Three weeks on from finishing 10th for the second year in a row at the UTMB, a 100-mile race circumnavigating the Mont-Blanc massif, Australian ultra runner Lucy Bartholomew is set compete at the Women’s VinFast IRONMAN World Championship in Nice, France, taking place on Sunday 22 September.
Yet this won’t be the first time Bartholomew attempts this gruelling endurance double. Last year, she became just the sixth person, and second women, to complete both the UTMB and the IRONMAN World Championship in the same year. A feat of nearly 400km in just six weeks. To add to the incredible achievement, Bartholomew finished 10th in the elite women’s race in the UTMB and in just her second IRONMAN, finished in 10:43:41 with a 3:30 marathon.
In 2024 Bartholomew is aiming to complete the UTMB and IRONMAN World Championship double once again – and this time, the races are just three weeks apart. With the UTMB already ticked off – again Bartholomew finished 10th but this time over one hour and 40 minutes faster than last year – the Aussie ultra athlete now turns her attention to Nice, where 226km (140.6 miles) of swim, bike, and run stands between her and another historical feat of endurance.
“My UTMB experience has felt different this year. Last year was driven by curiosity and ‘can I do this?’, whereas this year felt more like it was driven by ‘how fast can I go?’. My approach and attitude towards the race remained the same – knowing it was a fast start, a long night and a hot day following, I felt confident that when the sun hit on Saturday, I could be in a good place to make moves as I handled the heat well. A lot went wrong, again, but more went right. I am super happy with my time, which would have been in the top three most other years, but I am so impressed and inspired by the speed of the women's race, which brought out my best on that day,” said Bartholomew.
“The day after UTMB I got an email saying, ‘IRONMAN World Championship Nice is three weeks away, it's time to start your taper’, and I thought ‘no, it’s time to start training’. I feel really good, though. I have come out of UTMB with no niggles or injuries, which is better than last year. I have eaten for a family of five in the past week and have been very intuitive about moving my body and sleeping to catch back up. My plan for the in between weeks is to ride and swim a little to remind my body what these sports are and to run a few times, but nothing wild. I would rather turn up to Nice, fresh and stoked, than overtrained and exhausted,” she said.
Despite having more time between the two races last year, Bartholomew says she is feeling better prepared both in her mind and body for this year’s double attempt, aided by the IRONMAN World Championship being held in the same country as UTMB Mont-Blanc in 2024, whereas in 2023 the Women’s IRONMAN World Championship was held in Kona, Hawai`i.
“Last year felt harder. The international travel and the last third of UTMB being a massive fight with my mind and body meant I was already so much further back than where I am now. It always fascinates me to watch the body and mind recover because with UTMB, you run through a whole night and then don’t really sleep the night after as your body starts to repair, so I am really trying to respect that and say to it, ‘OK, tell me what you want to do each day’ and being guided by that rather than a training plan,” she said.
As a professional trail runner and with the UTMB being the pinnacle race of the sport, Bartholomew had dedicated almost all of her efforts in training this year to being competitive on race day – with the exception of a short block geared towards the Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia Pacific Championship Cairns in June, where she finished third in her age group and qualified for the IRONMAN World Championship.
“UTMB was the main focus this year. And while last year in the lead-up to UTMB I still tried to stay consistent with triathlon training, I fully committed to the ultra trail sport this year. Nice feels like a cherry on the cake of my endurance buffet summer, and I’m mostly excited, curious and grateful to have this opportunity,” said Bartholomew.
As well as the shorter turnaround time between the two races this year, one of the big differences compared to her 2023 effort is the IRONMAN World Championship race location. In Kona, the bike course is notorious for its hot, humid and windy conditions but with comparatively less elevation and turns, whereas the bike course in Nice is more technical, winding and with plenty of elevation – something which Bartholomew is excited to tackle.
“I am so excited about the bike course. I definitely prefer the hilly style, and it looks so pretty! I have also never been to Nice, so it is cool to go from Chamonix, the French Alps [the town where UTMB starts and finishes], to Nice, the French coast, and race the two pinnacles of each sport,” she said.
“I love being part of sports. I love learning and experiencing and rubbing shoulders with other athletes. I love testing my body and mind, and I hope it shows others not to put themselves in a box and dare to do something no one has ever done.”
For more information about the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship events, please visit www.ironman.com/im-world-championship.?