Trail Blader 2.0.: Zachary Friedley revisits UTMB

Words by Zachary Friedley. Photography by Andy Cochrane.

My reflections on UTMB, 2022

So much has changed since I ran UTMB’s Martigny-Combe to Chamonix race [MCC] for the first time in 2022.

Back then, it was my first race outside the US and my debut as an On athlete. I never really shared this openly before, but I was running the longest, toughest and – at the time – most important race of my life [40-kilometers with 2300 meters (7,545ft) of elevation change].

I had a new blade [Zach competes using a prosthetic leg and blade on his right side]. I'd only spent a few weeks getting familiar with it, and it was completely different from any leg I've ever had. I was still learning that new feeling, and how to maneuver with it. I missed the first stage cut-off time by 30 minutes.

Today, my perspective on my strengths has evolved. Before that first MCC challenge, I would’ve said I'm not a strong uphill runner, and that I was looking forward to the flats and the descents. 

This time around, it's almost the opposite. I’m strong in my climbing abilities and I'm good at flat running. The downhill is different because I have a changed relationship with my body. I can better analyze my running and see the stress it puts on my body. I know what to expect.

Reframing perspective

Kilian Jornet posted about returning home from his Everest summit attempt earlier this year, saying that everything was beyond perfect but he didn’t reach the peak as planned. I replied saying that I've failed so many times but still live to try another day. 

I don’t personally comment on tons of social posts, but I was thankful to him for sharing that. Sometimes you make a call in the moment, things don’t go to plan or are out of your control. [Kilian abandoned his solo attempt to reach the Everest summit via the Hornbein Couloir after being carried down by about 50 meters in a sudden avalanche].

It’s affirming to hear the greatest athlete in your sport come from such a place of honesty. That approach and that demeanor is something I massively respect; it’s about sticking around to keep moving forward. 

UTMB 2023: With coach, Eric Orton 

The lead-up to this year’s UTMB is like the stars have aligned. And yet, this is all intentional: I’ve got a new coach, a new leg and after MCC last year, we started getting to work. 

I’ve known my coach, Eric, for a few years [Eric Orton is the world-renowned coach featured in the international bestseller, Born to Run] and at the end of 2022 I called and asked if he wanted to officially start working together. When we talk to each other on the phone, my wife says we just nerd out about running. I'm like a sponge trying to soak up all his wisdom.

Full immersion

Heading into MCC 2023, I’m visualizing the race, not just when it’s all going to plan, but the times when it’s going to get hard or go wrong. Eric says, “how are you going to react? How's it going to feel ten-miles in when your lower back or your leg hurts and you’re chasing the cut-off time?” I have all the scenarios playing through my head. 

Facing the unexpected and figuring things out on the move, that’s part of the allure of trail running. But my goal this time for MCC is full immersion and fewer unknowns. 

The race has eight stations, and I'm going to know every square inch of the route. I’ve got a house in Chamonix, right in the middle of the course, where I’ll stay for a month before the race. 

I've been supported by On for over a year, and I’m part of a team with the resources to be the most successful athlete I can be. I’m excited – and grateful – to be living it.

New blade, more mileage 

Getting a new blade is one of the most stressful periods for me as an athlete – they’re incredibly complex and expensive. These things typically only last about a year and they cost up to $50,000. The process also takes up weeks of my time for travel, fittings and iteration. 

In the last week, my training mileage peaked at 50-miles (80km) in seven days. That’s extreme.  I don't know any other above-knee adaptive athlete in the world that's covering that distance on the trails.

Always on

Between training, my non-profit [Mendocino Movement Project, an organization focused on creating events for disabled people, including the trail races, Born to Adapt], and other related projects, I work seven days a week. 

My wife, Meagan, reminds me that I never take time off, but what I do is so rewarding, it doesn’t feel like work. 

I love the whole process of training. It’s as habitual as brushing my teeth. Eric and I connect and I see my workouts in advance. Everything gets built around the plan. Nothing happens without the training and it gives me a peace of mind to put in the work. 

My wife and I live in Northern California in a very remote, small community. It’s far from city life and mainstream culture. When we travel, I pick out places that I know that I can run track or trail – and these become my training hubs. I use Strava, an app called AllTrails and an app called Gaia GPS. They’re all map systems so you can just go and explore anywhere. 

Supporting Right to Run

I was at On’s Right To Run week of programming in Ghana earlier this year. It’s a dream scenario to be part of the energy bringing more awareness and inclusion to disabled student athletes. 

Right to Run also supports Born to Adapt events, all-inclusive trail races for adaptive athletes – and my vision is to expand these to champion trail running accessibility on a global scale. One athlete, Victor ‘Slick Vic’ Hernandez said at our last event, “I’m not just running for me, I’m running for everyone else.” That’s the adaptive spirit right there.

Working towards systems change 

Much of the vision around Born to Adapt, is lowering the barrier to entry for disabled people to access what they need to go experience the world in a way that’s incredible. 

Take somebody with a disability wanting to join a mid-week run group – someone who wants to move more but doesn't have any ambitions to race. They just want to be a part of their community. American health insurance doesn’t cover prosthetics. We’ve got to make it more accessible for those people who aren’t being catered for – or even considered. 

We often talk in the context of elite adaptive athletes, but there are far more run-group athletes from under-represented communities out there, than athletes like me trying to make cut-off times in MCC. It’s a really hard challenge.

I have conversations with friends and partners in the US about how to affect policy change. Working towards system and organizational progress is what drives me. There’s a lot of work to be done.

Revising race cut-offs

Born to Adapt is a trail race specifically for the adaptive community and you're coming in at a broader entry cap. For most other trails races, cut-off times are more of an extreme challenge and in UTMB they’re pretty aggressive.

UTMB is about attracting elite performers, but there should also be adjustments to cut-off times for adaptive performances so there’s space for both. It would make it more equitable for groups of under-represented people, not just a handful of athletes across the globe. 

That being said, I’m training every day to bust the existing cut-offs. I’m working to reach those stages faster than last year, by half an hour at least.

Revealed: My pacer at UTMB

This is the first time I’m sharing that [On’s Trail Athlete Partnership Manager] David Kilgore will be pacing me at MCC. 

When I got the news I could have a pacer, right away Dave said, “yeah man, I totally believe in you. Let’s do it.” He’s an incredible athlete and magical things happen around him.

My vision for adaptive running, racing and UTMB

There’s going to be more adaptive athletes at MCC this year. I know there's a couple of people from France with blades coming and another athlete from the US.

I wouldn’t want to change too much about UTMB, but a classification system like you see in the Paralympics would make it more accessible. I always use paratriathlon as an example. You have multiple adaptive categories and people fall into those categories. Whether an athlete identifies as an above-the-knee runner or a visually impaired runner or anything else, you can get classified and you can go and compete and you win your category.

That's the kind of world I hope to see in the next five years. With a system like this, you’d see more adaptive athletes celebrated alongside the likes of Kilian, François [D’Haene], Courtney [Dauwalter] and other elites that run UTMB.

I’m confident the needle is moving in that direction and I'm not going to stop showing up to UTMB events. Bring on MCC. No matter how much progress gets made, I always feel like I’m just getting started.