A UTMB World Series Major that sold out in 29 days
The 18th edition of the Ultra-Trail Australia by UTMB takes over Katoomba and the Blue Mountains National Park from 14 to 17 May 2026. Now in its second year as a UTMB World Series Major, the event sold out twice as fast as in 2025, with around 800 international runners flying in from New Zealand, Hong Kong, France, Singapore and South Korea to join an Australian-led field of more than 8,000.
"Entries for the 2026 event sold out in just 29 days," Regional Director Tanya Carroll told the Blue Mountains Gazette, crediting the wave of first-timers who discovered the event in 2025.
The course: cliffs, canyons and 951 steps
Every distance shares the same DNA: dense bush, sandstone escarpments, exposed ridgelines and a brutal staircase finish. The flagship UTA100 rolls out from Scenic World on a mix of singletrack and fire road, drops into Leura Forest, climbs Kedumba Pass and finishes on the 951 Furber Steps that have become the event's signature gut check.
The UTA Miler, run for only the second time after its 2025 debut, raises the ante to 161.5 km. The course launches from Govetts Leap Carpark in Blackheath, drops over 2,000 stairs through the Grand Canyon and Blue Gum Forest, then chains Lockleys Pylon, Narrow Neck and Ironpot Ridge before rejoining the 100K finish through Wentworth Falls and Kedumba Pass. The 42-hour cut-off makes it a true overnight mission, with mandatory survival kit, headlamps and self-sufficiency on technical bush tracks all strictly enforced. The UTA50 condenses the same scenery into a single hard day, the UTA22 circles the iconic Furber Steps loop, and the UTA11 opens the door to first-timers.
Weather: wet Miler, drier Saturday
The forecast looks classic Blue Mountains autumn, cool and shifting from showers to clearing skies as the weekend unfolds. Wednesday and Thursday set up with morning showers and overcast skies around 14 to 16 °C. Friday's Miler start at 5 a.m. is expected to launch under cloud cover and a 55% chance of rain. Saturday, by far the busiest day with the UTA100 and UTA50 on course at the same time, should clear into a dry day with highs near 19 °C and minimums around 7 °C: ideal racing temperatures but cold enough overnight to demand the full mandatory kit.
UTA Miler favorites
The 161.5 km is the wildcard of the weekend, with athletes pulled from across distances and continents. China's Lin Chen (UTMB Index 783) heads the men's seeding, with strong support from a mixed European and Asian Miler field chasing Running Stones for the UTMB Finals in Chamonix.
UTA100: Asia stacks the start line
The men's 100 km looks like the deepest international race of the weekend. China's Guidu Qin (UTMB Index 924) and Guomin Deng (898) lead the seeding, both arriving off strong Asia Trail Series podiums. They are expected to push the pace from the early kilometres around Narrow Neck, with the local Australian contingent banking on the Furber Steps to flip the script in the final five kilometres.
UTA50: Daniel Jones, Ruth Croft and the new wave
The UTA50 is shaping up as the most-watched men's race of the weekend. New Zealand's Daniel Jones returns as defending UTA50 champion with a UTMB Index of 942, the highest mark across all UTA distances. Fresh off a fourth Tarawera 102 km title in February, his form sits at the very top of the discipline. Japan's Hiroki Kai (UTMB Index 847) shapes the strongest challenger, and France's Clément Durance joins the field after a string of European wins.
The women's UTA50 may be the highlight of the weekend. Ruth Croft (New Zealand, UTMB Index 823) lands in the Blue Mountains as 2025 UTMB Mont-Blanc champion and runner of the year, taking on China's Miao Yao (UTMB Index 822, 2025 OCC winner) in a head-to-head between two of the sharpest 50K runners on the planet. British Kate Avery, second at Tarawera 50K earlier in the year, completes a podium-quality trio.
What the athletes are saying
Pre-race messaging from the elites has stayed measured. After her latest Tarawera win, Ruth Croft shared on social media that she had reworked her fueling on the move, switching from a fixed hourly carb target to feeding by effort level, a tweak she credits for her run of long-distance form. Daniel Jones, returning after his fourth Tarawera title, framed UTA as a chance to keep stacking his Australasian season before pivoting to a Northern Hemisphere block at Western States.
NSW Minister Steve Kamper summed up the bigger picture, pitching the weekend as more than a race, a "bucket-list experience" built around the idea of a "runcation" in a World Heritage landscape that draws in family and crew alongside the athletes.
How to follow the race
Live tracking, splits and the rolling broadcast are hosted on live.utmb.world. International viewers can watch the full coverage on DAZN, with FloSports carrying the live show in the United States.