Eight years after her last CCC, Yao Miao returned to the race carrying an injured knee.
She still finished third—her fifth Chamonix podium in six starts across eight years, giving her the second-highest number of top-three finishes in UTMB Finals history.
The challenge was formidable even before the race began. An emergency reroute increased the course from the planned 101 km to 107.8 km, with 6,198 m of climbing. Torrential rain turned the trails slick and muddy, while three former CCC champions—representing three generations of winners across six years—lined up in one of the deepest women’s fields the race had seen.
Yao stopped the clock in Chamonix at 12:15:41. When asked how she had remained at the top of the sport for so long, she gave a two-word answer:
HARD WORK.
The numbers show how much work went into her return. But this is not simply a story about how far she ran or how high she climbed. It is a story about what happened when her preparation stopped going to plan—and how, each time the race presented a new problem, she found a way to respond.
Build: Six Weeks of Relentless Preparation
878 km and 31,234 m of Climbing
In the six weeks before CCC, the SUUNTO APP recorded 98 hours and 34 minutes of training for Yao, covering 878 km with 31,234 m of elevation gain.
That is more than 16 hours of training and 5,000 vertical meters per week. To put the climbing in perspective, 31,234 m is roughly equivalent to ascending Mount Everest three and a half times. Athletes at a similar level typically accumulated around 20,000 to 25,000 m over the same period; Yao logged 5,000 to 10,000 m more.
The volume gave her the aerobic strength and climbing durability she would need in the Alps. Living and training in Lijiang at more than 2,400 m above sea level provided a strong altitude base, while arriving in Chamonix a month early gave her time to adapt before race day.
The foundation was there. Then, three weeks before the start, the plan changed.
Break: An Old Knee Injury Returns
On August 8, Yao aggravated an old knee injury at the Swiss round of the Golden Trail World Series.
Her response was not to train harder. It was to back off.
Over the following week, her elevation gain fell from approximately 5,000 m to 1,300 m—a reduction of more than 70%. Rehabilitation and active recovery replaced much of the workload.
The change was visible in her SUUNTO data. After consecutive mountain sessions and the strain of adapting to a new environment, her fitness balance had fallen to approximately -79.
In the final week before the race, her fitness level stood at 117, fatigue at 68, and fitness balance at +40. Her long-term fitness had dipped slightly, but fatigue had fallen much faster.
She had not trained her way back to a perfect peak. Instead, she had reduced fatigue faster than she lost fitness and arrived at the start line ready enough to compete. That distinction would shape everything that followed.
Rebuild: Training for the Race She Could Still Run
Yao’s preparation shifted along with her condition.
Across the six-week block, Yao logged approximately 91 hours across five heart-rate zones. Zone 2 aerobic work accounted for 31 hours and 3 minutes, while Zone 3 aerobic endurance and threshold work added another 25 hours and 30 minutes.
During the taper, she reduced her highest-intensity Zone 5 work by approximately 40 minutes while adding around five and a half hours in Zone 4. The emphasis moved away from all-out effort and toward sustained work closer to race intensity.
It was a measured compromise: preserve the engine, protect the knee, and reach the start line without making the injury worse.
Between July 29 and August 27, her average recovery reading was approximately 75%. It fell to around 20% at the worst point in early August, then returned to 80%–100% on most days from mid-August onward.
She had done what she could. The rest would depend on how well she adapted once the race began.
Race: Making Her Intentions Clear
The First 10 km: 1,400 m Up at 169 bpm
CCC offered no gentle introduction. The opening 9.4 km climbed approximately 1,400 m to Tête de la Tronche, with gradients reaching 35%.
Yao did not choose a conservative start. She averaged 8:47 min/km and approximately 169 bpm over the first 10 km, reaching the checkpoint as the leading woman in 1:22:34.
She also raced without poles. On gradients of up to 35%, that demanded exceptional leg strength and core stability while allowing her to conserve upper-body energy for the later stages.
It was a clear statement: the knee injury had changed her preparation, but not her ambition.
The next challenge was very different. Over roughly 20 km, the course dropped about 1,500 m—the kind of terrain most likely to expose an injured knee.
Yao ran the 30–40 km split at 4:50 min/km, descending 989 m. From kilometers 40 to 50, she accelerated to 4:32 min/km while descending another 584 m.
Downhill running can expose the knees to impact forces equivalent to three to five times body weight. At Yao’s approximate weight of 50 kg, each foot strike represented an estimated load of 150 to 250 kg. Over a 20 km descent—roughly 20,000 foot strikes—the cumulative stress was immense.
The speed was there, but the cost was becoming visible. Race footage showed her downhill movement tightening, a common protective response when the knee is painful. Toni McCann passed her from behind.
Yao adjusted again.
Her original strategy had been to conserve energy uphill, run normally on the descents, and attack the flatter sections. With the long downhill aggravating her knee, that plan was no longer realistic. She began pressing on climbs, where the discomfort was less severe, and easing back on descents and flatter terrain.
She could not control the injury. She could control how she raced around it.
Interrupted by a Train, Back Into the Lead
At around kilometer 68, CCC delivered another problem no training plan could anticipate.
Toni McCann reached a railway crossing just as a train was passing and officials stopped her for approximately two minutes. Yao arrived shortly afterward and was also held briefly.
Her watch captured the interruption. At around 7:07 into the race, her heart rate dropped sharply from approximately 145 bpm to 132 bpm. When the route reopened, it returned to around 150 bpm within minutes.
Yao refueled quickly, settled back into her rhythm, and retook the lead.
Then came one of the race’s decisive climbs. Between kilometers 70 and 80, the course gained 1,155 m. Yao averaged 9:24 min/km, 156 bpm, and approximately 145 W through the section. The steady power and heart-rate data showed that she had regained the lead without a reckless surge.
She reached Trient more than three minutes ahead of McCann. The gap narrowed to approximately 1:58 at kilometer 82.9, then to around one minute as Yao entered Vallorcine at kilometer 90.1. The race remained finely balanced.
The train had stopped her momentum. It had not stopped her race.
Endure: Passed Late, but Never Falling Apart
The final 17 km still contained approximately 787 m of climbing. By then, the accumulated fatigue, rain-soaked terrain, and persistent knee pain were converging.
Yngvild Kaspersen and Toni McCann both passed Yao in the closing stages. On the final climbs, the drive in her stride became visibly more restrained.
But she did not unravel.
Her heart rate remained mostly between 145 and 150 bpm, even as the terrain forced her pace to slow. Once she completed the final climb, she found another gear. Over the last 6.1 km, she averaged 6:11 min/km.
The podium order had been decided, but Yao was still racing. She reorganized her effort, kept moving, and ran across the finish line.
Afterward, she smiled and described the ordea:
“MY KNEE A LITTLE PAIN.”
The Result Was Third Place. The Story Was Adaptation.
Yao did not control the injury, the course change, the rain, the train crossing, or the two rivals who passed her late in the race.
What she controlled was her response.
She built an enormous training base. When her knee failed, she reduced the workload and prioritized recovery. When descending became painful, she changed her race strategy. When a train interrupted the competition, she reset and retook the lead. When she was passed in the final stages, she kept her effort together and finished running.
Third place was the result. But the real story was everything it took to get there. It was also Yao’s fourth consecutive podium in Chamonix—another chapter in a record built through consistency as much as speed.
HARD WORK.
For Yao, those words were not a slogan. They were the thread connecting every adjustment, every setback, and every step back to the podium.
The SUUNTO APP will keep recording the work behind whatever challenge comes next. And for Yao, as she turns the page to her next challenge, her journey promises to remain as extraordinary as ever—or simply put, Miao-velous.
