Trail racing has a marquee event on the calendar this weekend. The Kodiak Ultra Marathons by UTMB returns in 2026 with one of the strongest fields the race has seen, and for fans who've struggled to follow the sport in real time, there's genuinely good news: the whole thing is free to watch live on DAZN.
Here's what you need to know before the starting gun goes off.
The Race and What's at Stake
The Kodiak Ultra Marathons by UTMB is part of the global UTMB World Series circuit, a network of elite trail races that feed directly into the main qualification system for the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in Chamonix. For athletes chasing a spot on that start line, every race on the series carries real weight.
UTMB World Series races award Running Stones, the points currency athletes collect to qualify for UTMB itself. That system makes every competitive outing count, and it raises the stakes at events like the Kodiak far beyond what a standalone race would carry. You're not just watching athletes compete for a finish line. You're watching careers being built or stalled in real time.
The Kodiak event takes place in Canada's wilderness terrain, offering the kind of technical, high-altitude running that separates the best from the field quickly. Elevation gain, unpredictable conditions, and raw distance make it a genuine test rather than a fast course built for times.
The Athletes to Watch
Three names stand above the rest in the 2026 preview conversations: Hall, Gibson, and Hemming. Each brings a different story into this weekend.
Hall arrives with momentum. The performances in recent UTMB World Series events have placed Hall consistently near the top, and the consistency is what separates elite trail runners from flashy one-off performances. If Hall executes a smart early pace and avoids the trap of burning out on the climbs, a podium finish looks realistic.
Gibson is the wildcard the field has to respect. Known for aggressive front-running tactics that sometimes pay off spectacularly and sometimes collapse in the final third of a race, Gibson makes for compelling viewing regardless of outcome. Races with Gibson in them rarely unfold predictably, and that's exactly what you want from a live broadcast.
Hemming brings a more measured profile. Strong technical descending, reliable nutrition management during racing, and a history of closing hard when others fade. If the course's back half is as demanding as the race organization has indicated, Hemming's late-race strength could be the deciding factor.
Beyond those three, the broader field is worth tracking. The UTMB World Series consistently attracts athletes who are under-known but operating at a genuinely elite level. Don't be surprised if a name you haven't heard before puts in a performance that commands attention by the finish.
The women's field deserves equal attention here. Trail racing has been making meaningful structural progress in how it presents and supports women's competition, and events like this one reflect that shift. Trail racing is finally getting serious about women, and the Kodiak field this year is a good example of that momentum showing up in practice.
How to Watch: Free Live on DAZN
This is the part that matters for most fans. DAZN is broadcasting the Kodiak Ultra Marathons by UTMB live and free. You don't need a subscription to access it. That's a meaningful shift in how trail racing reaches a global audience.
Historically, following events like this in real time meant cobbling together tracking apps, social media updates, and occasional livestreams of inconsistent quality. A free, dedicated broadcast on a platform with genuine infrastructure changes that equation. If you've been curious about trail racing but never found an easy way in, this weekend is a low-barrier entry point.
DAZN is available across most major markets including the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Check your regional DAZN platform for broadcast timing and whether any supplemental content is available around the race. Start times will vary depending on your time zone, so confirm the schedule before you plan your viewing window.
Why the UTMB World Series Matters for Athletes
If you're newer to the sport, some context helps. The UTMB World Series is structured so that performance at qualifying races determines access to UTMB itself, one of the most competitive and logistically demanding ultra-marathon events on the planet. The series spans multiple continents and includes races with varying distances and terrain profiles.
Running Stones accumulate across a rolling window of races, meaning athletes can't just show up for one event and expect qualification. Consistency across the series is required, which creates long narrative arcs across a season rather than isolated results. That's part of what makes following the circuit engaging over time. You're watching a multi-chapter story, not a single episode.
For athletes at the Kodiak this weekend, the points implications are direct. A strong result doesn't just mean a medal. It potentially moves someone meaningfully closer to a start list in Chamonix. A rough day can push qualification out of reach for the season.
The broader trail running community is growing rapidly. Events that were niche a decade ago now attract serious participation numbers globally. Events like the Geneva Marathon, which drew 27,500 runners in 2026, reflect how appetite for endurance racing has expanded well beyond traditional road formats. Trail is part of that story.
Fueling and Preparation: What Separates Finishers at This Distance
Watching elite ultra-runners perform at this level makes it easy to focus purely on the athletic drama. But the margin between a great performance and a deteriorating one often comes down to execution on nutrition and hydration across many hours of racing.
At the distances contested in events like the Kodiak, fueling strategy is not a secondary concern. Carbohydrate intake, sodium management, and fluid timing are active decisions athletes are making every hour. If you're training for trail events yourself, understanding how elite athletes approach this is genuinely instructive. Pre-workout hydration has to start well before the effort begins, and that principle scales up significantly when the effort spans an entire day.
For athletes who cross train or run both road and trail formats, the nutritional demands shift depending on intensity and duration. Getting your macros and timing right across training modalities is a learnable skill, not an innate one, and watching how professionals execute it under race conditions can sharpen your own approach.
The Bigger Picture for Trail Running
Events like the Kodiak Ultra matter beyond the individual results. Trail running as a competitive discipline has been working to build the kind of broadcast infrastructure and fan engagement that road racing has enjoyed for decades. A free live broadcast on DAZN is a concrete step in that direction.
The sport also carries real environmental responsibility. Trails are shared resources, and large competitive events create measurable impact on the terrain they use. Research into what high-participation trail events actually do to path conditions has become more rigorous in recent years. Studies on trail erosion and runner impact are informing how events are organized and how route selection is handled, which is worth knowing as a fan and participant.
The UTMB World Series has been active in working with local organizations on environmental commitments at each host event. That's not a minor detail. It's part of how the sport sustains itself long-term.
Your Weekend Viewing Plan
Here's the simple version of what to do this weekend. Find DAZN on your platform of choice, confirm the broadcast time for your region, and set a reminder. The race is free. The field is strong. The stakes are real.
If you're watching trail racing competitively for the first time, pay attention to how the leaders manage effort on climbs versus how they open up on descents. Watch for the moments where the race fractures and the lead group splits. Those are the sequences that usually decide results.
And if Hall, Gibson, or Hemming doesn't end up on the podium, don't be surprised. That's trail running. The terrain has its own opinion.