KILIAN JORNET & UTMB: Latest personal reflections 24JAN.

Posted by sergio mayayo on January 24, 2024 in kilian jornet, trail running spain, UTMB | 1 Comment

KILIAN JORNET & UTMB: Latest personal reflections 24JAN. Our UTMB section brings us the latest news on Kilian Jornet and Zach Miller’s letter about UTMB.

Last December 20th, Zach Miller published a constructive criticism on negative points of the evolution of UTMB, in his own handwriting. Later, on 9ENE a rumor spread on social networks that Zach Miller with Kilian Jornet, had issued a letter to world elite runners proposing to group together to run in another corporate event.

PUEDES LEER EL ARTÍCULO COMPLETO EN ESPAÑOL. KILIAN JORNET UTMB REUNION 23ENE

_______________________

Now Kilian Jornet has published on his networks an exhaustive explanation of what the athletes wanted to do. This is the original Instagram post by Kilian Jornet

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kilian Jornet (@kilianjornet)

And this is the full text of the explanation

From its inception, UTMB has been a trailblazing and unifying force in the trail running community. Michel, Catherine and their team actively engaged with the community, as key advocates for the sport and its values. Being instrumental in founding ITRA and playing a pivotal role in popularizing and structuring trail running globally. However, since they launched UTMB World Series in partnership with Ironman, there has been an increasing concern for many perceiving that the sport’s essence and its community was being overlooked.

With the aim of starting productive discussions as well as showing our discontent as athletes, we initiated discussions to realign with community expectations. This involved mobilizing athletes to express concerns, not to boycott but to raise awareness.

Trail running evolution, partly thanks to UTMB, has brought positives like competitive races, prize money, antidoping, media coverage and sponsorships. These developments are, in many ways, beneficial to the sport. Nonetheless, growth should be thoughtful. Lately, the aforementioned progress seems to have been marred by missteps. This has included controversial race acquisitions, neglecting or unhearing the community in what we believe are important subjects such as environmental impacts or accessibility. The UTMB board stated that some were due to misinformation and misunderstandings.

After a January 23 meeting with the UTMB Board, I’m hopeful for stronger, open communication between the community, including elite athletes represented by PTRA, and UTMB focusing on the sport development with its values at the center.

As an athlete in a privileged position, staying silent would be easier, but given the community’s concerns, speaking out felt necessary. By mobilizing elite trail runners, together with @zachmiller38, we aimed to foster collaboration between race boards and runners, finding common ground for the sport betterment. This isn’t about creating discord but about fostering constructive dialogue to preserve our sport’s integrity and values. By speaking up and engaging in these conversations, we strive to collaboratively grow the sport while honoring its heritage and future.