There will be few more emotional stories than Tom Evans if he can win UTMB next week.
Twelve months ago the British star was right in the mix at the front of the race as he aimed for a Western States / UTMB double.
However, in his own words, the “wheels massively, massively came off” but what happened just a few months later would change his life.
For he was mugged at knifepoint when preparing for a race in Cape Town, South Africa – a terrifying ordeal which he’s spoken about in detail in his new film called ‘No Stone Left Unturned’.
Long road back
That has clearly had a huge impact on him and this year has been all about rebuilding confidence and rediscovering his love for trail running.
And that’s been helped by having a clear focus on trying to give himself the best chance of victory at UTMB, where he was third in 2022. Hence the title of the film, which is embedded at the foot of this article.
Talking through the process, he says: “I started the year going to Australia, helping Soph [wife Sophie Coldwell, a professional triathlete] out with her training, but also doing a lot of my own training.
“That then led to racing the national cross country scene and I ended up qualifying for cross country World Champs.
“After doing that the plan was then to go to Transvulcania La Palma. It’s one of the most beautiful islands in the world and I left the highest point of the island in fifth place and on the descent got into second and it was really special to be able to finish and cross the line with not just a teammate, but a really good friend [Dmitry Mityaev, the pair were just a couple of minutes behind winner Jon Albon].”
And, as all this year has been, it was then all about building for UTMB, with Evans explaining: “We knew that this was going to be a really good stepping stone to build on for the rest of the season.
“I think the lessons learned [were to] spend more time at altitude just to make sure that I’m fully ready for those parts of the UTMB course.”
Physically – and mentally – prepared
Next he went to the 120km Lavaredo Ultra Trail by UTMB in the Dolomites and again he picked up some valuable pointers.
Evans said: “I really wanted to do a similar race to UTMB before it, running at night, and then also in similar sorts of terrain.
“By about 80k I thought I’d learned all the lessons I needed to. But actually, by sticking with it and staying mentally tough and getting the job done, it sort of just allowed me to learn some more lessons that are going be super useful.
“Nine weeks before my main race, I think it’s really healthy to put yourself in the hurt locker a little bit – it just prepares you both physically, but more importantly, mentally.
“I raced UTMB in 2023 pretty arrogantly from the front. I wasn’t patient. I made a lot of mistakes. Whether this year will be a complete success, who knows? But all I know is I will do everything between now and then to try and make that happen.”
We’ll find out by the end of next week but most important of all is the fact that Evans is able to line up at the sport’s biggest race.
