Emmerson’s sprint to UTMB finish

By Kate Dzienis

One of the world’s most anticipated races, the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France was held from August 27 to September 2, and it’s safe to say that it is one of the biggest ultra running events on the global calendar.

Racers brave high altitudes in a combination of difficult weather conditions, but entrant numbers are generally high – this year saw about 8000 participants across five distances in the race that circumnavigates France, Italy, and Switzerland.

AURA member Kellie Emmerson was front and centre at UTMB, having entered the main event for 171kms and facing 10,000m of vertical gain.

She was preparing in Chamonix for unseasonably hot weather, but the day before start, mother nature took a drastic change for the worst.

“It didn’t stop raining, and we were warned of likely -10 degree temperatures overnight,” she said.

“I was really hoping they got it all wrong, but it was not to be.”

The 31-year-old recapped that during the race itself, it had snowed four times in some of the high passes, while the rest of the time it rained continuously with significantly low temperatures.

Despite the conditions, Emmerson started out comfortably as soon as the horn blared, knowing she would be out on the trails for more than 170kms and aiming to not burn out too early.

“However, 8 to 10kms in I found myself towards the pointy end, in front of some of the runners who I would classify as the best in the world – Caroline Chaverot and Nuria Picas (the eventual winner),” she said.

“It made me second guess my pace for a little while, but the first 10kms are relatively flat, and this is probably more my strength than climbing, so I reassured myself that all was okay and soon found my place in the pack as we began to climb.”

She revealed she wasn’t focused specifically on her position throughout the majority of the race; she was only concerned about finishing, and doing so in a respectable time.

It wasn’t until the final section of the UTMB that Emmerson became more competitive.

She overtook Anna-Marie Watson from Great Britain on what she thought was the final technical descent, and incidentally used far too much energy as her adrenaline began pumping.

When she realised there was another climb with 4kms until the descent, a friend of Emmerson’s had made his way there to cheer her on.

Informed by her buddy that she had gained 4mins on Canadian runner Alissa St Laurent, Emmerson found it within her to hunt the racer down.

“Despite having run for 28 hours at this point, a sprint finish saw me overtake her with less than 2kms to go,” she said.

“I had never run that hard in my life, let alone after such a long time on my feet; I was really stoked that my body held up, enabling me to finish 5th.”

Emmerson had never run a 100mi distance before, and there were an incredible amount of unknowns for her, including uncertainty with what goal time to set, but she went in to the race with confidence knowing she had the backing of some important people.

“My fiancé Tegyn also runs, and it really helps that we are both on the same page,” she said.

“Brendan Davies has been my coach for the past year, and AURA have been great.

“I am grateful to them in particular for allowing me the opportunity to represent my country at the world trail running championships over the past few years.”

So what’s next on the cards for Emmerson?

“I’m going to enjoy some rest for the remainder of the year,” she said.

“It’s been a full-on 12 months with very little down time, so the body and mind need a break, but I’ll be doing all I can to get into Western States next year.”

Pictured: AURA member Kellie Emmerson running in this year’s UTMB. Photograph – Tom Le Lievre.