UTPMA - Ultra Tour Puy Mary Aurillac

The UTPMA — Ultra Tour du Puy Mary Aurillac — is a 105-kilometer race with 5,500 meters of elevation gain that crosses the heart of the Cantal, at the center of the largest volcano in Europe. Starting from Aurillac, the Cantal prefecture and a town of art nestled in the Jordanne valley, runners set out on a monumental loop around the Puy Mary, the iconic summit of the Cantal massif rising to 1,787 meters, classified as a Grand Site de France for its landscapes of incomparable volcanic beauty.

The Cantal is the remnant of a colossal stratovolcano that, seven million years ago, rose to over 3,000 meters and spanned a diameter of 70 kilometers — the largest volcanic structure on the European continent. Glacial erosion sculpted this geological monument into a star pattern of deep valleys — the planèzes — radiating from the volcano's heart and separated by sharp rocky ridges. The UTPMA course follows these ridges and valleys, offering runners a living geological narrative of this grandiose landscape: the basalt organ pipes of the Cère valley, the glacial cirques of Falgoux and Font-de-Cère, the phonolitic necks standing like watchtowers above the summer pastures.

The race profile is that of a demanding mountain ultra, with 5,500 meters of elevation gain distributed across long, steady climbs toward the summit ridges, followed by descents that are often grassy and slippery into the deep-set valleys. The trails pass by burons, the stone huts where shepherds once made summer cheese, some of which have been restored as hikers' shelters. The ridgeline sections, particularly around the Puy Mary and the Puy Griou, offer 360-degree panoramic views across an ocean of rounded summits, emerald-green pastures, and centuries-old beech forests.

The UTPMA runs through cattle-farming country where the Salers cow, with her mahogany coat and long lyre-shaped horns, is the undisputed queen of the summer pastures. Runners regularly encounter these placid herds grazing on the high meadows, composing a pastoral tableau of rare authenticity in European trail running. Cantalien gastronomy takes center stage at the aid stations: Cantal, Salers, and Saint-Nectaire cheeses sit alongside truffade, aligot, and pounti — hearty specialties that bear witness to a generous and unspoiled terroir.

For international runners, the UTPMA is a discovery of a little-known and fascinating volcanic France. The Cantal offers landscapes without equivalent in Europe, with a wildness and solitude that the overcrowded Alps can no longer guarantee. Aurillac is accessible by train from Paris (Intercités via Brive) or by road from Clermont-Ferrand and Toulouse. It is an opportunity to experience an ultra in a unique volcanic environment, amid authentic mountain communities that maintain a way of life rooted in the land and the seasons.