The 100-kilometer CCC race left Courmayeur, Italy at 9:00 a.m. local time on Friday, August 30. Official stats put the race at 62.7 miles and with 19,888 feet (over 6,000 meters) of elevation gain. The race goes the opposite direction from the earlier-in-the-week TDS, connecting the race start in Courmayeur to Champex-Lac, Switzerland and then the finish line hub in Chamonix, France.
As with OCC and UTMB Mont Blanc for the 50k and 100-mile distances, CCC too was the UTMB World Series final for the 100k distance, and that meant €13,000 to each of the winners and prize money going 10 deep. The total CCC prize purse was €76,000.
Hayden Hawks winning the 2024 CCC. Photo courtesy of HOKA.
You can also check out more results from the week’s UTMB Mont Blanc festival:
2024 CCC Women’s Race
Pre-race favorite Toni McCann (South Africa, living in France) led early with only Martyna Młynarczyk (Poland) in reach. The two were less than a minute apart 16 miles into the race. McCann, the 2023 OCC winner, was expected to be here, but Młynarczyk was a surprise this high up. She was sixth at the Tenerife Bluetrail by UTMB 73k earlier this year, but also a standout Ironman triathlete. A chase group led by 2023 fourth-placer Hau Ha Thi (Vietnam), Jazmine Lowther (Canada), and Heather Jackson (U.S.) was over seven minutes back.
McCann’s lead swelled as she climbed through Italy up to the Grand Col Ferret. She was now nearly four minutes up on Młynarczyk and over 10 minutes on everyone else. Lowther fell back to seventh on the climb and would later drop from the race, and Jackson moved up to third. Holly Page (U.K.) entered the top five, 17 minutes behind the race leader.
Roughly halfway into the race at mile 34 in Champex-Lac, Switzerland, it was still McCann and, boldly, Młynarczyk at the front with a big gap on everyone else. McCann led Młynarczyk by almost three minutes, and everyone else was at least 14 minutes behind Młynarczyk. Ha Thi was again third, Jackson fourth, and Rosanna Buchauer (Germany) had moved into fifth 13 minutes in front of a now sixth-place Page.
Ten miles later at mile 44 Trient, Switzerland, McCann and Młynarczyk were still out front, but Buchauer had fallen 22 minutes off the lead, while still third alongside Ha Thi.
Finally, by mile 51 in Vallorcine, France, McCann fully broke free of Młynarczyk. The gap between the first and second runners was now eight minutes, and Buchauer had regained some separation from Ha Thi. Buchauer was six minutes ahead of fourth-place Ha Thi.
At the top of the last climb, La Flégère, the positions were set. It was just a four-mile downhill run to Chamonix to go, and McCann, Młynarczyk, and Buchauer kept their podium spots in order.
McCann won in 11:57 in her debut at the 100k distance. Młynarczyk finished a breakout run in second at 12:11. Buchauer was third in 12:16.
Toni McCann of South Africa winning the 2024 CCC. All photos courtesy of UTMB.
2024 CCC Women’s Results
- Toni McCann (South Africa, living in France) – 11:57:59
- Martyna Młynarczyk (Poland) – 12:11:12
- Rosanna Buchauer (Germany) – 12:16:55
- Hau Ha Thi (Vietnam) – 12:36:16
- Heather Jackson (U.S.) – 12:50:55
- Jing-Yan Tang (China) – 13:10:44
- Anne Cécile Thévenot (France) – 13:19:22
- Katarzyna Wilk (Poland) – 13:24:12
- Lotti Brinks (U.S.) – 13:25:13
- Emmiliese Von Avis (U.S.) – 13:33:35
The 2024 CCC women’s podium (left-to-right): 2. Martyna Młynarczyk, 1. Toni McCann, 3. Rosanna Buchauer.
2024 CCC Men’s Race
Sixteen miles into the race the first 20 men were barely two minutes apart. The group included pre-race favorites like Adam Peterman (U.S.), Hayden Hawks (U.S.), Manuel Merillas (Spain), and Petter Engdahl (Sweden, living in Norway), among others.
A nearly three-mile climb up to the Grand Col Ferret at mile 19 thinned the pack. Hawks gained a 30-second lead over Peterman and Engdahl, and everyone else fell off the lead group by at least two minutes.
Seth Ruhling (U.S.), the race’s 2023 sixth-place finisher, bridged up and ran into the lead alongside Peterman on the next downhill to La Fouly, Switzerland at mile 25. Hawks was just 22 seconds behind at the checkpoint.
Ruhling dropped from the race shortly later with an ankle injury, Engdahl too, and Hawks passed Peterman five hours into the race when climbing to Champex-Lac. Behind Hawks and Peterman, Huo-Hua Zhang (China) charged in third two minutes behind, and Andreu Simon (Spain) and Dan Jones (New Zealand) were over three minutes back in fourth and fifth.
Hawks continued to lead through Trient, Switzerland, seven hours into the day. His training mate Jones briefly moved into second, over three minutes back. Hawks and Jones were third and fourth in June at the Western States 100. Peterman was now third, 50 seconds behind Jones and Peter Fraňo (Slovakia), third at the 2023 Trail World Championships Long Trail, was in fourth now less than two minutes behind Peterman.
Zhang started to fall back climbing to mile 46. He moved to fifth, while Hawks grew his lead. Hawks led Peterman, Jones, and Fraňo by seven, eight, and 10 minutes respectively at that mile 46 timing point.
No one could catch Hawks the rest of the way. He won in 10:20. Hawks won CCC back in 2017 too, then in 10:24.
Fraňo escaped the chase group over the final climb for a second place 10:27, and Peterman was third in 10:28. It was certainly Peterman’s finest result of the year following an injury-filled 2023.
Adam Peterman taking third at the 2024 CCC. Photo courtesy of HOKA.
2024 CCC Men’s Results
- Hayden Hawks (U.S.) – 10:20:11
- Peter Fraňo (Slovakia) – 10:27:17
- Adam Peterman (U.S.) – 10:28:50
- Daniel Jones (New Zealand) – 10:36:20
- Huo-Hua Zhang (China) – 10:45:34
- Andreu Simon (Spain) – 10:53:36
- Ramon Manetsch (Switzerland) – 11:01:24
- Andreas Rieder (Austria) – 11:05:09
- Dakota Jones (U.S.) – 11:12:03
- Arnaud Bonin (France) – 11:12:39
The 2024 CCC men’s podium (left-to-right): 2. Peter Frano, 1. Hayden Hawks, 3. Adam Peterman.
