August is here at last and with it the North-Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® race, the top event of the year for trail runners worldwide.

The "ordinary people" in Team Vibram have worked relentlessly to prepare for the UTMB® race and they are not about to stop now.

The very promising results are already visible. For example, the 2nd place in the team ranking won by Marco Zanchi on 9 July at the Ultra-Trail World Championships in Connemara (Ireland), where he ran for the Italian national team. In the individual ranking, Marco came in 13th. He noted that "it was a complicated race over some very heavy terrain, including peat bogs, and through several rivers, but what an experience it was to put on the uniform of my national team for an event like the World Championships".
And that was just the beginning. "I came back from Ireland full of energy and motivation, ready to put the final touch on my preparations for the UTMB®". No sooner said than done, this time for Team Vibram® UTMB®. On 31 July, Marco came in second at the Royal Ultra Sky Marathon (54 km, 4 000 metres of vertical gain) in the Grand Paradise national park in Italy!

Next up is the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® race and Marco will put his heart into it in the hope of living some unique moments in the company of Giuseppe, Candide, Johan and Raphael, his teammates in Team Vibram® UTMB®. The many hours spent in training during the long winter months will have faded to nothing more than a vague memory.

In Brittany, teammate Johan Sérazin is also in top condition. After finishing 6th in the "Bugul Noz" race, Johan is now number 2 in the Solomon Challenge ranking and there is still one race left to win the top spot! In the meantime, Johan also finished 18th in the Mont Blanc marathon on 1 July, an excellent omen for the UTMB® race.

Patience, on the other hand, is now the primary quality demanded of Candide Gabioud from Switzerland, who severely injured his ankle during the Team Vibram® UTMB® meeting in the beginning of July. "After this forced rest period of almost one month, I now see the light at the end of the tunnel", states Candide, who will arrive fresh and fit at the UTMB®. That could be a major advantage for a 166-km race.

Raphaël Bodiguel, who now lives in Provence, scored an excellent 6th place on 31 July in the Pic de Bure trail race and the number one spot in his V1 (veteran) category. "It was my last race before the UTMB®", noted Raphaël, before taking off for Seville and Andalusia, "the ideal spot to celebrate my 40th birthday and completely relax". The break was fairly short and Raphaël has since hit the trials again, up and down the Sainte-Baume mountain either on foot (long easy-going runs) or on bike to prepare for the long duration and the high vertical gain of the UTMB®.

Giuseppe "Beppe" Marazzi has also been enthusiastically following his training regime. He has come a long ways since April when he injured his back and almost decided to withdraw from the race! But now in August, he is all smiles. "I'm back in good condition, racking up the kilometres and the vertical gain, and the pain in my back is just a memory. Now I am looking to the future and the immense pleasure of running the UTMB®", he says happily.

So Team Vibram® UTMB® is on its way to Chamonix for the start, on 26 August, of the legendary North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc®. Our five "ordinary people being extraordinary" are ready to meet the challenge and their shared goal is to be among the future finishers, an excellent way to manifest their firm commitment to Team Vibram® UTMB®.