 Mudcruz's famous Ark of Attrition 100 mile race is now the Ark of Attrition by UTMB. I first ran the Ark of Attrition 100 back in 2017. I made a video about it, you might have seen it, but if you haven't, you can click that link right there and go and watch it. Back then it was a very well known 100 mile race in the south west of England, and it was won almost every year by local legend Steve Wyatt. Very few people had come across the race in the rest of the UK and certainly not in Europe. If you've never heard of the Ark of Attrition 100 before, if you've never come across it, it is a winter 100 mile race, taking place in January each year on the southwest coast path in the southwest of the UK. It's called the Ark of Attrition because it runs around the Ark of Cornwall, and usually the attrition rate is very high, depending on the weather. It has been as high as 50%, and I think one year is even higher than that. It is a tough race. The elevation is around about 4,000 to 5,000 meters. It doesn't go very high in terms of altitude because it's by the coast, but it is a tough, tough race through muddy conditions, boggy conditions, because it's held in winter. There's 13 hours of darkness. It is already a stellar event in the UK, revered and admired by many. There's always a waiting list to get in because it is unquestionably the toughest winter 100 in the country. In 2018, race organisers Mud Crew managed to secure sponsorship for the race from Raid Light, and the Ark of Attrition was suddenly on the map. Increased interest in the race meant a change of venue in 2019 from the cramped blue bar cafe on the beach at Porth Town, up to the Eco Park on the hill overlooking the town. Suddenly the Ark was being discussed in the same sentence and the same breath as legendary British races like the Centurion South Downsway or the ever-popular Lakeland 100. Well-known British ultra-runners started to take an interest. Kim Collison won the men's race in 2019, Nicky Spinks won the women's race in 2022, and multiple UK record holder Mark Darbyshire became the first person to go under 19 hours at the Ark of Attrition in 2024. Here at Film My Run, we've been managing the live stream at the Ark of Attrition for the last four years, and I've been the master of ceremonies at the event for the last three years. It's a community that is very close to my heart, and an event that I've been privileged to watch grow over the last seven years. You're all probably well aware that over the last couple of years, UTMB has been looking to expand its roster of events across the world, since launching the World Series finals and introducing the Running Stones system. Suffice to say, in my interview with the CEO of UTMB International, Florian made it very clear that the UTMB group were looking to expand into the UK to give more runners the opportunity to earn Running Stones. So UK is a massive country for us, we've seen figures that are standing in front of growth. So yes, today we have one event, which is a Utah Trail by Estonia, interested by UTMB, as you know, which is in Wales, in Lanbury. They won with the only event in the series in the UK. We are looking at other parts of the UK, so for sure we are looking at the Lake District, we are looking at Scotland, and we are looking at the Pigs District, which are basically the places in the UK where the most elevated mountains can be found. So I can't reveal for now what kind of name of races we are discussing, but I can tell you we are discussing with many races over there. There is many interest from races to join the series. Even creation could also be an option, so both options, even creation or acquisition of existing events are contemplated today. Until now, the only race in the UK offering Running Stones was the UTS event in Wales, so it's no surprise that the Archivatrician 100 caught the eye of the UTMB acquisitions team. The announcement that the Archivatrician will now become a UTMB event is huge news for British ultra-runners, and for the ultra-running scene here in the UK. Yes, it's more evidence of UTMB's enormous influence on the world ultra-running stage, and some will be disappointed by news of the takeover. However, on the whole, I see it as a net positive for British ultra-running. With the South Downsway 100 recently becoming a founder member of the new World Trail Majors series and Archivatrician becoming a UTMB event, we are increasingly likely to see major international ultra-running stars coming to run here in the UK. And when has that ever happened before? Sure, Killian Jornet and Emily Forsberg once raced the now defunct Glencoe Skyline in Scotland some years ago, and of course we do have our own Tom Evans, who turns up at races in the UK fairly regularly. But in general, the major elite ultra-runners don't come here. With this announcement, there's more chance than ever of that happening, which should increase interest and thereby participation in the sport. Ultra-running is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, and we here in the UK should be right at the pinnacle of that, offering the highest quality stellar events. So just how will this UTMB acquisition of the arc work? Well, if you'll click that like button and the subscribe button, I'll tell you. It does look like the original core team will be remaining the same. So Mud Crew, who've organised this event for years, will stay on as event directors. That should mean that all the things that you love about the arc, all the great things about the community should stay the same. Now UTMB does have a tried and tested formula for its events offering, usually a 100 miler, which is usually called a 160, the 100k, a 50k and a 20k option. And it looks like the arc of attrition by UTMB is going to move towards that model. So the 100 miler will remain called the Arc 100 on the UTMB website. The arc 50 remains, starting at its iconic location at the Minak Theatre. Then we also have the addition of the arc 25 mile race, or the arc 40k. It's a new race and it's going to start at St Ives. So that's the options for 2025. My understanding is that there may well also be a 20k option added in 2026. So those fit well with the UTMB standard model for their events. Of course it remains to be seen how the arc of attrition event develops over the next few years under the banner of UTMB. Personally I'm absolutely delighted for the team at MudCrew who've worked so hard over the years to make this event what it is today, and to now have it recognised on an international stage. If you'd like to watch me running the arc of attrition then do click that link right there. Subscribe to the channel, please do that now I'll be most grateful and I will see you guys on the start line next time.