A record number of runners from the group Black Trail Runners competed in this year’s UTMB finals as a result of the UK-based organization’s work to improve diversity and inclusion in trail running.
Sabrina Pace-Humphreys, co-founder of BTR, says the idea for drawing more black runners to the iconic trail race in Chamonix-Mont Blanc came to her six years ago when she was competing in the Gran Trail 50k Courmayeur and didn’t see any other women of color at the starting line.
“I looked around, and I thought to myself, ‘Wouldn't it be great to be here with other women of black heritage doing different races?’ Wouldn't that be amazing? Because at that time I was the only person I saw.’”
While the UTMB doesn’t gather ethnicity data on participants, research by BTR suggests fewer than one percent of entrants in UK trail races are black.
In 2020, Pace-Humphreys launched BTR with fellow trustees Sonny Peart and Phil Young, a registered charity that promotes the inclusion and representation of people of black heritage in trail running. This year, she herself competed in the UTMB finals, a 100-mile lap around Mont Blanc, for the first time, while six of her peers participated in other races in the week-long series.
“I’m so proud of everything we did and bringing more ethnically diverse people into the trail running world – that bigger societal, systemic change that ultimately is what I’m all about,” says the 47-year-old from Stroud, who has already raced in the UTMB Snowdonia and Arc of Attrition ultra marathons this year.
"Keep going until the race spits you out"
The brutally wet and freezing conditions during this year’s race, however, slowed the runners down during the first half and caused a last-minute safety diversion, which Pace-Humphreys says challenged every runner from the elites to back-of-the-packers.
“It put me into a massive energy black hole that I struggled for 50 miles to catch up.”
The runner missed the cutoff time for the Le Chapieux checkpoint at the 80-mile mark and was forced to abandon her effort.
“I really wanted to close the loop. I’m a type A personality, and I was never going to pull myself out. It was always going to be, keep going until the race spits you out.”
"There was more support around"
Despite her DNF disappointment, the grandmother of three says this year on the course felt different to her 2019 experience, which found her clinging to the side of a cliff after falling in icy conditions as white runners passed her by without offering to help.
“It still felt quite lonely," says Pace-Humphreys, who explains that the cutoff times mean runners are sprinting through aid stations, stopping only to eat and fill their water bottles, which doesn't leave room for camaraderie.
"But I felt that if something had happened where I needed help, there was more support around.”
“I was hallucinating from La Fouly to Champex-Lac, and in order to regroup myself, I stopped. There was a runner behind me, and he stopped too and asked if I was okay, and that was really beautiful.”
“It didn’t feel like pressure"
Pace-Humphreys says the strong presence of BTR in events in the lead-up to the race, and the successes of her peers, is also helping her cope with what’s known as “the ultra blues.”
“I’m very, very grateful to be able to experience the joy of being around other trail runners who absolutely did everything that they wanted to do.”
Those peers include Juliette Denny and Serena Broadway, who both competed in the 100k CCC race. Broadway, fresh off running the 300k Northern Traverse across the north of England, tells us that despite slippery conditions underfoot that slowed her pace, this experience was entirely different from her 2022 OCC race at UTMB, where she says she felt isolated.
“It didn’t feel like pressure, I just felt how lucky I am to be there with this group representing diversity on the trails.”
Rebecca Devereux was the sole member of BTR competing in the 50k OCC race, which was rerouted due to thunderstorms. A vet by profession, Devereaux enjoyed a podium finish earlier this year at the gruelling Montane Winter Spine 50k.
Grace Natoli, Angela Tomusange and Nethliee Smith all competed for BTR in the challenging ETC race, which takes runners up nearly 4,000 ft (1,200m) of vertical gain in just nine miles (15k).
“We did everything that we set out to do"
Though the presence of BTR at the event signals a move in the right direction for runners of color, Pace-Humphreys says she still didn’t see any black women around her at the starting line, and there’s still work to be done.
“It’s on us as changemakers to continue to try and get support to do the work and bring people from our communities,” she says of continuing to put pressure on UTMB organizers to improve diversity at the event.
“We’re the ones doing it. UTMB aren’t doing it. They are relying, in a sense, on the work that they do not support from a resourcing point of view, on us to do it.”
Pace-Humphreys says she’s received an “overwhelming” number of messages from followers in the past week who have been inspired by the BTR showing and now want to try trail running and experience the event.
“We did everything that we set out to do. You’re going to see a massive increase in members of Black Trail Runners at the UTMB next year, because in the end, the mountains don’t discriminate; it’s the system.”
While she’s not sure if she’ll return next year to compete, Pace-Humphreys says she will “absolutely” return at some point to finish the 100-mile loop. Stay tuned.
