A little history...

UltraTrail in New Caledonia is, originally, the desire to discover other horizons while surpassing oneself. Many trailers in the area were keen to go beyond what was offered as a format locally. It is with this in mind that a handful of enthusiasts set out to look for tracks and other mule tracks, which could offer a large enough loop with a significant enough difference in altitude to subsequently allow the validation of ITRA points... What international runners are looking for.

The ultimate goal is to create a celebration of sport around an event “The Trails Festival” with an ultra as the figurehead, the queen event: “The UTNC”. For some, it will be a challenge, for others a challenge, but EVERYONE will be happy to have reached the end of their efforts! Trail running is a long-distance running sport in a natural environment. This race is mainly defined by its natural terrain, as opposed to running on an athletics track or on the road. Terrain may consist of grass, mud, rocks and scree, sand and gravel, and natural obstacles such as tree trunks, roots and streams.

Unlike road races, the distance to be covered is only one of the three important data that defines the course. The two other fundamental data are the altitude difference (the accumulation of all the climbs which gives the total positive altitude difference = D+) and the technicality of the paths. The trail is preceded by the word ultra when the distance of the event exceeds 80 kilometers. Since 2017, the UTNC association has been the only one to offer ultra-trails.