Alastair Brownlee eyes UTMB and Marathon des Sables following triathlon retirement

Triathlon legend Alastair Brownlee recently announced his retirement from the sport after an incredible career, but has now revealed ambitions of completing two of the world’s toughest ultrarunning races.

An Olympic champion in both 2012 and 2016 in the multi-event discipline, Brownlee has admitted he wants to remain active in retirement and is eyeing a pair of high profile races.

In an interview with the Business of Sport Podcast, which is embedded below, Alastair suggested his post-retirement career could feature copious amounts of ultrarunning.

UTMB and Marathon des Sables

“I’d love to do ultrarunning,” explained Brownlee when discussing what is next for him athletically.

“I want to remain active, I am an athlete, but I am someone who just loves being outside, being active, exploring, adventuring, challenging myself.”

The Yorkshire hero specifically mentioned two events that could be on his bucket list going forward.

“The biggest single-day event in the world is UTMB, or multi-day would be Marathon des Sables. There is kind of a load of different things I’m looking at doing, things that I have wanted to do for a long time.”

Following in others’ footsteps

Several triathletes in recent years have made the jump from swim/bike/run to ultrarunning.

In November Eric Lagerstrom claimed victory on debut at the 50k Run The Rock in Oregon, while fellow American Heather Jackson has topped the podium at a number of endurance races including The Canyons Endurance by UTMB, Three Sisters Skyline and Javelina Jundred.

And just this month, week 14-time IRONMAN race victor Lucy Gossage claimed the Montane Winter Spine Race crown, an event that has also piqued the interest of Brownlee.

“The Spine Race is probably the biggest ultrarunning race in the UK, the winter event has just finished, along the Pennine Way which I think is 250 miles unsupported.”

Ultra-sports are booming

“There are other events that exist [survival/sports crossovers] in different guises,” Brownlee added. “You can do multi-day adventure races in teams where you cross vast waves of countries by cycling, biking, kayaking, swimming.

“I’ve wanted the chance to do those things – ultrarunning, long distance biking, those kind of things. Things that test you in different ways, for me now it’s really most about adventure and pushing myself over a long period of time.”

Brownlee started his year off with a mini adventure closer to home, running at ‘Quid Games: The Dark Edition’ in North Yorkshire.