How to Qualify for UTMB: Running Stones and Index

UTMB Mont-Blanc is not a race you can simply sign up for. To enter the lottery for UTMB, CCC or OCC you need two things at once: at least one Running Stone earned in the past 24 months, and a valid UTMB Index in the category you are applying for. Which races you run and when you apply both follow from those two requirements.

The Two Requirements, in Plain English

To enter the UTMB Mont-Blanc lottery you must have at least 1 Running Stone and a valid UTMB Index, and only one Running Stone acquired in the past two years is mandatory to enter. The Index has to be valid in the category admitted to the final you are targeting.

The three Finals map onto three race categories: OCC is the 50K final, CCC the 100K final, and UTMB itself the 100M final. The ETC, the short experience race, moved to a lottery from the 2026 edition. Elite runners with a high enough Index can skip the draw through a separate elite entry route.

Getting and Keeping a Valid UTMB Index

Your UTMB Index is a performance score, and it runs on two clocks. Validity uses a 24-month window: at least one UTMB World Series race, or a UTMB Index race, finished in the relevant category within the previous 24 months. Once that category has one valid result, the score is calculated from all your races in the past 36 months. One qualifying finish every two years keeps the door open; the score reflects a rolling three years.

The Index is also category-specific, and the official admission mapping is short enough to memorize: UTMB accepts an Index valid in the 100K or 100M category, CCC accepts 50K, 100K or 100M, and OCC accepts any of the four — a 20K Index alone gets you into the OCC draw. Check your current status in your My UTMB account first. And the UTMB Index and the ITRA Performance Index are separate systems run by two different organizations: an ITRA score does not stand in for a UTMB Index.

How to Collect Running Stones

You can only collect Running Stones by finishing races in the 20K, 50K, 100K or 100M category at a UTMB World Series Event or a UTMB World Series Major. Bigger categories pay more stones, but the count follows the category, not the raw distance.

Categories are defined by km-effort — distance and climb combined. The 50K category covers races between 50 and 100 km-effort, the 100K category sits at 100 km-effort, and the 100M category is anything over 170 km-effort, so a 120 km race with heavy vertical gain lands in the 100M bracket. Our course difficulty score shows what a profile's climb adds. One event's published breakdown, from the official Julian Alps Trail Run FAQ:

Running Stones per race, Julian Alps Trail Run (official event FAQ)

Race	Distance	Running Stones
JAT Ultra Trail	120 km	4
JAT Lake Bled	80 km	3
JAT Sky Trail	50 km	2
JAT Kranjska Gora Trail	25 km	1
JAT Speed Trail	15 km	1
JAT Funny Trail	10 km	0

Read the 25 km and 15 km rows together: both award one stone, and the 10 km race awards none. The allocation itself is universal: World Series events award 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 stones for the 20K / 50K / 100K / 100M categories, and Majors award double — 2 / 4 / 6 / 8. What you need to confirm on an event's page is which category your race falls into, and UTMB's conversion is concrete: 1 km-effort is added per 100 meters of elevation gain, so a 50 km race with 2,500 m of climbing counts as 75 km-effort.

Majors pay double

UTMB World Series Majors award double the Running Stones counted toward the Finals lottery compared to other World Series Events, so if a Major is within reach, one trip earns what two ordinary races would. Weigh that against travel and entry costs — our marathon entry fee data shows how fast destination race fees have climbed.

Not every UTMB-branded race gives stones

This is the community's most common misunderstanding. A race can be UTMB Index certified — finishing it gives you a valid Index in that category — without being part of the UTMB World Series, and only World Series Events and Majors award stones. Before entering anything, find the stone count on the event's own UTMB page; if there isn't one, that race builds your Index and nothing else.

Finding events you can actually reach

The 2026 season runs 64 events across five continents. UTMB separately describes 50-plus events that award Running Stones — a different, smaller list, so don't read the two numbers as one. Coverage outside the Alps is thinner but real: the UK has Arc of Attrition by UTMB in January and Eryri by UTMB in Wales, Japan has Kagaspa by UTMB in June, and North America runs its own slate of World Series events. The 2027 calendar adds Hiroshima in Japan (100K, 50K and 20K, 9-11 April 2027) — already sold out for its first edition — and Ultra Trail Chattanooga in the United States.

