Ultrarunning Just Changed, Forever.

UTMB: A Decisive Finish After 170 km

In August 2025, runners took on UTMB’s roughly 170-kilometre route around Mont Blanc, with about 10,000 metres of climbing. Tom Evans won the men’s race in 19 hours and 18 seconds, while Ruth Croft won the women’s race.

One detail stood out in Croft’s performance: with about 5 km remaining, her heart rate reached its highest point of the entire race. The video presents this as a sign that her aerobic capacity was not the limiting factor late in the event. Her coach, Scott Johnston, had also trained her local muscular endurance—the ability of working muscles to sustain repeated efforts.

The Training Idea Behind the Performance

The presenter traces local muscular endurance training to Soviet sports scientist Yuri Verkhoshansky’s 1977 book Fundamentals of Special Strength Training in Sport. Johnston adapted the approach for climbers and ski mountaineers before applying it to ultrarunners.

The video contrasts this targeted muscle-loading work with an overreliance on Zone 2 cardio: when an athlete’s legs give out before their breathing does, more easy running may not address the main weakness.

The proposed gym session includes:

• Six sets of 10 repetitions per leg of jumping lunges
• Six sets of 10 jump squats
• Step-ups onto a shin-high platform
• Forward lunges that emphasize a controlled landing and a forceful push back

The presenter advises beginning without weights if new to strength training, building the load progressively, and adding the workout to—not substituting it for—cardio. Athletes limited primarily by their breathing should focus on aerobic fitness first.

The Presenter’s Mount Columbia Experience

The presenter recounts an earlier three-day ski expedition on Mount Columbia in Alberta. After roughly exhausting himself partway through the trip, with his hip flexors failing, the group had to turn back. He also suffered a severe sunburn after sunscreen froze in the group’s packs while they were on the glacier.

After returning to training, he later skied to the summit in 14 hours, rather than making another three-day expedition. He says much of his preparation was done indoors on a steep treadmill, with little outdoor training.

Presenters and Sources Mentioned

• Presenter: Ash Allen (channel attribution)
• Sources and figures named: Yuri Verkhoshansky and Fundamentals of Special Strength Training in Sport; Scott Johnston; Ruth Croft; Tom Evans; Mark Twight and Gym Jones; Steve House; Kilian Jornet; Philip Maffetone and The Big Book of Endurance Training; Peter Attia; Chris Hemsworth; Louis Simmons; TrainingPeaks; and Training for the Uphill Athlete.