UTMB Lottery Explained: I Had 22 Running Stones and Didn’t Get In

Every year, thousands of runners chase the same dream: standing on the start line of UTMB in Chamonix. The Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc! 🇫🇷🇮🇹🇨🇭 But with over 10,000 applicants and only ~2,300 lottery bibs, even experienced runners with many Running Stones are not guaranteed a place. In this video, I break down: • How the UTMB lottery actually works • What Running Stones and the UTMB Index really mean • Why the system feels random… but isn’t • What the official UTMB data reveals • And what it feels like to go through it myself — after building 22 Running Stones across 3 continents It’s an attempt to understand a system that sits somewhere between fairness and uncertainty. If you’re preparing for UTMB, applying to the lottery, or trying to make sense of your own result — this video is for you. By the way, if you are interested in the book you can sign up here: rafael-hidalgo.com ⸻ 🏔️ My journey to 22 Running Stones Lavaredo 🇮🇹 Verbier St Bernard 🇨🇭 Desert RATS 🇺🇸 Kodiak 100M 🇺🇸 Valhöll 🇦🇷 Paraty 🇧🇷 Bariloche 🇦🇷 💬 Let me know Did you get in this year? How many stones did you have?