UT4M

At the Ultra Tour des 4 Massifs, or Ut4M, there is no skimping on quantity. First, the number of mountains crossed 🏔️ by the race: Grenoble sits surrounded by 4 massifs (Vercors, Taillefer, Belledonne and Chartreuse 🍾), the organizers imagined a slightly crazy parcours 🤪 that doesn’t skip any of these mountain ranges with very different personalities. When you arrive in the capital of the Alps and you look all around you 🌲, you’ll understand just how much the UT4M launched a crazy challenge to its competitors! 😜 We feel tiny as we wander at 200 m above sea level in the valley and look up to the peaks! 😍

There are then the number of races scheduled throughout the 4 days of the event : they are no less than 12 ! 🤯 Ultra enthusiasts will choose the "180 Xtrem", in other words the tour of the 4 massifs solo in one go 😅. The ravenous runners who want to discover all the landscapes in the daylight 🌞 and take time to recover a bit will opt for the "180 Challenge" which offers 4 stages of 40 km each spread over 4 days 🗓️. And then, there are all the other formats : the "100 Master" and its 100 km routes in Belledonne and in Chartreuse, the "Challenge 80" and its 4 stages of about 20 km each over4 days, the 4 marathons routes in the 4 massifs and, finally, the 4 half-marathons also offered in the 4 massifs... 😌 The advantage is you can compose your own little personalized menu by scheduling several races on one, two, three or four days 😬. A true feast of kilometers and altitude gain ! 📈 And those who aren’t satisfied can organize to combine several races, since they do not occur at the same time. Hold onto your hat: there are a total of 90 possible combinations 🤯. To include even more profiles, you can also join the UT4M Hike of 10 km, which will take place on Saturday at a flexible time (from 11am to 5pm) 🚶‍♀️. The goal is really for all types of runners to participate in this race, on one of the distances that suits them best! 🌈 For a bit more of a challenge, you can even register for the Borne Challenge! The aim? Earn as many points as possible, and to gain points you just need to run kilometers (1km = 1 point) 🏅. To maximize your chances, we recommend having a large team (many people); it’ll be easier 💪.

The UT4M is organized by Grenoble Outdoor Aventure, a local volunteer association! 🤝 These many people run the race every year and offer a unique experience. Plus, they are involved in scientific research 🧪. The CHU and the researchers' university are interested in ultra-trail runners, so they monitor participants before, during, and after the race to better understand the impacts (positive or negative) of trail running 💡. If you want to participate in the study, a membership will be offered in the UT4M registration form.

And then there is a city, Grenoble, which is an ideal base camp ⛺️. Activities outdoors are abundant around here, as are exhibitions, cultural visits, concerts, restaurants, walks… 🙌 Do not miss the famous climb to the Bastille, on foot if you have enough energy or by cable car if you want to spare your calves 🚡, or even the tasting of the very nourishing walnut cake and the famous dauphinoise potatoes. If you’re really exhausted, settle for a session of lazing around on the quais de l’Isère 🌊 with panoramic views of the massifs around… Where you’ll have sweated a bit more than attempting to line up 4 chips in a grid! 😂