Jan Frodeno, the five-time world champion and 2008 Olympic champion, is three years removed from professional triathlon and set to race at one of the most prestigious and competitive events in trail running.

In 2025, Frodeno tied up his trail running shoes for a pair of shorter races in Andorra before setting his sights on his first 50k race at Nice Côte d’Azur. The move toward the trails offered more than a new competitive challenge after 23 years of professional triathlon.

“I ran for 23 years between 4,000 and 5,000 kilometers a year, so my knees and Achilles aren’t really loving a huge amount of repetition,” he explained during a pre-race interview with Dylan Bowman for Freetrail.

The constantly changing terrain has allowed him to continue testing his endurance without the same repetitive strain.

“I can just head out in the mountains for a couple of hours and nothing hurts,” Frodeno said. “The difference in every single step allows you to be kind of pain-free. You’re still out there pushing your body, but it just hurts in a different way.”

Hoka UTMB Mont-Blanc: UTMB World Series Finals

From August 24th to 30th, thousands of runners head to Chamonix for the ultimate week of trail running. One of the most anticipated events of the year brings together the best trail runners in the world to live and breathe the sport for a full week.

This is trail running’s Kona. The event is known for unpredictable mountain weather, with athletes potentially facing rain, hail and cold. Across France to Switzerland, via Italy, runners take on breathtaking mountain trails with one landmark guiding the way: Mont Blanc. The longest race, UTMB 100M covers 174km with more than 9,900 meters of elevation gain.

Frodeno’s OCC

Frodeno will be on the start line tomorrow for OCC, the 50k category final described by Hoka UTMB Mont-Blanc as “the ultimate challenge for mid-distance ultra-runners.” This year’s course is actually 60km with approximately 3,500 metres of elevation gain.

Despite his athletic pedigree, Frodeno is not overstating his trail running abilities.

“I suck at uphill and I suck at downhill, so I’m really looking forward to the flat sections, which according to the map are not many,” he joked.

The pathway to the UTMB World Series Finals differs from qualifying for a triathlon world championship. Athletes collect “Running Stones” and must hold a valid UTMB Index in the corresponding category from the previous 24 months.

The qualification process was confusing not only for Frodeno, who initially misunderstood the complex Running Stones and Index system, but also for us.

“I had no idea about the process, the qualification, the Stones, all these kinds of things,” Frodeno admitted.

After initially announcing his intention to race OCC in 2025, Frodeno took to Instagram to explain his mistake and said he planned to “honour the race” by earning his place. With that pivot, he canvassed his followers about which race he should enter.

 

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2025 Nice Côte d’Azur UTMB 50k: “It was a long time on my feet”

 

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Frodeno ultimately entered the Nice Cote d’Azur by UTMB 50k, which was actually 54.5km with more than 2,450 meters of elevation gain. The race secured his qualification for the 2026 OCC final, and he did considerably more than simply earn his place. Frodeno won his M40-44 age category and placed 16th overall out of 1,731 athletes in 5:27:02. The performance earned him a race score of 733.

Despite that performance, Frodeno sees a considerable difference between the race that qualified him and the challenge awaiting him at OCC.

“I qualified in Nice, which almost feels like a cheat because I think you have to run up about 300 metres less than you run down, and it’s maybe 10k shorter than this,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, this is going to hurt.’”

In June, Frodeno added another result at the Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB 20k. The course measured 24.9km, with Frodeno finishing 17th overall and second in his age category in 2:40:26.

Frodeno’s current UTMB Index of 709 establishes him as more than a recreational trail runner or celebrity participant, although not yet an elite trail runner. For comparison, the top-ranked men in the 50k category carry scores in the 950 range.

For context, the UTMB Index compares performances across trail races using an athlete’s strongest results from the past 36 months.

Having recently moved into a new age category, Frodeno will race OCC in the M45-49 division tomorrow. While OCC is considered the short to middle-distance world championship of trail running, Frodeno views the challenge differently.

“For me, it’s the long, long distance,” he said. “I just want to come from a place of not sucking for 60k.”

The race starts in Orsières on August 27 at 8:15 a.m. local time (GMT+2), and fans can watch the live stream.