In the past weeks the Pro Trail Runners Association has been in talks with Hoka UTMB Mont-Blanc and its directors regarding their new sustainable travel policy that was announced on wednesday 10th June. The elite athlete and leader of our Environmental Working Group Hillary Gerardi was present at the press conference in Chamonix, as a representative of the PTRA. We support the UTMB’s efforts to reduce the environmental impact of their main event in Chamonix, which serves as a proof-of-concept for their global series. While we are not in accordance with all of the specific actions proposed, we acknowledge and support the planned measures aiming at reducing CO2 emissions caused by travel and by the event itself.

The PTRA recognizes that there is significant tension in our sport between increasing accessibility and inclusivity, while simultaneously trying to reduce our impact on the environment. We support facilitating access to local qualifying races, especially for those runners who live far from the major events.

We are happy to see the UTMB working to reduce emissions and other negative impacts of the UTMB event(s) on the environment and on communities. We believe that measuring and transparently communicating annual reports is an important first step. The goal of reducing emissions by 20% compared with 2024 is ambitious, though our vision does not perfectly align with proposed plan, and have the following questions and reservations:

• Further work needs to be done to attempt to reconcile the reduction of emissions and environmental impact, while still ensuring accessibility and inclusivity.

• The current offsetting strategy penalizes certain groups of athletes based on geography – while the amount of compensation is relatively small in relation to the total travel cost, it is symbolically meaningful to ask those from countries which have historically contributed very little to climate change to pay more to participate.
• We would like to have more clarity regarding the goals of the compensation program. Carbon offsetting and carbon capture are problematic and do not propose real solutions to the problems of climate change.
  • If the main goal is reduction of emissions, then the UTMB should be emphasizing reduction of emissions at the source, including questioning the current model of the Series
  • If the main goal is raising awareness and responsibility among participants, they there may be other ways to do so that do not include penalizing runners for where they live
• We would like to see the inclusion of other indicators of impact, including biodiversity and community impacts.
• We would like to see the development of an ambitious plan to include the whole UTMB World Series, and not just UTMB Mont-Blanc. Serious questions remain regarding the current series model which encourages runners to travel extensively to collect stones.  

In spite of our reservations about certain aspects of the sustainable travel plan, we thank UTMB directors for including us in the discussion. We hope to continue working together for a better and more responsible future of trail running.