“I am an American who came to settle in France to run trails in the Alps“: this is how Jim Walmsley defines himself, in all humility, when we meet him one morning at the end of June, in Chamonix. Of course, he is not wrong, but Jim Walmsley is above all a world No. 1 in trail running in search of his Holy Grail, from a pinnacle of his sport that still eludes him: the UTMB.
Since 2017, between abandonments and failures, the one who has won everything in the United States does not succeed in the Mont-Blanc Massif. So to reverse the trend, to put the odds on his side, Jim Walmsley made a radical decision. Last May, he and his wife left their Arizona to come and settle for at least a year in Arêches-Beaufort, in these mountains that he finally wants to tame. A sporting but above all human adventure, where the Ultra Trail of Mont Blanc will perhaps not be the ultimate objective. Meet.
France Bleu Pays de Savoie: Jim, it has now been more than a month since you came to live in Savoie, in Arêches-Beaufort. Was it the only solution for you to hope to impose yourself on the UTMB?
Jim Walmsley : I realized over the years that the UTMB was quite complicated for me, especially this transition with my season in the USA. I used to do a very difficult race in June in the USA (the Western States 100) and then follow up with the UTMB. Today, I therefore try to put aside this American part so as not to need to make a transition. I come earlier to France, preparing myself specifically for this event. The UTMB is the most important ultra-trail in the world, by far the largest forum for highlighting ultra trail runners. Working hard and training specifically for that today represents in my eyes a real source of motivation, a real beautiful goal.
What are your first impressions since settling in Beaufortain?
I only have good surprises. Whether it’s for me or my wife Jess, moving to another country is a big step, a big change in our lives. We had a lot of questions, but for us it is a great adventure, both terrifying and exciting. When we arrived in Arêches-Beaufort, and despite our very low level of French, the people were particularly warm and welcoming. We thought no one would speak English and it’s wrong, some try to speak it with us. Even the farmers now greet us when we pass them, it’s really nice.
– hoka
What do you want to learn from this experience of living in the Alps?
I want to learn things that go beyond trail running. Resuming my learning of French is something very important to me. I also want to make friends with people, explore the mountains and learn to have fun there, even in winter with skiing. I want to experience a winter in the Alps, an experience that is still unknown to me. All of this can help me better understand the differences in the way American and French trail runners approach their sport. If I succeed, I hope to be able to use it later in my ultra-trails. Hopefully it will help me improve my performance.
This different approach to the ultra, is it a necessity today for you to explore it?
I feel more the need to discover the running conditions in the mountains, the changes in weather conditions, the equipment to take, which shoes to choose in relation to the terrain, which socks. I no longer want, during a race, to say to myself ” oh dear, it would have been great to have such and such with me », and not to have it. I no longer want to carry superfluous equipment that I won’t use. Here, the French trail runners run in their garden, they know exactly what they must have on them during a race, what they need in these mountains. They have all this know-how that I don’t have yet.
So you almost want to feel like a French trail runner?
French trail runners have excellent results on the UTMB. It’s impressive to see that, as if they wanted to protect their mountains from all this competition from all over the world. It’s quite incredible. My goal is to familiarize myself with the UTMB route as much as possible, for example the part between Courmayeur and Chamonix that I just did a few days ago.
François D’Haene doesn’t give me advice per se, but I just have to watch him to understand why he is so strong
One of the renowned French trail runners is of course your friend François D’Haene, who also lives in Arêches-Beaufort. What role did he play in your installation?
François helped us enormously in this project to come to France, it was he who helped us choose Arêches-Beaufort. He was very welcoming, accompanied us on trail outings. It’s a silly example, but he introduced us to one of our neighbors who now gives us eggs. We are very grateful to him and we are happy to be able to develop this relationship of friendship with him. As far as trail running is concerned, François has a different approach to it than mine. He really trains like a mountain athlete, he keeps busy all the time with fun activities whereas I am much more serious in my approach. I only define myself as a runner, while François has experience in other sports such as cycling or climbing which allow him to survive better in the mountains, especially at night. François does not give me advice strictly speaking, but I just have to look at him, to observe him to understand why he is so strong in ultra.