How the Lottery Actually Works

Once you are in the draw, your stone count is your weight. Running Stones are cumulative, have no expiration date, and each one gives you an additional chance to be drawn. They do not expire until the runner succeeds in the lottery — at that point the count reduces to zero. So the widely repeated claim that stones expire after two years is wrong: the two-year figure belongs to the entry condition, not to the stones.

The low-carbon boost

UTMB offers a 30% boost in lottery chances for UTMB, CCC, OCC and ETC if you agree to comply with the organization's low-carbon travel rules and choose your itinerary accordingly — those four races only. A mandatory carbon contribution applies to all races, based on your round-trip travel emissions, and registration asks you to declare your home address and mode of travel. Proof of residence is requested later, and cheating or false declarations mean the registration is canceled without refund of the registration fee.

Group entry, and the trick inside it

Groups enter together, and each member participates with the lowest number of Running Stones held by anyone in the group. But if the group gets a place, only the number of stones used is deducted from each runner. So group entry lowers the weight everyone draws with, while the stone-rich member keeps the difference instead of resetting to zero.

What the odds actually are

UTMB does not publish the number of places, so any specific percentage you see quoted is somebody's estimate, not an official figure. What the organizers have said is that demand is 2 to 3 times higher than their maximum capacity: the 2024 draw announcement reported 7,200 pre-registrations for UTMB, 5,400 for CCC and 6,500 for OCC. Treat those as the shape of the problem, not a probability you can calculate.

The Timeline, and What Happens If You Are Drawn

Pre-registration opens in early January each year, with exact dates confirmed by UTMB ahead of each edition. The 2027 window has not been announced yet, so check the official registration conditions page before booking anything. For the 2026 edition the window ran from 8 January at 11:00 CET to 19 January at 23:59, and selected athletes received a link to confirm their registration between 22 January and 4 February. Plan for that pattern: apply in the first half of January, and expect a hard confirmation deadline about three weeks later.

If you are drawn and later cannot start, stones and money are treated differently. Running Stones are re-credited at 50%, rounded up to the nearest whole number — a runner who used 9 stones gets 5 back — or at 100% if you bought cancellation insurance when you registered. The entry fee is not refundable without that insurance, and registration is personal and non-transferable.

Your Path, Depending on Where You Start

The requirements are identical for everyone; the timeline is not. Three common starting points:

You have never raced on trails

Your first job is a finish, not a stone haul. Pick a 20K or 50K category World Series event you can reach and build the specific skills first — trail technique, footing and climbing pace differ enough that road fitness does not transfer one for one. Year one buys you an Index and one or two stones, which is enough to be in the draw the following January.

You come from road marathons

Your aerobic base is a real asset, but categories are scored by km-effort, so a mountainous 50K is a different day from a road 50K of the same distance. Convert your road fitness into a starting point with the race time predictor, then add a generous margin for terrain before choosing a category. If you are used to one qualifying time deciding everything, the way Boston qualifying does, the shift is that UTMB rewards accumulated participation, not one fast day.

You already have an Index and some stones

Now it is an optimization problem. Ranked by return per trip: a Major first, since it pays double; then the highest category you can safely finish at an event you can reach; then repeat entries at the same event. Watch the 24-month clock — the entry condition needs a stone earned inside that window, so a two-year racing gap locks you out even with a large balance.

The checklist

1. Check My UTMB, your account on the UTMB site, for a valid Index in your target category and note when it lapses.
2. Confirm the stone you are counting on was earned within the past 24 months.
3. Shortlist World Series events by region, then verify each one's stone count on its own event page.
4. Decide group or solo entry before January — and if group, agree who is willing to draw at the lowest balance.
5. Settle the low-carbon commitment, and have your residence and travel details ready to declare at registration.