Ultra Tour Monte Rosa

 
 
Today is an exciting day!
 
We start to tell the news and story of our race.
 
Welcome to Ultra Tour Monte Rosa.
 
We have been working hard on this new project to develop a beautiful trail race around Monte Rosa on the Swiss / Italian border. We will hold a zero edition 4-day stage-race in August 2015, and the full inaugural 150km ultra marathon in 2016.
 
Exact plans are still subject to change depending on final permissions. We will confirm as soon as possible. Please do sign up to our mailing list to be kept informed of all news and developments, and take a look at our gallery of photos to give you an idea of the landscape.
 
The story behind the race: I am Lizzy Hawker, an endurance athlete, and I first went to Zermatt at the age of 6, which is where my love of the mountains started. The opportunity to create a race here and to share this love means a lot to me. Having explored the trails in this region extensively, I am convinced they are some of the most magnificent in the Alps. My intention in founding this race is simply to give people an opportunity to explore these trails, and to experience the value of challenging themselves within the context of an ultra distance race. Running and racing has, over the years, given me so much, and this is what I would like to share with others now.
 
The route passes through the Zermatt valley, towards and then away from the iconic Matterhorn, crosses 6 high passes, and has an average altitude over 2000m. It is a circumnambulation around the huge and imposing massif of the Monte Rosa. On often technical trails, and with more than 10,000m ascent and descent, it is firmly in the “hard” category. In my opinion the route is tough, beautiful and alluring!
 
As race director, I would really like to encourage more women to participate and we will work towards achieving this in various ways. It will also be important to us to support all our runners in their journey to reach the start line, so that we have as many finishers as possible and all have a great experience. Entry criteria for the ultra marathon will be tough, but we will encourage participation and greater access through our stage race and provision of training camps.
 
We are working hard to make this beautiful journey a reality so that you can come and join us.
 
See you in August 2015!