Tom Evans reveals what went wrong at UTMB: “To win a race like that, the stars have got to align”

An emotional and honest Tom Evans has rounded off his ‘No Stone Left Unturned’ film series with a look at why his attempt to win UTMB unravelled for the second year in succession.

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 his dream of adding a UTMB crown a few months later ended with him on a stretcher after – in his own words – the wheels massively coming off.

Since then – and following an horrific mugging at knifepoint when running on trails around Cape Town – he has focussed on returning to Chamonix in the best possible shape for another tilt at UTMB.

Bright start

The films have documented his meticulous preparation, which included big training blocks in the Alps, and heading into the race, everything appeared to be on target.

That was the case too for the first 80 or so kilometres of the 176km event.

And speaking on the concluding film, which is embedded below, he talks through what happened next.

He revealed: “Written on the back of my race number were my goals for the race – and one of them was ‘no regrets’.

“If the race was run again today, the processes during the race, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

“I started four or five rows back so I could start steady and my first mile was 22 seconds slower than last year, with the goal of being patient and not going to the front.

“I didn’t work too hard, my heart rate was exactly where it should have been, if not a little bit lower. The pace was perfect.

“For me to have my best race I thought it was exactly right and I stayed incredibly patient.”

Waves of nausea and dizziness

So it was so far so good – and that was largely how it stayed between the start and the Courmayeur aid station, 83km in.

But there had been one warning sign. Evans explained: “It wasn’t cold and it wasn’t hot but it was super humid. Nutrition started not going down too easily. I was sweating a lot and probably more than I thought that I was.

“I came into Courmayeur maybe 15 or 20 seconds behind the eventual leader [surprise winner Vincent Bouillard].

“You then run from Courmayeur up the road and I got to the end of that climb at Refuge Bertone and had some water, put some water on my head to try and cool down a little bit.

As soon as I started going uphill and my heart rate went up, I just had these waves of nausea and dizziness and hard to stop.

“I got to the top of Grand Col Ferret and I called Soph [wife Sophie Coldwell, a professional triathlete who was crewing him] on the way up and said ‘things aren’t going well but I’m okay. You’ll see that I’ve dropped way back but don’t panic, I’m absolutely fine. But if you can come to La Fouly I can see you there and we can make a decision at that point.'”

‘Sport is sport’

Unfortunately Evans’ race was over due to those issues and he was one of 15 of the top 20 men to DNF in the humid conditions, including reigning champion Jim Walmsley, another former winner in Pau Capell and 2022 runner up Mathieu Blanchard.

It was a heartbreaking end for Evans who had invested so much time and effort in preparing but he added: “I gave it a go and did what I thought I needed to do.

“I think to win a race like UTMB the stars have got to align and you’ve got to have your best day.

“Some people had – by their own standards – bad Olympics but then two weeks later set world records in the Diamond League.

“Stress, pressure – there’s a lot that all goes into it. And sport is sport, some days it works, some days it doesn’t.”