A Franklin native is one of the world’s top ultramarathoners.
For the past few years Canyon Woodward has sought out the western hemisphere’s toughest competitive trail races, running up to 110 miles over the world’s most difficult terrain. For the third straight year Woodward recently traveled to France for the sport’s most prestigious event, earning his highest-ever finish at 23rd overall.
“The knowledge of the course really helps a lot, and just the experience with the whole thing,” said Woodward of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, widely regarded as the world’s most competitive trail ultramarathon. “The atmosphere over there is a lot to take in, I think, for a first-time runner from the states where trail running is not in the mainstream. Over there it pretty much is a mainstream sport, kind of like the Tour de France or something like that, and so you’ve got tens of thousands of folks out there cheering and spectating. It’s a really special experience, but it’s also a bit overwhelming if you haven’t been in a race like that before, so I think that experience is helpful just in knowing what to expect, knowing the course and learning lessons from past go-rounds.”
In completing his third UTMB, Woodward is becoming a pro at traversing the lung-busting course, which runs up and over some of the highest Alpine peaks of France, Italy and Switzerland. With nearly 33,000 feet of elevation gain spread out over 110 miles, the course can humble even the world’s most capable ultra-trail runners.
“There was definitely a lot of attrition throughout the day with folks who took it out a little too hot and paid for it,” said Woodward. “I think I read that like 65 percent of the top 50 or so men ended up DNF-ing – Did Not Finish – which is super-high. … I think folks get caught up in the atmosphere with all those people lining the streets for miles and miles, and just go out really fast out of the gate. That’s not super-typical of a hundred-mile race – usually you’re pacing yourself a little bit more from the get-go.”
As an experienced UTMB competitor, Woodward is now mostly immune from the pressure that comes with the world’s toughest trail race. Even so, the race is rarely smooth sailing for even the most seasoned runners.
“I think I showed up to the starting line a little bit dehydrated, which was hard on a hot day,” he said. “I had a pretty tough first 20, 25 miles or so, working really hard but falling further back than was my game plan. I was as far back as 104th, I think, at one point maybe 30 miles in or so. … I think it was a little bit of a shock to my system trying to match that crazy pace out of the gate.”
In burning tens of thousands of calories over 20-plus hours, nutrition and hydration are paramount for ultra-runners, who load up on water, electrolytes and complex carbohydrates before, during and after races. After a slow start however, Woodward authored one of his now-trademark late-race comebacks.
“I was able to just hang in there and ran steady through the night, and as the sun started coming up the next morning I felt like things started to really shift,” he said. “The last half of the race – really the last like 30 miles in particular – I had the most fun I think I’ve ever had in a race, just moving up so much through the field and feeling amazing through a really brutal, hot stretch towards the end that has tons of really steep climbs. [I was] feeling good in a section that I’d really struggled with in past years and where pretty much everyone struggles to some extent, and finished strong.”
After moving from 106th to 48th in his first UTMB in 2022, Woodward once again gained a second wind more than four hours in, improving from 105th near the 25-mile mark to an incredible 23rd-place finish. He ran the 110-mile course in just 23 hours and 26 minutes, three-and-a-half hours off winning Frenchman Vincent Bouillard. In staying hydrated, fed and running at a steady pace while others fell off, the Franklin High School grad credits three local members of his trail crew.
“The guys from Outdoor 76 – Cory [McCall], Rob [Gasbarro] and Jonathan [Byrd] – came all the way over there, which was really cool,” said Woodward. “It was super-special to have the hometown guys over there helping support and make sure I was taken care of during the race, as well as my partner, Stevie [Trinko]. It was really cool.”
As his first-ever sponsors and world-traveling trail crew, meeting him at several points throughout the race with food, water and encouragement, Outdoor 76’s top brass have been an invaluable resource for Woodward. Having improved his finish each year from 48th to 29th to 23rd, the Franklin native has his sights set on a top-20 finish and beyond, with a busy schedule of races from now until next year’s UTMB.
“I really wanted to race The Naturalist, the local 50K we have that starts in downtown Franklin Oct. 5, but I’m gonna be out of town, unfortunately,” he said. “That was the next thing on my calendar, but I think I might try to add in a race somewhere in November-December, but the next big thing on my calendar will be the Black Canyon 100K out in Arizona in February. That one is a qualifier for the Western States 100, which is the biggest hundred-miler that we have domestically. That’s out in California in June, and the top two at Black Canyon get a ‘Golden Ticket,’ they call it – an automatic bid to Western States.”