M55-59 at UTMB: Raymond Trey Conquers the Dukes' Trail in 35:35

• Trey wins by 1:33:01 over Raphaël Rubay, finishing 145 km from Courmayeur to Chamonix in 35:35:03 at a 23:42/mi average — the strongest result in M55-59 across 22 finishers.
• Christophe Najdovski's comeback was the most dramatic charge of the race, climbing from 978th among men at the opening checkpoint all the way to 417th by the finish — a relentless 561-place surge across six checkpoints.
• Gosselin and Robin finish 12 seconds apart (40:18:36 vs. 40:18:48) for 7th and 8th, one of the tightest gaps across the entire M55-59 field.
• Arrighini and Falleni share the clock at 43:00:31 for 12th and 13th — different places settled by the timing chip, not the displayed time.

Raymond Trey, 59 years old, launched from Courmayeur at midnight and ran the most complete race in M55-59. His moves tell the real story: he entered the men's field at 292nd, slipped back to 370th through the early stages, then began a measured, sustained climb — 355th, 258th, 250th, 235th — reeling in rivals across the Beaufortain mountains and the long haul through Bourg-Saint-Maurice. His 118th-fastest men's split on the Les Houches–to–Finish stretch confirmed he still had legs when it mattered most, crossing in 35:35:03 to claim the M55-59 title by over 90 minutes.

Raphaël Rubay, 55, was the field's great climber in the men's standings — moving from 647th at his first checkpoint to 290th by the finish, a rise of 357 places. His 179th-fastest men's split on the Signal S→Les Contamines Montjoie segment helped fuel that charge, and his 37:08:04 was good for a clear 2nd. Jean Claude Moullec rounded out the podium in 37:58:17, though his race ran differently: he started in a solid 305th among men and hovered in that band throughout, never dramatically surging or fading — steady, methodical, and good enough for 3rd.

The middle of the field offered its own battles. Will Hayward (4th, 39:06:06) and Christophe Najdovski (5th, 39:49:24) both posted strong Signal S→Les Contamines splits — 168th and 140th-fastest among men respectively — with Najdovski's overall arc from near the back of the men's field to 417th representing extraordinary persistence across a race that taxes even the freshest legs. Behind them, Tuomo Seppänen (6th, 40:03:43) and the near-identical Gosselin/Robin pairing at 7th and 8th closed out the top eight within a span of just 15 minutes — a remarkably tight cluster on a course with 9,500 metres of climbing.