Ben Dhiman wins UTMB ultra-trail race

American runner Ben Dhiman won the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) with a time of 18:16:29. Dhiman, an ASICS athlete, led for much of the race and finished over half an hour ahead of runner-up Baptiste Chassagne. Caleb Olson took third place.

In the women's category, Blandine L’Hirondel of France made history by becoming the first woman to finish the race in under 22 hours, recording a time of 21:54:49. She was followed by Americans Rachel Entrekin and Emily Schmitz.

Due to threatening thunderstorms, the race start was delayed by two hours and the route was shortened to approximately 172 kilometers with 9,700 meters of elevation gain. While the rapid times are unprecedented, they are not considered official course records due to the modified route.