The 2024 OCC race started at 8:15 a.m. local time on Thursday, August 29. The race links up the towns of Orsières, Switzerland; Champex-Lac, Switzerland; and Chamonix, France — giving it the abbreviated OCC name. It is often referred to as the Little Swiss Sister of UTMB. This year’s course matched the 2022 track and was longer than last year, when a rockslide closed a section of the traditional course.
The official stats put the course at 57 kilometers (35 miles) with 3,500 meters (11,500 feet) of elevation gain across three big climbs. The race was the UTMB World Series Final for the 50k distance, and that meant €13,000 to each of the winners and prize money going 10 deep. The total OCC prize purse was €76,000.
There were some 1,800 runners from 90 different countries in the race. The hot-weather kit requirements were activated for this year’s race, with temperatures climbing to 21 degrees Celcius (70 degrees Fahrenheit) range. Runners were required to add sunglasses, a Saharan cap, sunscreen, and extra water capacity to their normally required gear.
You can also check out more results from the week’s UTMB Mont Blanc festival:
2024 OCC Men’s Race
Christian Allen (U.S.) opened a near-immediate gap on the field at the start and ran alone for nearly all of the race’s first half.
An early chase pack fronted by Eli Hemming (U.S.), Benjamin Roubiol (France), Francesco Puppi (Italy), and Rémi Bonnet (Switzerland) thinned to just Hemming and Bonnet 90 minutes into the race. At Trient, Italy, 15 miles and nearly two hours into the race, Allen led Hemming and Bonnet by two minutes.
The race’s second of three big climbs went up Col de Balme, a mountain pass near the Swiss-French border, and here, Hemming dumped Bonnet and ran down Allen. Three hours into the race, Hemming was clear of the rest.
Behind Hemming, Bonnet dropped after taking a fall, Allen hit a wall, and Antonio Martínez (Spain) made a huge move to leap into second on the Col de Balme climb, though still over six minutes behind the leader, however. He also ran a stirring second half at last year’s race when finishing third.
Eli Hemming, the 2024 OCC men’s winner. All photos courtesy of UTMB.
Puppi found the acceleration up the race’s third and final climb, returning to the lead group for the first time since early in the race. Puppi overtook Martinez to move into second and cut into Hemming’s lead. Hemming ran into trouble on that final climb, briefly stopping near mile 31, but recovered on the downhill finish to maintain his pole position to win in 5:11:48. Puppi was second in 5:14:46, and Martinez was third in 5:17:56.
Hemming became the first American to win OCC, and Puppi and Martinez were both second and third for the second straight year.
For perspective, in 2022 on this same course, Manuel Merillas (Spain) won in 5:18.
2024 OCC Men’s Results
1 – Eli Hemming (U.S.) – 5:11:48
2 – Francesco Puppi (Italy) – 5:14:46
3 – Antonio Martínez (Spain) – 5:17:56
4 – Ju-Wei Zi (China) – 5:22:17
5 – Aritz Egea (Spain) – 5:27:07
6 – Kristian Jones (U.K.) – 5:27:49
7 – Daniel Castillo (Spain) – 5:28:48
8 – Tao Luo (China) – 5:30:23
9 – Hu Zhao (China) – 5:30:46
10 – Robbie Simpson (U.K.) – 5:31:04
The 2024 OCC men’s podium: (left-to-right) 2. Francesco Puppi, 1. Eli Hemming, 3. Antonio Martínez
2024 OCC Women’s Race
Tabor Hemming (U.S.) and Dani Moreno (U.S.) led early, but Miao Yao (China) made an aggressive move to the lead on a downhill section less than an hour into the race to take the lead. The surge timing mirrored Yao’s push in last year’s race when she finished third.
Yao’s time alone at the front was short-lived though, and Hemming regained the lead on the climb to La Giète, Switzerland, two hours into the race. Judith Wyder (Switzerland) also overtook Yao on the climb to move into second. When the course again turned downhill into Trient, Italy, Yao again charged. Yao, Wyder, and Hemming exited the Trient aid station, 24.3 kilometers into the race, together with two big climbs to go.
Yao broke the group up on the Col de Balme climb, heading up to the course high point at 34 kilometers, and again blasted the downhill right after. She was three two minutes ahead of Wyder at the top, and Hemming would drop from the race further on. Yao led the rest of the race from there, and Wyder stayed in second, too.
Miao Yao celebrates winning the 2024 OCC.
Miao’s winning time was 5:54:03, and Wyder finished in 6:00:05.
Behind those two frontrunners, Clémentine Geoffray (France) ran a super strong second half to finish third in 6:02:10. Geoffray was the 2023 Trail World Championships 40k winner.
For perspective, the 2022 winning time on this same course was 6:10 by Sheila Avilés (Spain).
2024 OCC Women’s Results
1 – Miao Yao (China) – 5:54:03
2 – Judith Wyder (Switzerland) – 6:00:05
3 – Clémentine Geoffray (France) – 6:02:10
4 – Sara Alonso (Spain) – 6:05:15
5 – Caitlin Fielder (New Zealand, living in Andorra) – 6:05:46
6 – Dani Moreno (U.S.) – 6:06:59
7 – Camilla Magliano (Italy) – 6:07:27
8 – Ikram Rharsalla (Spain) – 6:10:23
9 – Rosa Lara Feliu (Spain) – 6:13:06
10 – Anna-Stiina Erkkilä (Finland) – 6:13:57
The 2024 OCC top five women: (left-to-right) 4. Sara Alonso, 2. Judith Wyder, 1. Miao Yao, 3. Clémentine Geoffray, 5. Caitlin Fielder
