The Green Runners member, Iain Martin, spoke with Fabrice Perrin, UTMB Sports & Sustainability Director to find out more.
In 2023, the reputation of the world’s most famous trail running organisation, the UTMB, was at its lowest ebb.
A campaign led by The Green Runners’ Damian Hall, and supported by world leading athletes such as Kilian Jornet, had called out the UTMB for taking on the fossil fuel company, Dacia, as headline sponsor for their showpiece Chamonix events.
Two years later, that pressure appears to have been successful. First, Dacia was dropped as the main sponsor in favour of Hoka. And in June 2025, the UTMB showed that they are listening to the public by announcing a raft of further changes to reduce the carbon footprint of their events.
While in Chamonix last week to take part in the OCC race, I had the opportunity to speak to Fabrice Perrin, Sports & Sustainability Director at UTMB and quiz him on their new initiatives.
‘UTMB Go’: A tool to help runners choose the most carbon efficient mode of travel
Perrin told me about the new ‘UTMB Go’ tool that has been introduced on their website. Runners input where they are starting from, and it calculates the journey that produces the fewest emissions.
For runners from countries like the US, Canada, China or Japan, flying is the only option for the first part of the journey, but ‘UTMB Go’ will propose travel by train, or coach, from the airport, instead of hire cars or taxis.
Travellers from within Europe will have train travel suggested to them as the first option, rather than flying.
A huge difference is that using ‘UTMB Go’ will become an integral part of the registration process from 2026, meaning that all runners will have to use it and indicate how they plan to travel to Chamonix.
Carbon Offsetting: ‘The polluter pays’
Evidently there is a significant carbon cost if a runner flies, and for international athletes outside Europe, there is no alternative.
However, also from 2026, the UTMB will be introducing compulsory carbon offsetting for all competitors, which will be collected at the point of registration for the race.
This means entry will be more expensive for some competitors, but Perrin was clear that the UTMB supports the principle that ‘the polluter pays’ – meaning that the more your travel ‘costs’ the environment, the more it will cost you to enter the race.
A 30% advantage in the ballot for sustainable travel
A key innovation announced in June is that runners choosing to travel in the most sustainable manner will be given a 30% advantage in the notoriously over-subscribed ballot for the UTMB races.
I asked Perrin how this would work in practice: “86% of our carbon footprint comes from travel to the event, so this is our focus. You’ll use ‘UTMB Go’ and it will suggest different travel options. If you commit to the sustainable option, you submit that during the registration stage”, he explained.
You wouldn’t have to book your travel at the time, but if you are picked in the lottery, you will then have a period in which to submit proof of your booking.
What has not been confirmed at this stage is exactly what constitutes sustainable travel from any particular location.
“The rules are not completely defined yet, but we are working on the parameters. It could be, for example, if you can come by train in less than 12 hours, you need to do that,” said Perrin.
Fewer cars on the road
A key part of this year’s strategy for Chamonix has been to focus on shuttles for runners and spectators to take cars off the road.
I was really interested to see that as a runner in the OCC, taking the shuttle to the start in Orsieres was compulsory, unless you could prove that you were staying in Switzerland the night before the race.
“With 10,000 runners and all their supporters all needing to get around, we’ve been able to take a lot of cars off the road. That helps with congestion as well as emissions,” Perrin told me. “We have more than 100 buses running shuttles across the area.”
No single use plastic at the UTMB
Another innovation for this year from the UTMB is self-carbonating all of the aid-station drinks in advance, reducing single use plastic.
“We decided to stop giving out small cups years ago, because it’s so wasteful and pretty soon everybody in the trail running industry did that too, so we’re super proud of that,” said Perrin.
“Now we use Sodastream to carbonate water and make cola,” he explained. “It took a long time is to get the right formula and it takes a long time to do it, but our volunteers are super happy to play their part.”
Goal to cut emissions by 20% before 2030
A crucial aspect of all these changes by UTMB is that their progress will be measured. External consultants have conducted a baseline audit and their goal is to reduce emissions by 20% before 2030.
“We want to do something because we have a responsibility as an organiser of an event in nature. Every year we see changes in the glaciers here, so for us it’s obvious and evident that we have to do something,” Perrin explained.
“In 2019 and again in 2024, we hired a company to assess our carbon footprint, so can calculate what is required now to reduce it by 20% before 2030.”
Chamonix first, then all UTMB events
Many runners will know that the UTMB has expanded rapidly over the last few years, acquiring a global roster of trail running events.
Although their plans are currently focussed purely on the UTMB Finals week in Chamonix, the goal is to extend this: “We plan to roll out the carbon footprint assessment for all our events.”
“We still have to do a lot of work,” Perrin concluded. “But I think it’s a great opportunity to get all the different organisations and all the runners together, and to go to our governments to tell them the changes we need.”