UTMB live: Could Jim Walmsley be the first American man to win?

Jim Walmsley in the UTMB 2023
First place for both the men's and women's race could be scooped up by American runners (Image credit: Julia Clarke)

We're live from the finish line at UTMB 2023 with Merrell and two American runners are in the lead for both the men's and women's race.

After we reported Zach Miller was in the lead this morning, Jim Walmsley sped past him around 10 a.m. local time and carved out a lead of more than 10 minutes. He passed us at the Vallorcine station at 11:30 a.m. looking practically as fresh as a daisy and he has just completed the final climb of the 106.2-mile race, continuing to run most of it at an impressive pace. 

Barring any unfortunate circumstances, he's looking set to become the first American male to win the UTMB, but as we keep saying, literally anything could happen between now and the finish line.

Miller passed us around 15 minutes later looking a little worse for the wear, followed by Germain Grangier another 10 minutes after that who barely stopped for fuel and left the tent looking confident that he might still be able to take second place.

In the women's race, another US runner is still dominating. Courtney Dauwalter blasted the Gran Col Ferret in the fastest time ever and is now 25 km away from completing Triple Crown of the Western States 100, Hard Rock 100 and UTMB in a single summer, something that has never been done before. 

There's loads of unbelievable talent in this race, but for now, our eyes are on the US runners.

Julia Clarke

Julia Clarke is a staff writer for Advnture.com and the author of the book Restorative Yoga for Beginners. She loves to explore mountains on foot, bike, skis and belay and then recover on the the yoga mat. Julia graduated with a degree in journalism in 2004 and spent eight years working as a radio presenter in Kansas City, Vermont, Boston and New York City before discovering the joys of the Rocky Mountains. She then detoured west to Colorado and enjoyed 11 years teaching yoga in Vail before returning to her hometown of Glasgow, Scotland in 2020 to focus on family and writing.  

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