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The Freetrail Podcast with Dylan Bowman

Understanding the UTMB Index: What's Changing & Why It's Important?

April 27, 2026·1h 22m
Episode Description from the Publisher

The UTMB Index and race scores have become increasingly significant in the global trail running ecosystem. The Index upstream of sponsorship and race entry opportunities for pros, it allows fans to gauge who is performing best on the world's stage, and it helps media members contextualize performances across years, distances, and different course terrains. Today the UTMB Index is evolving in some subtle yet important ways. Joining me to talk all about it are Adrian Vincentand Karen Merlin — two members of the team who worked on this new system and are well qualified to explain how things are changing and what it means for the sport. Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro + episode overview (UTMB Index) 00:50 – Guest introductions (Adrian Vincent & Karen Merlin) 02:50 – Why the UTMB Index was created 07:25 – Why the index matters for the sport 10:45 – Index vs. race scores explained 13:40 – What the index is (and isn't) 15:45 – Why changes were needed 19:40 – Gender scoring discussion 24:40 – Myth: bias toward UTMB races 26:15 – Challenge of collecting global race results<br data-sta

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