HOKA UTMB 2026: Courtney Dauwalter, Ruth Croft Lead Chamonix Showdown

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The biggest week in trail running reaches its marquee moment on Friday.

The HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc, the flagship event of the UTMB World Series Finals, sends approximately 2,500 runners on an unforgettable journey around Mont Blanc. The course covers roughly 174 kilometers, just over 100 miles, through France, Italy and Switzerland, with more than 32,000 feet of climbing and 10 alpine summits standing between runners and the finish in Chamonix.

Visit goldparty.lat for more information.

US Audiences can watch HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc LIVE on FloTrack, August 27-29.

A Deep Women's Field

Courtney Dauwalter returns to Chamonix looking for a fourth UTMB victory after winning in 2019, 2021 and 2023. But for the first time in her UTMB career last year, she was beaten. That runner was Ruth Croft.

The New Zealander spent much of the 2025 race chasing Dauwalter before making her move late and overtaking the American in the final section. Croft's victory made her the first woman to win all three UTMB World Series Finals, adding the UTMB title to previous victories at the OCC and CCC.

Now, they meet again. Dauwalter enters with the highest women's UTMB Index in the field and more experience than anyone when it comes to winning in Chamonix. But Croft returns as the defending champion and one of the few athletes who has proven she can beat Dauwalter on this stage.

The battle won't be limited to two runners. Riley Brady arrives after finishing runner-up at Western States and boasts an UTMB Index slightly higher than Croft's. Canada's Marianne Hogan was second at UTMB in 2022, while Rachel Entrekin enters following an outright Cocodona 250 record in May.

Fuzhao Xiang and Abby Hall are also serious contenders, while France's Blandine L'Hirondel brings both speed and experience after winning the CCC in 2022 and finishing third at UTMB in 2023.

A New Men's Champion Could Emerge

The men's field will be missing two of trail running's biggest names. Jim Walmsley, the first American man to win UTMB in 2023, is not racing, while Kilian Jornet withdrew shortly before the event due to injury. 

Vincent Bouillard, the 2024 champion, enters as one of the favorites after running 13:46 at Western States earlier this summer. Ben Dhiman, runner-up in 2025, is another leading contender.

The entries below will include the top 25 men and women in 100K race and 100 Mile race, respectively, as ranked by the UTMB Index. For a complete list of athletes, visit UTMB Live.

Men's CCC 100K (Top 25 Men Ranked By UTMB Index) - August 28 - 3:00 AM ET

  1. Cristian MINOGGIO - ITA (943)
  2. Benjamin ROUBIOL - FRA (941)
  3. Daniel JONES - NZL (939)
  4. Thomas CARDIN - FRA (935)
  5. Guangfu MENG - CHN (934)
  6. Nadir MAGUET - ITA (932)
  7. Adam PETERMAN - USA (931)
  8. Andrzej WITEK - POL (931)
  9. Eli HEMMING - USA (930)
  10. Ji DUO - CHN (923)
  11. Peter FRAŇO - SVK (921)
  12. Hans TROYER - USA (920)
  13. Canhua LUO - CHN (918)
  14. Miguel ARSENIO - POR (913)
  15. Damien HUMBERT - FRA (910)
  16. Bart PRZEDWOJEWSKI - POL (907)
  17. Simon PACCARD - FRA (905)
  18. Dmitry MITYAEV - RUS (902)
  19. Luke GRENFELL-SHAW - GBR (898)
  20. Jianjian YANG - CHN (891)
  21. Dakota JONES - USA (890)
  22. Huohua ZHANG - CHN (890)
  23. Tao LUO - CHN (888)
  24. Mario OLMEDO SANCHA - ESP (888)
  25. Anthony FELBER - FRA (888)

