He may have been the reigning UTMB champion but Vincent Bouillard went into last weekend’s Chianti Ultra-Trail by UTMB with a fair degree of trepidation – and no wonder.
For he was up against ultrarunning legends Kilian Jornet and Jim Walmsley in what was the first time for four years that the last three winners of UTMB, trail running’s biggest event, had all met in the same race.
But Frenchman Bouillard, who is how a pro runner himself having won in Chamonix last autumn when also working full-time for HOKA, showed that victory was no fluke as he acquitted himself brilliantly.
The three big guns distanced themselves from the rest of the field not long after the start and then, 40km in, current Western States champ Walmsley eased clear to leave Bouillard to battle it out for second with four-time UTMB winner Jornet.
Pinch yourself moment
And not surprisingly, going up against the GOAT was something Bouillard relished.
In the end just 30 seconds separated them on the line, with Jornet only settling the issue in the final kilometre.
And Bouillard said afterwards: “For sure there was more pressure for me coming because this year brings some things that are new with a professional athlete contract. And for sure I can’t come to races unknown now, so that’s different too. But it’s something that I chose and that I was excited to discover.
“And this race has been incredible. Honestly the last half hour of racing is going to be a core memory of mine. I was telling Kilian I was laughing out loud. It’s just crazy.
“If you would have told me that 10 years ago that it would happen, I would have never believed you. It makes me so happy. The sport can be so beautiful and competition is great when there’s amazing humans, like legends of the sport such as Kilian and Jim. I’m honoured and beyond happy to be here.”
Joy of discovery
And all three will now line up at Western States later this year – Walmsley as defending champion and Jornet and Bouillard courtesy of Golden Tickets via the Chianti race.
And Bouillard added: “I’m excited to try something new at Western States. One of the things that I love with ultra is that it’s just there’s a lot of discovery about your own body and pushing the limits and discovering something new.
“And Western States for me is going to be definitely very far outside my comfort zone, especially with the heat. That is something very new that I’ll have to adjust to.
“But what excites me the most is probably the potential to do a training block and spend some time in Flagstaff ahead of the race because I’ve never really trained there properly. And for Hoka, we have headquarters in California as well, so it can be like a multiple-purpose trip!”
