Ultra Trail World Tour Launched for 2014

News Release / 02.09.2013

The organizers of the most emblematic trail-running events have announced the creation of the Ultra-Trail World Tour.

From 2014, prestigious races such as The Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run (USA), the Marathon des Sables (Morocco), The North Face Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (France, Italy, Switzerland), The North Face Transgrancanaria (Spain), The North Face Lavaredo Ultra-Trail (Italy), Vibram Tarawera 100km Ultramarathon (New-Zealand), Vibram Hong Kong 100 (Hong Kong, China), Ultra-Trail Mont Fuji (Japan) will combine their energies to participate in and to promote the values of this sport.

Other emblematic races will soon be confirming their participation.

All these events, already open to the widest public, will offer everyone a unique chance, throughout the year, to discover different and varied lands.

Any "finisher", according to his performance, will be assigned a number of points and be integrated into the international rankings, updated for each race, and available online at www.ultratrailworldtour.com site.

The Ultra-Trail World Tour will propose an international competitive circuit, in partnership with the International Trail Running Association (http://www.i-tra.org).

With the goal of bringing together top athletes, a limited number of races will be labelled «Ultra-Trail Series». Only the 3 best results should be taken in consideration, with a maximum of 2 "Ultra-Trail Series".

In this way, each year a male and female Ultra-Trail World Tour champion will be proclaimed. All runners will be presented with a passport, which will acknowledge their "finisher" visas.

An International Circuit, Shared Values

The races in the Ultra-Trail World Tour, in their specific natures, illustrate all the diversity of trail running: steep paths in the Alps, California trails, the hills and beaches of Hong Kong, the Moroccan desert...

The races' many different formats will present participants with a real challenge to adapt and they will need very different qualities to win, or simply to become a finisher.

While being fundamentally different, the Ultra-Trail World Tour races will have common values, which they are proud to share and to promote. Ethics, equality in sports, self-respect, respect for others, for the environment...

Taking part in the Ultra-Trail World Tour will be the opportunity, throughout the years, to discover cultural and sporting differences. Every continent will be visited: Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Oceania... providing opportunities to enhance their sporting culture, create new friendships, and to feed on emotions in order, one day perhaps, to be a "finisher" in all the events!

Simple Criteria Of Eligibility

- Long distance trail running races of at least 100km.

- Emblematic venues.

- Popular races (around 500 runners minimum).

- International events (a minimum of 20 countries represented).

- Minimum 2 realized editions

2014, A Year Full Of Promise

For its very first year, the Ultra-Trail World Tour will be present on all the continents, with a dozen venues spaced out throughout the year.

The following have already been confirmed:

- January 18th: Vibram® Hong Kong 100 (Hong Kong, China)

- March 1st: The North Face® Transgrancanaria (Spain)

- March 15th: Vibram® Tarawera 100km Ultramarathon (New Zealand)