Great Britain’s Jon Albon is a multiple-discipline world champion and RUN247 columnist, who has become one of ultra running’s leading lights. 

He only started competitive running aged 20, but he soon achieved great success in obstacle course (OCR) events. 

His international breakthrough came in 2014 when he won the Spartan and OCR World Championships in the USA, which prompted him to end his career as a building surveyor and turn professional. 

Albon retained his OCR world title the following year as well as adding the Spartan European Championship and Tough Guy crowns to his growing CV. 

However, it was moving to Bergen, Norway in 2014 that kickstarted his mountain and skyrunning running career. 

By 2017, he was a two-time Sky Extreme Series champion and Skyrunner World Series winner. 

His profile rose further when he was crowned Ultra SkyRunning world champion in 2018 and then added the IAU World Trail title in 2019. 

He continued to demonstrate his versatility by winning the OCR world title from 2014 to 2019. 

Turning his sights to the prestigious UTMB races in Chamonix, France, Albon won the OCC race in 2021 and finished runner-up in the 2022 CCC. 

Jon Albon’s training consists of running, bouldering, swimming and cycling, while Randonée skiing is a staple of his winter work. 

Since 2020, he has run his own coaching business, based around the AlbonApp. 

Jon Albon record and results

Jon Albon is a 14-time World and seven-time European Trail, Ultra, Sky Running and OCR Champion.   

He won six straight OCR world titles from 2014 to 2019 and was Spartan world champion in 2014 and 2018. 

Jon Albon won the Skyrunner World Series in 2016 and 2017, the Ultra Skyrunning World Championships in 2019 and the 2019 world trail title. 

Since 2019, he has finished no lower than fourth in UTMB index events. Indeed, between August 2021 and 2022, Albon won seven straight races. 

The highest profile of these was his victory at the 2021 UTMB OCC race where he pipped fellow Brit Robbie Simpson in an epic tussle that saw him set a new course record of 5:02:57. 

In 2022, Jon Albon secured victories at the Greenweez MaxI-Race, Marathon du Mont-Blanc and  Stranda Fjord Trail Race in a course-record time. 

But he finally had to be content with a runner-up spot to longtime rival Petter Engdahl at the UTMB CCC race.