During your stay in France, will you try to be “less serious” in the way you train?
I’ll try to stay here through the winter, I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona where there’s no snow and in the summer it’s 48 at the highest °C. In winter, I won’t be in my comfort zone at all and it will be a big change. In January and February, for example, I learned the basics of ski touring, so next winter I can train on skis instead of just running. I think that’s a real difference between American and European culture. Most European ultra trail runners practice several sports, it’s very common. In the United States, we remain rather confined to our favorite sport. It’s a different way of training that I want to adopt here.
So you will be a ski champion in a few months?
(Laughs) No no, not at all, I will probably be one of those people who descend too quickly without being in control. More seriously, alpine skiing is a good way to train. I’m pretty good at climbing so maybe I’ll do some ski mountaineering races.
– hoka
Coming back to the UTMB, do you want to win it in 2022 or 2023. Is this victory a simple wish or a real obsession?
I think I constantly need to take a step back from it all. The challenge is not simply to win the UTMB, although of course that is part of the reason why I am in France today. It goes way beyond that. I want to learn more about French culture, adapt to it, learn the French language, connect with the people who live here. It goes far beyond a simple race. Winning the UTMB is obviously the element that motivates me on a daily basis and pushes me to work hard, but at the same time, I know that the UTMB is a very tough race, with huge trail runners, that everything will not depend necessarily that of me during this trail. However, I hope to increase my chances of winning tenfold thanks to this life that I now lead in France and to this experience that I am living.
You don’t go so far as to tell us that a victory wouldn’t be so important after all?
Of course I want to win, but my experience here goes way beyond that. Even if I don’t win this year or the next, I can be proud of myself and happy to have given everything for this race. We’ll see where it all takes me, but I find it great to live for a specific purpose. Even if we don’t reach it, it’s not the most important thing. I like experience, I like change. It’s so much more rewarding to have a goal, to try to achieve it than to rely solely on successes and failures. The path to the goal is so much more important than the end result.
By coming to settle here, my objectives go much further than the UTMB. I want to develop myself first as a human being
The UTMB does not therefore seem to be the sole objective of your French experience, but when you hear journalists telling you that you are cursed for this race, don’t you feel an additional motivation?
I kinda don’t care if it’s a curse or not, I see it more as a problem that I haven’t solved yet. I see no reason that would prevent me from winning the UTMB one day, but will it happen? I don’t know and it doesn’t matter. I can’t control being on a good day and improving on my best performance, but it would be a good first step to do at least as good as my fifth place finish from 2017. Not having to spend money energy a few weeks before on the Western State will be really beneficial to me. I am convinced that most of my problems were due to the schedule that I had imposed on myself, with transitions that were too difficult to manage between France and the United States. Since I’ve been in Arêches-Beaufort, I can forget all that, concentrate on other elements that I want to put in place, if only at the level of our installation, all these little details that must be put in place place to feel good and make our adventure a real success.
The coming edition will be particularly exciting, with a certain Kilian Jornet at your side.
Killian who? Just kidding, I make this joke every time someone talks to me about him. Kilian is really strong, I think he and guys like Pau Capell or Xavier Thévenard are real champions. If they’re on a very big day, that’s something I won’t be able to control. That’s why I prefer to take a step back and focus on the points that I can master. If I’m fit and on a great day, I think I can compete with a very fit Kilian. I hope this scenario will happen, everyone will enjoy it if it happens, the race will necessarily be very tight. It would be fun to share such a moment with Kilian. And then it may be the first time that Kilian has run more races than me before the UTMB, so maybe the wheel will turn in my favor (laughs).
To sum up, when we see you here again in 2023, whether or not you won the UTMB, the important thing will be elsewhere?
Yes, running is, in quotes, just running. I have a lot of fun there, it gives me a lot of joy, but my objectives in coming to settle here go much further than that. First, I want to grow as a human being. If in 2023, I feel happy, I will have won everything on this point. And what’s more, we can talk about all that in French (laughs)!