The top 3 Irish finishers from last year’s Ultra Distance World Trail Running Championships in Connemara are all entered in the 2012 UTMB. The race starts Friday 31st August at 17:30 Irish time in Chamonix, France.

This will make for a compelling race within a race. The Irish athletes taking part are Dan Doherty, Eoin Keith and Paul Tierney. The gruelling challenge covers 168 kilometres in distance with 9600 metres climbing, across France, Switzerland and Italy.

Dan and Paul are first timers for this event but Eoin is returning following a very strong 34th place last year. The organisers are warning of harsh weather conditions for this year’s race, something the Irish in attendance are relishing. Also on the menu of events in Chamonix this weekend is the CCC, a 100 kilometre distance with 5950 metres ascent. Barry Murray, another Irish International will be racing this event, fresh from his joint second place with Paul Tierney at the recent Lakeland 100.

Other Irish in attendance are Kevin Grogan, Fred Hammond and Brian Linton. Special mention should be made of Adrian Tucker who races the TDS, 112 kilometres with 7150 metres of climb. The UTMB has four events in total and this year will see Adrian complete the last of the four, a truely magnificent achievement. We wish all the runners the very best of luck and their progress can be tracked at www.ultratrailmb.com