‘I’d much rather be a good dad than a good athlete’ – Tom Evans’ new mindset ahead of UTMB

Tom Evans says he’s “throwing the kitchen sink at UTMB” this year but would “much rather be a good dad than a good athlete”.

The Brit was third in trail running’s biggest event in 2022 behind a record-breaking Kilian Jornet and then the following year he went on to win the most prized event in the United States – Western States.

But things have unravelled at UTMB in the last two seasons, meaning he has unfinished business when he returns to Chamonix for this year’s edition.

And he goes there with a new mindset having recently become a father for the first time.

Balancing act

It’s all documented in a new series of ‘No Stone Left Unturned’ on his YouTube channel, which is also embedded below, as he is filmed at home at the end of his last big UK training block before heading out to the high mountains around Mont Blanc.

“I’d much rather be a good dad than a good athlete but I’m throwing the kitchen sink at UTMB,” he says at the start.

“I’m trying to tick all of the boxes with prepping for heat, altitude, volume.

“I’ve got a week before Soph [his wife, Sophie Coldwell, who is a professional triathlete] comes out where I want to almost do a super-compensation phase, destroy myself and then have a couple of easy days when she arrives.”

Running his own race

But this year it’s not ‘win or bust’ for the former British Army Captain as he explains: “Being completely honest, last year it was very much going in saying I want to win the race and if I finish third I’ll be disappointed.

“Whereas this year I’m very much of the mindset that I want to have my best performance and if my best performance is running 20 hours and 30 minutes and I finish fifth then that’s great, that’s absolutely fine and I’m genuinely at peace with that.

“I think that gives me a little bit more inward focus rather than worrying about what everyone else is doing.

“It also allows me know that each training session I’m doing is adding value to the overall plan whereas last year I did all the training but kind of just ruined it on race day by following other people rather than running my own race.”

And he rounds off the video by underlining an added layer of motivation in 2025: “This year it’s about setting the example and that legacy around my family – this is what daddy does and whether he’s the best or not, he gives 100%.”