Abolish UTMB Running Stones - Return to Local Qualification to Drastically Reduce Climate Impact - Project #2

We are calling to abolish the UTMB running stones system and see a return to local race qualifications, to protect our planet and make the sport accessible to all by 2028.

This is Project #2 to Abolish UTMB Running Stones System. A project by For The Trail which is working towards making trail and ultramarathons ask less of the natural world, environment and making trail running more accessible.

Abolish the UTMB Running Stones System: A Call for Sustainable, More Accessible Trail Running

We are calling for the abolition of the UTMB Running Stones system and a return to local race qualifications by 2028. Our sport should protect the natural world and not demand more of it.

Forced Travel by Moving From Points System to UTMB Running Stones System

Just four years ago, you could qualify for UTMB by racing many of your local ultra-marathon races, there were thousands of ultra-marathon races worldwide you could collect points. 

UTMB then made the decision to create the UTMB Running Stone System where you are now forced to go and collect stones at their races if you want to get in to the UTMB Finals and run around Mont Blanc.

The Previous UTMB Points System

I have 1 ultra-marathon race I can walk to the start line, 3 races that are within 30 minutes drive, 5 ultra-marathon races within an hours drive and 8+ races within a 2 hour drive that could have earned me the points I needed to get in to the UTMB lottery. 

If I gained points by doing local ultra-marathon races, I would only have to do one bigger journey to Chamonix to compete in a UTMB final race, such as OCC, CCC, UTMB, etc.

They have removed the potential to collect points from your local ultra-marathon races, some of which you may have been able to walk to, car share to or get public transport to. 

The New UTMB Running Stones System

Now, UTMB has bought out races under the 'by UTMB' banner, replaced the points system with a stones system and now stones can only be collected at these specific events, of which there are only around 60 at the time of writing in the entire world.

You are now forced to travel to these 60 odd ultra-marathon races to collect UTMB Running Stones.

Your nearest qualifying race may require a flight or a multi-hour drive and you are now forced to make this journey.

There are two by UTMB races in the UK as of 2026 and they are 4 hours drive and 6 hours drive away for me, thats 8 and 12 hour return trip. Compared to 1-2 hour return trips using the previous points system and racing locally.

Some countries do not have by UTMB races so you are forced to travel vast distances to collect stones if you want to participate in a UTMB Finals Race around Mont Blanc.

Multiply that by the 2,000+ athletes at each event, some events have upwards of 6000 participants, travelling from across the globe just to collect stones, and the climate cost is staggering.

Financial Exclusion and Inequality

As well as making the decision to negatively affect the climate, UTMB have added to the elitism in the sport.

With the UTMB Stone system in place, it now also means that stones, instead of points are now costing much more than points could with other races that are local to us. We are forced to pay by UTMB entry fees which are much higher on average than most other races.

To get 3 stones in the UK costs around £239 (full-price of UTS 100km) which equates to £79 per stone. With non by-UTMB races, I previously could have done a 100km ultra-marathon race for half of this price.

The prices continue to rise, accommodation costs and the extra fuel to get to the by UTMB race as its further away, make an entry to an ultra-marathon race cost even more.

This means as well as a climate impact issue, it has also become an issue of inequality, inclusivity, cost and affordability, which completely goes against trail, mountain and fell running ethos, which has always been much more affordable.

A Larger Impact on the Climate

Climate breakdown continues to get worse, environmental collapse and our life systems are breaking down, biodiversity is in freefall, but what is even more shocking is that you can look at the local mountain environment and ecology in Chamonix Valley where the race starts and finishes and see the impact of climate breakdown first hand.

The glaciers of Mont Blanc have retreated dramatically in the last few decades, not long ago, people crossed active glaciers on the UTMB route. Today, most are gone and within 20–30 years, there may be none left to see. Chamonix Valley is not free from climate or environmental issues.

In fact, the extreme locations on earth, such as high altitude mountain towns and villages, like Chamonix are of those affected more-so by climate breakdown.

UTMB made a deliberate commercial decision that forces potentially 100,000+ athletes per year to travel further than they previously had to to get in to the UTMB Finals races of OCC, CCC and UTMB.

Bigger Number of Participants Impacting the Local Environments

UTMB races have on average, bigger numbers of participants and this means more footfall on the same trail and this results in a more extreme degradation and impact on that trail system and nature the races are hosted.

Instead of everyone spreading out at events with 50, 100, maybe 200 participants, by UTMB has numbers between 2000 and upwards of 6000 participants, hitting the same area and trails within the span of a few hours and days.

The Arc of Attrition in Cornwall, England which occurs in mid-winter on the South West Coast Path has around 3000 competitors. Before it was by UTMB the 100 mile race had around 150 participants, it now has over 600 participants, as well as the 50 mile distance hitting a lot of the same route, thats 1200+ runners destroying small sections of the coast path there as they aim to run around the mud and puddles, making the path wider and wider. 

This is a new problem, because the amount of footfall, the landscapes are directly impacted negatively which affects local flora and fauna for many seasons beyond.

These choices are directly conflicting with climate breakdown and environmental collapse happening on earth today that directly affect the trails and natural world we love to move through as well as our life systems.