New ‘World Trail Majors’ Will Offer Independent Global Trail Series in 2024
This article originally appeared on Trail Runner
Trail runners, welcome to the World Trail Majors.
After several months of discussions behind the scenes, the owners and organizers of nine independent ultrarunning races around the world have developed a new series called the World Trail Majors, aimed at creating a diverse, respectful, sustainable, and independent approach to trail and ultra-distance racing. The news was announced worldwide via social media on November 13.
The nine races of the 2024 World Trail Majors (WTM) are the Hong Kong 100K (January 18-21, Hong Kong, China), Black Canyon Ultras 100K (February 10-11, Near Phoenix, Arizona), Transgrancanaria 126K (February 21-25, Canary Islands, Spain), Mount Fuji 100 (April 26-27, Fujiyoshida, Japan), Madeira Island Ultra Trail 115K (April 27-28, Portugal), Swiss Canyon Trail 111K (June 7-9, Val de Travers, Switzerland), Quebec Mega Trail 160K (June 5-6, Near Quebec City, Canada), South Downs Way 160K (June 8, Winchester, England), and Ultra-Trail Cape Town 166K (November 25-26, Cape Town, South Africa).
The World Trail Majors offers a global championship-style series managed by a mutual association, but there is no corporate organization involved--and as of yet, no corporate sponsors announced. Each race will be highlighted equally in lieu of an end-of-series championship.
The WTM organizers will hold a live informational talk and answer questions via YouTube Live Chat on November 13 at Noon MT (2 P.M. ET).
There will be a points system and a yet-unannounced prize purse at the end of the season for athletes taking part in more than one race, but it is not a qualifier system like the UTMB World Series.
The Mission of World Trail Majors
The mission of the World Trail Majors is focused on the integrity of the sport's original ethos, said Jamil Coury, whose Aravaipa Running owns and operates the series' Black Canyon Ultras 100K. It's an association of the most emblematic races in the sport coming together to be a positive for the sport as a whole, connecting runners, communities, and cultures around the globe who love the sport of trail running, he said.
Specifically, the series will focus on the fundamentals of diversity among the participants and race locales, respect for the environment and local culture, and creating experiences for participants based on the unique aspects of each event.
"The series will debut in 2024 with the purpose of uniting some of the top independent race organizations around the globe that embody the spirit of trail running at the highest level," Coury said. "I personally view this series similar to the World Marathon Majors--a collection of some of the best races, a bucket list of events."
Rooted in the Soul of the Sport
The development of the new circuit is not a direct response to the growth of the UTMB World Series over the past two years, but instead a return to the independent roots of the now-defunct Ultra-Trail World Tour (UTWT), Coury says. The UTWT operated for eight years beginning in 2014, but after being stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic it ultimately came to an end after the 2021 season as the operators of UTMB began buying many of those independent races at the inception of the UTMB World Series.
The World Trail Majors is also not a reaction to the recent brouhaha that came to a head in mid-October between independent Canadian event organizer Coast Mountain Trail Running and Ironman-UTMB World Series regarding the trail running race changes at the Vail Resorts-owned Whistler Blackcomb resort, Coury added.
"Some people might wonder, 'Is this reactionary?' No. I mean, maybe from a deeper level, but it’s not like we just threw this together in a couple days and are launching this. It’s been in the works for a while," Coury said. "Ever since the start of the UTMB World Series, there was basically no room at the table for an independent organizer, besides Western States, to be part of the [UTMB] World Series, part of the ecosystem of UTMB Mont Blanc. And so I think a lot of us were missing the association with other key important races from around the world, which really means being a part of something bigger than just your race."
The Ultra Trail World Tour debuted in 2014 with a series of independent international races and served as its own points series circuit, and through the corresponding ITRA rankings, it provided a way for athletes to qualify for the marquee races during the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc weekend in Chamonix, France. The Chamonix-based UTMB Group partnered with Tampa, Florida-based Ironman Group in 2021 to begin purchasing races around the world--including several of those in the former UTWT--that would ultimately become the 40-race UTMB World Series.
But even before the rise of the UTMB World Series in 2022, a handful of independent race directors who have been involved in the sport for many years believed the sport could benefit from a mutual association by keeping trail running's core values at the forefront.
Initial discussions about the World Trail Majors began in 2022 between Janet Ng and Steve Brammar of the Hong Kong 100, Carlos Torrent of Transgrancanaria, and a few other race directors.
"A number of the race directors involved have been talking about forming an alliance of independent races focused on the best interests of the sport for years now," Brammar said. "Once the pandemic was behind us, we decided to go for it. We want it to be non-hierarchical--every race in the World Trail Majors has an equal say. And we want the focus to be on races that provide the best runner experience and that prioritize sustainability and inclusiveness. We are really excited to be building something together with the teams from these fantastic events."
As the new concept was developed, additional race directors were contacted confidentially. The group reached out to Coury and Aravaipa Running in mid-September.
"Instantly that was appealing to us as an organization," Coury said. "We have a lot of events, so we had to decide which event would be the best fit for something called the 'World Trail Majors,' and to us, Black Canyon felt like the right event for that."
RELATED: Your Complete Guide to the Black Canyon Ultras
If nothing else, the new series puts a new wrinkle in the competitive landscape of trail running races offered by UTMB, Golden Trail World Series, and other prominent independent events like the Hardrock 100, Western States 100, Grand Raid/Diagonale des Fous, and Transvulcania Ultramarathon (the latter of which recently pulled out of the UTMB World Series).
“At the end of the day, we also believe that professional runners are also a really important way to showcase our races. Money prizes are essential nowadays,” Torrent said. “We may not be extremely competitive with this the first years as all our funding comes from our races, but there will be prize money and it will soon be announced. Hopefully, the entrance of a future sponsor will allow us to raise these prizes.”
Brammar said the ranking system will only require runners to participate in two of the nine events. No qualification is needed to race in any of the WTM events.
"Only two race results will count towards the ranking," Brammar said. "This flexibility aims to ease the pressure on athletes to over-race and over-travel."
The news of the WTM launch comes just as most elite athletes (and many age-group runners) are finalizing their race calendars for 2024.
"I'm thrilled to see this group of race directors coming together to create something great," Arizona-based Adidas-Terrex pro runner Abby Hall said Sunday night when told about the new series. "These are all unique, challenging ultras, sure to be formative experiences to anyone who dives into this series, whether professional or newcomer. The selection represents our sport well."
While Brammar said the World Trail Majors might grow a little in the future, that growth will be based on adding races and race directors that share the same values as those held by the original nine, namely the authenticity of well-organized events, respect for the environment, and the equal opportunity for any individual to share in the challenges and joy the sport provides.
Brammar said those values and the friendships that developed between the race directors through the years created a sense of mutual support that helped them improve their events and continue to provide better experiences for runners.
"Each World Trail Major offers the best of its region--races hosted by passionate trail enthusiasts who want to share with runners the best possible and most authentic trail running experience possible," Brammar said. "It's about finding pure joy in beautiful places with fantastic people. We look forward to building on that in the coming days, weeks and years."
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