Women's CCC 100K (Top 25 Men Ranked By UTMB Index) - August 28 - 3:00 AM ET

  1. Jennifer LICHTER - USA (849)
  2. Miao YAO - CHN (827)
  3. Lingjie CHI - CHN (816)
  4. Yngvild KASPERSEN - NOR (816)
  5. Caitlin FIELDER - NZL (810)
  6. Toni MCCANN - RSA (802)
  7. Fabiola CONTI - ITA (793)
  8. Honoka AKIYAMA - JPN (792)
  9. Veronika LENG - SVK (788)
  10. Emily HAWGOOD - ZIM (784)
  11. Elísa KRISTINSDÓTTIR - ISL (781)
  12. Gemma HILLIER MOSES - GBR (777)
  13. Robyn LESH - USA (776)
  14. Theres LEBOEUF - SUI (776)
  15. Anna-Stiina ERKKILÄ - FIN (776)
  16. Dani MORENO - USA (775)
  17. Scarlet DALE - GBR (771)
  18. Marie GONCALVES - FRA (767)
  19. Klaire RHODES - USA (766)
  20. Erin CLARK - USA (766)
  21. Adeline MARTIN - FRA (765)
  22. Helen MINO FAUKNER - USA (762)
  23. Varvara SHIKANOVA - MNE (751)
  24. Jingyan TANG - CHN (745)
  25. Yuri YOSHIZUMI - JPN (742)

Men's UTMB 100M (Top 25 Men Ranked By UTMB Index) - August 28 - 11:45 AM ET

  1. Ben DHIMAN - USA (946)
  2. Caleb OLSON - USA (945)
  3. Vincent BOUILLARD - FRA (941)
  4. Hannes NAMBERGER - GER (941)
  5. Jonathan ALBON - GBR (938)
  6. Chris MYERS - USA (937)
  7. Andreas REITERER - ITA (930)
  8. Baptiste CHASSAGNE - FRA (926)
  9. Drew HOLMEN - USA (920)
  10. Josh WADE - GBR (920)
  11. Rod FARVARD - USA (915)
  12. Tobias GEISER - ITA (913)
  13. Raul Octaviu BUTACI - ROU (913)
  14. Joaquin LOPEZ - ECU (912)
  15. Paul CORNUT CHAUVINC - FRA (912)
  16. Antoine CHARVOLIN - FRA (910)
  17. Zach MILLER - USA (908)
  18. Canyon WOODWARD - USA (907)
  19. Jean-Philippe TSCHUMI - SUI (905)
  20. Yannick NOËL - FRA (905)
  21. Ionel Cristian MANOLE MANOLE - ESP (904)
  22. Théo DETIENNE - FRA (903)
  23. Jiasheng SHEN - CHN (903)
  24. Arnaud BONIN - FRA (903)
  25. Guomin DENG - CHN (896)

Women's UTMB 100M (Top 25 Men Ranked By UTMB Index) - August 28 - 11:45 AM ET

  1. Courtney DAUWALTER- USA (859)  
  2. Riley BRADY - USA (826)
  3. Fuzhao XIANG - CHN (823)
  4. Abby HALL - USA (808)
  5. Blandine L HIRONDEL- FRA (807)  
  6. Lucy BARTHOLOMEW - AUS (799)
  7. Eszter CSILLAG - HUN (798)
  8. Antonina IUSHINA - RUS (791)
  9. Shea AQUILANO - USA (789)
  10. Rachel DRAKE - USA (786)
  11. Lin CHEN - CHN (782)
  12. Martina VALMASSOI - ITA (781)
  13. Rachel ENTREKIN - USA (781)
  14. Henriette ALBON - NOR (774)
  15. Eleanor DAVIS - GBR (774)
  16. Jazmine LOWTHER - CAN (772)
  17. Ekaterina MITYAEVA - AIN (769)
  18. Careth ARNOLD- USA (766)  
  19. Katarzyna DOMBROWSKA - POL (764)
  20. Anna LOUDEN- USA (763)  
  21. Katie ASMUTH - USA (761)
  22. Mari Klakegg FENRE - NOR (760)
  23. Anna LI - CHN (758)
  24. Emilie MANN - CAN (756)
  25. Aroa SIO - ESP (754)

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