UTMB as a business entity is not without controversy, but it’s inarguably a popular and attractive event to both fans and sponsors alike, if the number of pop-ups and shoe-company reps flocking annually to the Alps are any indication. Unfortunately, we don’t have an American equivalent to UTMB, really—our closest analogue, the Western States 100, is a high-caliber elite event but not the same kind of crowd-drawing sporting spectacle. But we do have an off-track, off-road event on the horizon that we’re sure hoping will attract fans: the 2026 World Cross-Country Championship.

Sure, Tallahassee, Florida, may not be quite as idyllic a destination as the French mountainside, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t lessons to be learned from the grand mack-daddy of bringing fans together with dirt trails. We’re not suggesting that World XC can transform overnight into a multi-day bacchanalia, but nevertheless, there’s some low-hanging fruit to be plucked.

Make viewing from home easy: UTMB and its sponsors deliver a gold-standard ultra broadcast, with multiple camera locations and free live streams in six different languages. Surely, the simplest way to bring in eyeballs would be to stick World XC on YouTube for all to see. But if the financial reality of a free stream isn’t feasible, the next best thing would be to deliver World XC on an established streamer, like Peacock, or even a straightforward and affordable pay-per-view. For the love of all that is holy, just don’t make us download some new app or sign up for a quickly-cancelled month of Joymo, or Freevee, or Piplup, or whatever is next.

Make race day a party: What do UTMB and the Tour de France and College Gameday all have in common—aside from being staples of Lap Count editors’ chaotic media diets? The fans showing up for the sporting event are having a damn good time, and their good times, frankly, are only tangentially related to the athletics they’re there to see. There’s plenty of room in Apalachee Regional Park for tailgates both official and unofficial. The contained, looped nature of the course makes it tantalizingly easy to offer concessions mere feet away from the racers (snacks, but mainly coffee and beer). Spectating cross country doesn’t have to feel like hard work begrudgingly undertaken by parents, teammates, and coaches. Bring along a six-pack, an enormous cardboard cutout of your favorite athlete’s head, and some buddies, and it can be fun!

Incorporate multiple races: Since 2023, UTMB has officially been branded as the UTMB “World Series” as it incorporates multi-distance championships ranging from 15k to 300k. There’s a team race and a youth race, and often rising stars on the trail scene take on the 101km “CCC” race as a springboard to a future appearance on UTMB’s main stage.

Here, USATF gets some rare but well-deserved kudos. It was a smart move to co-schedule the 20256 Club XC Championships with World XC, building up a small, five-race program into a full weekend and enticing the average-Joe runners to book a flight to Florida as both a racer and a spectator. But why stop at an open 10K and a few master’s races? Let’s get a one-mile XC race going with some decent prize money to entice some off-season middle-distance runners to participate, or an all-comers youth one-lapper for the master runners’ kids. The more races the merrier, and the more torn-up the course is by the time the pros set foot on it, the more exciting and unpredictable the race could be.

Make sure the biggest American stars show up: This one isn’t just on USATF, Florida State, or any individual athlete; it’ll be a bit of a team effort. For trail-curious fans, the nearly-annual presence of the sport’s big U.S. names—Jim Walmsley and Courtney Dauwalter—is a huge draw, and internationally, UTMB is seen as a can’t-miss opportunity for anyone who’s serious about their pro trail-running career. This year, Walmsley won the “short” OCC race (61km) by 20 seconds in a five-hour race, essentially a kicker’s battle by ultra standards. Dauwalter, a three-time UTMB champ, had a rough go this time, cratering hard over the latter miles but still finishing 10th, a harsh reminder of how tough the course is.

Now that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing Americans contending for Diamond League wins and Olympic medals, there’s no reason we can’t be aiming for victory on the home course if the talent shows up. A Grant Fisher/Nico Young/Graham Blanks/Conner Mantz team has credentials that can only be bettered by Kenyan and Ethiopian A-teams. And while in the past Team USA has aimed for, at best, a distant third or fourth, bringing our biggest guns wouldn’t put gold completely out of reach. The jump up to 10km is a bit tougher for the women’s ranks, but a Weini Kelati/Elise Cranny/Alicia Monson/Emily Infield quartet could make some waves as well. The challenge is actually talking/incenting them all into doing it.

UTMB is a proven model; World XC (the U.S. version) is a font of potential. The success of many of these elements will depend on funding, institutional support, and planning time, but “it can’t be done” or “we couldn’t think of any new ideas” is no longer an excuse for why the best cross country meet on American soil in recent memory can’t be a smashing success.

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