Templiers).
The impressive number of enrolment demands and the very high sporting level of this race presage a 2007 edition without precedent.
And what if the 163 km were to be run in less than 21 hours?
