Czech Runner Dies from Falling During UTMB’s TDS Race in Chamonix

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There was unfortunate news coming out of Chamonix, France, early on the morning of August twenty five.

The Extremely-Trail du Mont-Blanc race group described that a male runner from the Czech Republic competing in the 145-km TDS race died after struggling a terrible fall and severe accidents. The accident happened at the sixty two.3 km mark on the descent of the Passeur de Pralognan, an 8,421-foot mountain pass west of Chamonix, France.

It is believed to be the very first dying in the 19-yr heritage of the Extremely-Trail du Mont-Blanc races in and close to Chamonix.

A spokesperson for the race mentioned the UTMB race group is deeply saddened and wished the intercontinental path operating neighborhood to be part of in offering condolences to the loved ones and close friends of the victim.

When the accident happened at 12:twenty five a.m. CET, the rescue crew stationed on the training course responded to the scene right away and supplemental unexpected emergency staff was called into motion by means of helicopter support. Despite lifetime-conserving solutions, the runner (who is being saved anonymous until eventually all loved ones users have been notified) succumbed to his accidents. For the reason that of the remote and complicated mother nature of the rescue operations, the race was partly halted and the runners positioned at the Passeur de Pralognan, and even further again, have been instructed by the race committee to change close to and go again down to Bourg Saint-Maurice, wherever they have been fulfilled and transported again to Chamonix.

The TDS training course is exceptionally complex with lots of exposed sections (Picture: Courtesy UTMB/Franck Oddoux)

The race started on Tuesday afternoon in Courmayeur, Italy, and runners skilled very clear skies and neat temperatures as a result of the night time and into the early morning. The 293 runners who experienced now run as a result of Passeur de Pralognan have been permitted to continue on on to end the race, but the remainder of the around 1,200 runners who have been turned again will not be able to continue on.

Norway’s Erik-Sebastian Krogvig was the eventual winner of the TDS, generating it again to Chamonix after eighteen several hours, forty nine minutes, fifty eight seconds. The TDS race, officially identified as the Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie, is the most technically complicated race all through the UTMB 7 days, with several craggy climbs and descents that demand specific footing and balance.

“This is a tough portion of the training course,” reviews Trail Runner Magazine contributor Doug Mayer, who lives in the Chamonix spot. “You’ve just climbed 2,000 meters in about 10 km, then require to maintain on to chains on the other side. They have a rescue group right there at this spot, always. It is the most complex moment of the race.”