UTMB 2022 - My nightmare race

UTMB - the most famous trail race in the world. Follow along today to see what happened as I embarked on the epic course through France, Italy and Switzerland. The result may not have been what we wanted, but as with everything, you learn so much and we'll return in the future to comeback stronger.

Thank you for all the support for both myself and Sarah. We really appreciate it!

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[tommyrunsfar]

Jeff Pelletier standing behind Ben at the start making his own YouTube video is a wonderful crossover 🤣

[Zanrok]

Sarah is a saint.. seriously she is so tremendously supportive of everything you do.

[zacmunroe]

It’s easy to share the parts of your life that go well; it’s much harder to share the moments of vulnerability. Kudos to you for sharing the difficult, uncomfortable parts, too. It’s humanizing, and helps many others who have experienced their own adversity relate. Cheers to healing up from Canada and continuing to put out the excellent content!

Never commented on a YouTube vid in my life but had to comment. Great attitude brother. Love how humble you are. Anyone who’s banging out a 2.25 marathon is good enough to be elite level on the trails. Was gutted for you both when you dropped early doors. DNFs are part of the game in these long trail races. I did the race myself in 2016. It’s a beast. Spent the last climb talking to my Girlfriend the whole way up who wasn’t even with me. 🤣. Stay strong and swift recovery

[SethJamesDeMoor]

Amen, "Real Life" has so many punches, and ever grateful to see an insight into your "low" that ultimately will turn into a "high" in 2023 or 2024! Onward and Upward Ben, excited for your future races.

[fastfoodie]

I'd consider myself a good trail runner and I fall over and hurt myself all the time. In the last 10 months, I've had to DNF twice from bad falls that I couldn't walk/shake off. Sometimes we land just wrong and we can't push through. It is a tough break and as you reflected, really frustrating when you are actually feeling good. Don't give up on the trails though!!

[svenja]

I'm pretty shocked that no one from UTMB picked you up or helped you in any way!! I would have freaked out! Wishing you a speedy recovery, glad the injury doesn't seem too bad! 🍀

[christinaclementson]

Absolutely gutted for you both! But what a great team you are, Sarah is an amazing support to you, being willing to sacrifice her race to make sure you were ok. You are both fantastic ultra runners and you’ll be back stronger than ever soon. Take it easy xxx

[TheFODRunner]

Absolute legend for sharing this, both of you went through a heck of a lot in that time, I’m glad to see you’re determined to get back there over the coming years, that’s the right attitude 💪 also glad to see you’re back jogging as well 🙏

[heinrichf]

Stay strong Ben and wishing a good recovery

PS: saw you at starting line at London Half yesterday and you done a little hop and skip past me whilst recording so trust you’re back to you’re inspiring best

Keep inspiring 🙏

[katerepko]

I echo the sentiments of everyone else on here--so sorry you had to DNF and thanks for sharing a truthful account of your experience. It's tough to share the difficult parts of your life. But I have to say a big "Not good, not good at all" to UTMB. You called for help, they said they'd send help, and no one showed up. Unless you sign your life away in paperwork before the race, I do find it shocking they had no ability to rescue an injured and stranded runner. I understand it's at altitude, etc etc, but you weren't in the death zone on Everest. There should have been a way for the race officials to get someone to assist you.

Your attitude is refreshing and I very much appreciate the recognition that sometimes you do everything right and then one thing that is not your fault at all goes wrong and your plans and goal evaporate. There are indeed millions of others in the world with more to complain about, and I appreciate your positivity very much.

[sunyihan]

I’ve never dreamed of any of this race but I totally emotional when you pass the starting line! I bet you’ve done so many hours of training for this, waiting for the moment. You are amazing!

I could see, you took every single moment very gracefully and enjoyed well even with hard climbing.

Like I said, you are AMAZING!

Thank you for sharing it!

[tesserwithpaul]

I've had multiple tumbles that at the time felt like slow motion and too small to matter - only to find out a few hours later that I broke my collarbone, or elbow, or busted my knee up bad enough I still have scars. So I can sort of relate! Still, I'm gutted for you. I can only imagine how much you put into preparing for UTMB. But I am very glad you made it off that mountain safely. It is a story and experience you will NEVER forget. And You have an amazing girl. Total respect for how she came back to help you. Priorities!

[juliana]

“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” - Nelson Mandela

Don't be too hard on yourself - you're an inspiration to many!

[TheBenz]

Congratulations to your sub-3 Berlin Marathon achievement attained 3 days ago on September 25, 2022! This UTMB 2022 video shows that you have made a strong come back and nailed it.

I will always remember this real life story of yours to give myself and others encouragement whenever we shall meet a setback in life! You are a very optimistic and a strong executor of your running plans! I admire your never-give-up personality!👍👍👍

[hitz]

The start and finish lines are the most emotionally overwhelming place on earth ❤❤❤😊

[christian_a_uk]

Ben, your strength and courage is inspiring. This can't have been easy to put together, I have nothing but admiration for you picking up and going again at The Big Half so soon. So many of us were with you online through the race and will keep supporting you on the journey. I hope one day I can share some miles with you both and thank you personally for being so inspiring 🙏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[Takaya]

Aww man! And the two of you trained so hard and that had to happen. Still epically well done for getting it done what you did even on an injured knee. I do however find it rather shocking that they didn’t notice that 2 runners didn’t check-in at the next checkpoint and basically left you stranded. At least I know with the races here in South Africa they have sweeps at the back keeping a check on the back runners or anybody that has lagged behind. UTCT has sweeps that swap out at ever so many hours at aid stations so even on the 100km and new 100miler this year their is always somebody at the back to check-in.

[LuisSantos-svms]

So sorry for you both. you are both an inspiration on how possitive you can remain even when things do go as planned. I'm sure you will both be back and complete this magical race!

[dylanhobson]

Ben, terribly sorry to hear about your injury. I was fortunate enough to meet you Sarah, Loyd Purvis, and Stephen Cousins in Chamonix. Many of my favorite content creators in one spot and you were all generous with your time and even posed for a group photo with me. Like you, my UTMB (CCC) dreams were crushed after waking up Friday morning with chest and head congestion. I took a COVID test that was negative and had to give it a go after working so hard for the past three years to get into the race. It was clear early on that a finish was unlikely. I managed to make it 55K before having to drop at Champex Lac. Turns out that I did have COVID so the reminder of my vacation consisted of laying in bed watching the races on my computer. With the change to running stones and so few races in the US to earn them, I don't know how long it will take me to get back there. I'm inspired by your determination to return. Thank you for the great running content and for being a model of positivity. Heal quickly.