UTMB OCC - 50 km - 2025

In August 2025, Profeet ambassador Iain Martin took part in the OCC ultra marathon in France.

It’s a strange feeling when your 50km ultra marathon, which includes 3400m of climbing, is just one of the supporting acts to the main event – the 172km UTMB itself.

In any ‘normal’ circumstances, the OCC would be considered a tough ultra. Starting in Orsières in Switzerland and finishing in Chamonix, the OCC acts as the 50km World Final. The fact that 2023 UTMB winner Jim Walmsley was on the start line suggests it was a strong field.

My training was based on two three-week blocks of 50-60 miles of running, with a recovery week in between blocks and finishing with a three week taper to race day. I focussed on ‘time on feet’ only, with no tempo or speed work.

I was also lucky enough to get three days in the Alps in Les Arcs, which gave me the chance to do some big climbs at altitude. I took part in an 18km trail race while I was there, finishing 2nd my age group.

The forecast for race day was so bad (lashing rain and lightning) that the organisers took the decision to delay the start by two hours to avoid the worst of the weather. The route was also changed slightly to avoid exposure on some of the higher passes.

That turned out to be an inspired decision as instead of 1500 runners all starting a day of running completely soaked through, we managed to avoid the worst of the weather.
There was no avoiding the climbs, but I just kept my head down and tried to avoid thinking about how far we still had to go. Much of the course was very technical, involving trails of uneven rocks and roots that could only be stepped over, rather than ‘run’.

However, I felt I was doing well and that was proved after I finished in 9 hours 26 minutes, to discover that I was 15th in the 55-59 age category.

Given that I’d only had a relatively short ten-week transition to ultra running from racing at the World Duathlon Championships in June, I was extremely pleased with this.
I ran with Profeet custom insoles in my shoes for all of my training, using Brooks Cascadia for the race and training on the trails, with Brooks Adrenaline GTS for the majority of my road training.

Next up, I have eight weeks to get back into duathlon mode for an attempt to qualify for next year’s European Age Group Championships in Spain.