By Elsa Trujillo
At 4am on the 24th of June, 1078 runners congregated at the start line of the Marathon du Mont-Blanc in Chamonix (France) to run the fourth edition of the 80km route.
As announced earlier in the week, the route was modified to guarantee security and environmental protection in the areas still affected by spring snow. These changes avoided high points such as Col de la Terrasse, Tête de l’Arolette and Signal and resulted in a final distance of 82km and 6000m ascent to be run in less than 24 hours.
The sultry temperature evident at the start line even at 4am was an early warning for the consequences of heat later on in the day. The initial rhythm was fast and the first section of the race included no surprises with Diego Pazos (Switzerland) leading a group of Frenchmen up the mountain. After 38km, he left the group and created a six minute lead ahead of Guillaume Beauxis (France) and never looked back.
For the 107 women taking part in this race, favourite Caroline Chaverot (France) did not disappoint and joined the leading group of men. She crossed the line in sixth position only 48 minutes behind the winner, Diego Pazos.
Results
Men
- Diego Pazos (Sui) – 10h52’45
- Guillaume Beauxis (FR) – 11h05’10
- Remi Berchet (FR) – 11h16’14
Women
- Caroline Chaverot (FR) – 11h40’59
- Maÿlis Drevon (FR) – 14h34’11
- Li Dong (CHN) – 15h16’07
Full results here.
