Val d'Aran UTMB Postponed To July 2021

The organisers of Val d’Aran by UTMB have taken the decision, along with the local Val d’Aran authorities and in coordination with UTMB Group, to postpone the race due to the exceptional situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Runners registered for the 2020 event will be allocated a place in next year’s race, to take place on 9, 10 and 11 July 2021
The first edition of Val d’Aran by UTMB, originally planned for 3-5 July this year, has been postponed to 2021. The event organisers have decided, along with the health authorities and in coordination with UTMB Group, to postpone the race due to the exceptional situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Xavier Pocino, Director of Val d’Aran by UTMB, explained: “Our priority is the health and safety of the participants as well as the population of the Val d’Aran. Given the current context, it is therefore preferable to postpone the race in order to guarantee the health and logistics of the event. We also wish to respect the dates of other races programmed for after the summer, to avoid a date clash and to allow our athletes to participate in those races, should they go ahead”.

The inaugural edition of Val d’Aran by UTMB will take now place on 9, 10 and 11 July 2021 and it will include all the distances originally planned: Torn dera Val d’Aran, VDA (162 km), Camins de Hèr, CDH (105 km) Peades dera Aigua, PDA (55 km). Other programmed events such as the Trail Festival Baqueira Beret and the 15 km SKY Baqueira Beret race will also be rescheduled to these dates.

Runners who have already registered for the 2020 event will have their place maintained in 2021.

Pocino commented: “At the beginning of April we sent a survey to all registered runners because their opinion is important to us. More than 2,500 runners replied and the majority were favourable to return in 2021. We therefore feel optimistic about the future and we hope to meet the runners’ expectations.”

Those wishing to cancel their registration will receive 100% of the fee if they have cancellation insurance and 75% if they don’t have cancellation insurance. The runners will also be reimbursed the entire event’s accident insurance. All of the details are available the official website.

Val d’Aran by UTMB, which is also part of the Ultra-Trail World Tour international circuit, has grabbed the attention of runners from all over the globe, with the 55 km PDA race already sold out. More than 85% of the available bibs for the other two longer distances (VDA and CDH) were also sold to a total of 3,700 runners, 56% of which were from outside of Spain. “Val d’Aran by UTMB offers a great showcase of both the Val d’Aran and the Pyrenees and we’re working already towards achieving a historic edition in 2021. Having the UTMB at Val d’Aran is a dream come true and the fact that the Pyrenees is the chosen destination by UTMB Group to host the first European race outside of the Alps is an enormous responsibility”, said Pocino.

“During this postponement we will work tirelessly towards the first edition, carefully study the new scenario that lies ahead of us and develop some of the ideas that will continue to feed the love for the mountains and to convey the values and the passion that underlines Val d’Aran by UTMB”, concluded Pocino.

Val d’Aran by UTMB will open registrations in October 2020 and the runners will be able to change their originally elected distance if they wish to do so