“Calling Josh Wade my dark horse pick for the 2026 UTMB is probably cheating. He finished third at UTMB last year. If a podium doesn’t get you removed from dark-horse status, I’m not sure what does.”
Josh Wade Is My UTMB Dark Horse, If You Can Call Him That
As my first 100-miler approaches, I am well inside the window of thinking hard about my race-day kit. The most important decision, of course, is what will be on my feet. This past week on my long run, I tried a new contender: The North Face Summit Series VECTIV Pro 3.
I realize t here have been mixed reviews on the latest version after the smashing success of the VECTIV Pro 2. But hey, I’m always a sucker for great design, and the VECTIV Pro 3 has serious style.
I won’t go into full shoe-review mode, but in short, I absolutely loved the offering from The North Face. For a brand I had always associated with sleeping bags and fleece jackets, the shoe delivered in a serious way. In fact, I was so impressed that I briefly had this thought on my run: I bet a North Face athlete is going to take the big loop this year in Chamonix.
And then I thought about Josh Wade.
Calling Wade my dark horse pick is probably cheating. He finished third at UTMB last year. If a podium doesn’t get you removed from dark-horse status, I’m not sure what does.
Still, Wade tends to come up a little later in the conversation than I think he should. Kilian Jornet is back and looking for a 5th title. Jim Walmsley and Vincent Bouillard have already won the race. Ben Dhiman finished second last year, and Jon Albon and Hannes Namberger both have plenty of people picking them. With names like that around, a returning third-place finisher can somehow start to feel overlooked.
Impressions of Klattermusen,
Rachel Entrekein and the Story Trail Running Needed,
The Curious Case of Emory Atterberry
Maybe part of it is presentation. Most people first met Wade as a North Face athlete who still worked part-time as a gardener in Kendal. He was pushing lawnmowers uphill, training, eating, sleeping, and spending time with his family. He’s since stopped gardening and now focuses fully on running, but that’s still how many of us first came to know him.
His 2024 UTMB is when I started paying closer attention.
His stomach went bad early, and at one point he was lying beside the trail while passing runners stopped to ask whether he was okay. He got back up and finished 11th.
Before that race, Wade has said one of his strengths was the back end of a long ultra. He ended up proving it in the least convenient way possible.
A year later, his stomach cooperated. Wade reached Courmayeur around the edge of the top 10 and then started moving through the field. Once he got into third near Champex-Lac, he did not settle in and protect the podium. He started asking people how far ahead second place was.
He finished in 20:05:06, only 13 minutes behind Dhiman.
That is not much over 100 miles.
Wade’s 2026 results give me more reason to buy in. He finished third at Transgrancanaria behind Albon and Namberger, then won the Eryri 80K in May. He also DNF’d the Lavaredo 80K in June. I could not find a public explanation for that result, so I will not make one up.
The DNF is worth noting, but it doesn’t move me off the pick. Wade has already shown that he understands UTMB specifically. He grew up walking and running in the Lake District, but he has talked about adding flatter running because Chamonix is not Snowdonia. The technical ground around home has made him strong, but UTMB also rewards the ability to open up between the climbs. He has worked on that part.
Bad weather would not bother me either. Last year, the snow and cold around Col de la Seigne reminded him of the Spine Race. When he saw the forecast before the start, he thought it looked pretty good for him.
Tom Evans is now out, so only Dhiman and Wade return from last year’s men’s podium. Wade isn’t hoping to sneak into the top 10. He has already stood on the podium, and when he got there, he was still looking ahead.
So yes, “dark horse” is probably the wrong label. Wade is one of the best 100-mile runners in the world, and he has finished 11th and third in his last two trips around Mont Blanc.
But in a field this loud, he still feels oddly easy to miss.
I need more than one long run before I choose the VECTIV Pro 3 for Sonoma. But as of today, Josh Wade is the name I am circling for UTMB.
