While my husband romped in the Alps during the 2016 UTMB-TDS, the kids took a short afternoon timeout from crewing for him and participated in the Mini UTMB Kids’ Races.
The Mini UTMB features a series of free and untimed trail races for children from ages 3-13. The races of nearly 1000 children take place during the UTMB week at Champs du Savoy, à Chamonix (a short walk from the sports center and from the center of town). Registration takes place on race day at the venue.
The races are appropriately named after the “big” races, with race distances based on age–the older a child, the longer the race. My oldest kids participated in the Mini-UTMB (1800 meters), and the others participated in the Mini-CCC (600 meters) and Mini-TDS (1200 meters).
Mini UTMB. Some of the youngest racers.
While my kids tend to prefer longer trail races that aren’t limited to kids, they had a blast racing in the well-organized Mini UTMB races. They had fun with the pre-race starting line warm-ups and yoga poses, and they appreciated the enthusiasm of the crowd.
With Mont Blanc in the background of the kids’ races, talk about an unbelievable race view!
Hats off to UTMB organizers for creating a well-done Mini race event for kids. Not only are kids the future of the endurance sport of trail running, but they are the inspiration and strength behind so many of the runners who race the “grownup” UTMB races.
Speaking of hats… the kids scored awesome post-race hats thanks to sponsor, Columbia Sports. They also received some cool UTMB sweatbands and cute Vibram keychains. Definitely appreciate companies that value the future of the sport…the kids.
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