Last updated: 08-Mar-19
As anyone who follows trail running now knows, Damian Hall‘s quest to be among the top 10 finishers at UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc) ended in a triumphant fifth-place finish over Labour Day weekend.
A new film documenting his fourth attempt racing UTMB is out now, and was just voted into second place by the People’s Choice Awards at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival. Damian is sponsored by inov-8, and wore the new graphene shoes during the race.
The film is titled Underdog.
Here’s how Hall describes his dilemma: “My name’s Damian. I’m British. I’m 42. I live in the Cotswolds. I’m an outdoor journalist. I’m having a mid-life crisis, and that means I like to run ultramarathons, and I’ve got a UTMB problem….
“It’s got 10,000 metres of climb–Everest is eight-and-a-half thousand metres. To be top 10 at UTMB–that, to me, is the dream. The runners I’m against are mostly full-time, they’re younger than me, a lot of them live and train in the mountains.
Realistically the pedigree of the other runners… it’s unlikely, most people would say. So I just want to give my best effort. I do want to be in the top 10. There are lots of things against me. But it gives me an underdog spirit.”
