“The Thin Line” is a new film from Scott Sports, produced by Timothée Ranger, which follows four of the brand’s professional athletes as they prepare for and compete at the 2024 UTMB. We meet Cody Lind (U.S.), Anne-Lise Rousset Séguret (France), Rémi Berchet (France), and Andy Symonds (U.K., lives in France) as they all seek to perform at their best at the 109.3-mile race around Mont Blanc.
The UTMB course starts in Chamonix, France, and dips into Italy and Switzerland before looping back to Chamonix, covering 32,480 feet of elevation gain along the way. The race always attracts an extraordinarily competitive field, and the film delicately highlights the psychological challenges of preparing for a feat of this magnitude. The athletes are walking a thin line between performance and injury, success and failure. Where does self-belief end and external pressure begin?
There is a moving insight — one that isn’t often explored in films of this nature — into the experience of the athlete within the crowds at a race as big as this. There are thousands of fellow runners, but also hordes of spectators lining the course. The atmosphere is buzzing, it’s electric, but as Symonds notes, it’s in stark contrast to the quiet of the mountains. Berchet says, “When you’re in the audience it’s great and incredible, when you’re on the other side, it’s very scary and stressful.” We see that Rousset Séguret is all smiles once the race is underway, but she recalls feelings of anxiety in the pressure of the start line.
Anne-Lise Rousset Séguret at the 2024 Madeira Island Ultra-Trail. Photo: Scott Running
This is very much a film about the highs and lows, not just of this iconic race, but of the sport in general. Berchet thoughtfully articulates the importance of running because you actually want to, and finding the right reasons to train. Rousset Séguret provides measured views about balancing the sport alongside her life as a mom and as a vet. Symonds eats some ice cream. And Lind simply states, “Sometimes running is just so damn hard.”
Andy Symonds with the promised finish line ice cream that got him through the 2024 UTMB. Photo: Alanis Duc
The film comes at the race from a really lovely collection of personal angles in what serves to be an altogether moving and inspiring piece of storytelling. It is a celebration of the mountains and trails that got these athletes into the sport, regardless of the outcome of the race.
Call for Comments
- Have you ever run UTMB?
- Did any of the experiences described here or in the film resonate with you?
Cody Lind on his way to placing seventh at the 2024 UTMB. Photo: Alanis Duc
