The North Face Ultra-Trail du Tour du Mont-Blanc.

The North Face Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ® : A perfect sports plateau!

The fifth Ultra Tail du Mont Blanc will be marked by the presence of an exceptional sports plateau bringing together most of world’s leading specialists in ultra-trailing. It will also be an unprecedented arena for confrontation between European and US athletes.

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:

• 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’s team which includes two other challengers; 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 (female 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 entrant demands and the very high sporting level of this race will ensure that the 2007 edition will be the best yet.

And what if the 163 km were to be run in less than 21 hours?

Programme

• Thursday 23rd August 2007

  10h00 - 19h00 : Exhibition Hall -
  Handing-out of race numbers and control of obligatory material
• 
  

• Friday 24 August 2007

  12h00 : Start of the North Face Ultra-Trail Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix
  in the centre of Courmayeur.
  18h30 : Start of the North Face Ultra-Trail du Tour du Mont-Blanc ®
  in the centre of Chamonix
  21h00 : 1st arrival of the North Face Ultra-Trail Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix
  in the centre of Chamonix.
• 
  

• Saturday 25 August 2007

  12h00 : last arrival of the North Face Ultra-Trail Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix
  15h00 : prize-giving for Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix
  of the North Face Ultra-Trail du Tour du Mont-Blanc ® in the centre of Chamonix
  19h00 : Press Conférence with the winners
• 
  

• Sunday 26 August 2007

  14h00 : Prize-giving for the North Face Ultra-Trail du Tour du Mont-Blanc ®
  16h30 : last arrival of the North Face Ultra-Trail du Tour du Mont-Blanc ®
  19h30 : Closing buffet
• 
  

Visit the dedicated microsite www.thenorthface.com/ultratrail/

For further information on the race, visit www.ultratrailmb.com.

Contact:
thenorthface.eu@vfc.com