Welcome to Day 3 of Good Morning, Mont Blanc. This is the inaugural year of Freetrail's daily morning show, kicking off with the 20th anniversary of the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB), the most important global event in the sport of trail running. The show is hosted each day by professional athlete, Dylan Bowman.

 

Dylan is joined on Day 3 by elite athletes, content creators, and fan favorites in the sport of trail running: Sally McRae, Sage Canaday and Billy Yang.

 

Sage joins us fresh off his race at TDS, which he finished last night. TDS is now nearly 100 miles and 28,000 feet of climbing, the trails are very technical, and it was even more challenging with the weather. They talk about his pulmonary embolism, his overall health and how he's feeling physically. Fun fact: The pack that Sage wears during TDS is the Zephyr Pro Vest, the same pack we're giving away 10 of for Freetrail Fantasy!

 

Sally and Billy talk about their friendship, Billy's recent pacing of Sally, Billy's fun surprise this week, their past experiences at UTMB and how the race and community has changed over the past decade. Everyone talks about UTMB, past races and what the courses and trails are like here in Chamonix.

 

The panel previews the OCC race. Who are they key players? Who do we think will win? If you're interested in playing Freetrail Fantasy this week, make sure to tune in!

 

Finally, Tim Perry, who works in product and brand at CamelBak joins the panel to talk brand, product, UTMB partnership, and athlete strategy for the brand.

 

Sage's Strava 

 

2023 OCC Route

 

Dani Moreno's OCC File

 

Editor's Notes:

• There are 118 nations participating in UTMB this year.

• Courtney is actually Bib #1, not Jim.

 

Freetrail Fantasy

Make sure you play Freetrail Fantasy and pick 10 deep for both men and women for each participating race (OCC, CCC and UTMB). Go get your picks in. Make sure to stay tuned for the rest of the Good Morning, Mont Blanc shows this week where we will be doing race previews for all three races, and interviews with top contenders. 

 

Fantasy Prizes

We have amazing prizes for Freetrail Fantasy this week. 10 winners will receive head to toe Hoka kits including footwear, a CamelBak Zephyr pack, Ketone shots from HVMN, and Freetrail swag. Please note: We do our best to ship prize packages outside the US, but cannot guarantee it due to shipping costs and logistics.

 

Freetrail Pro

Interested in joining the best community in trail running? Are you a veteran trail runner or new to the sport and looking to learn more? You've come to the right place! Freetrail Pro is the best global community of passionate and dedicated trail runners. Members get access to exclusive content, training plans, early access to races, discounts from partners, and more. Best of all? We have an incredible online community that lives and breathes in Slack - members talk about training, nutrition, racing, mental health, and so much more. Don't just listen to us. Sign up with a free trial now and see for yourself. 

 

Our Sponsors

Thanks to our sponsors who are making this show possible, Hoka and CamelBak. 

 

Hoka and UTMB were born in the Alps - fueled by the thrill of flying up and down mountains.

 

Trail running is in Hoka's DNA, and they are proud to be the 2023 UTMB World Series Premier Partner and help share the sport with as many people as possible

 

Check out Hoka's AR experience and join athletes like Jim Walmsley for a run in the alps. 

 

CamelBak invented the hydration pack category a couple decades ago and has remained on the forefront of innovation for this very important product sector. Outside of footwear, the pack is the most critical piece of running gear and you'll see a bunch of people trusting CamelBak throughout race week out on the trails around the Mont Blanc.

 

If you're here in Chamonix, there is a public event hosted by CamelBak on Thursday from 6-8pm at Folie Douce Hotel in Chamonix – there will be a panel discussion, followed by an open bar/mixer. They will also be previewing some of their 2024 products in the space. Again it's open to the public so feel free to stop by on Thursday, the Freetrail team will be there. If you can't make it, they have a booth at the expo, so stop by and check it all out.