Vincent Bouillard - Trail Runner Profile

Vincent Bouillard is a French ultrarunner who won the 2024 UTMB in 19:54:23 while working full-time as a HOKA product engineer without an athlete contract, then won the 2026 Western States 100 in 13:46:15, breaking Jim Walmsley's course record by 23 minutes and becoming the first person to run the r

Vincent Bouillard quick facts

Nationality: France
UTMB Index: 939 (as of 6 October 2026, UTMB profile)
ITRA score: 934 (as of 29 August 2026, ITRA profile)
Key results: Western States 2026: 13:46:15, course record; UTMB 2024: 19:54:23; UTMB 2026: DNF, withdrew at Lac Combal as favourite

UTMB Index and ITRA scores change after every race. The dates are when each number was read from the official profile.

Country: France · Team: HOKA · Specialities: 100 miles

Right now: Did not finish the 2026 UTMB after starting as the outright favourite.

Key facts

Western States 2026: 13:46:15, course record
UTMB 2024: 19:54:23
UTMB 2026: DNF, withdrew at Lac Combal as favourite
Double: 4th man to win both UTMB and Western States

The most surprising UTMB win in years

In 2024 Bouillard was not on anyone's favourites list. He was a materials and innovation engineer who had joined HOKA as an intern in 2016 and spent eight years developing products for the brand's sponsored athletes, including the shoes he raced in. He won in 19:54:23, and the sport spent the following week working out who he was.

Proving it at Western States

Two years later he answered the question definitively. On a cool day in June 2026 he ran 13:46:15 at Western States, taking 23 minutes off Walmsley's seven-year-old record and becoming the first athlete to break 14 hours on the course. The win also made him the seventh person, and fourth man, to have won both UTMB and Western States.

Where he is right now

He started the 2026 UTMB as the outright favourite in a field reshaped by the withdrawals of Kilian Jornet, Jim Walmsley and Tom Evans, but dropped out at Lac Combal, around 72km in, after losing time on the climb to the Col du Bonhomme. He gave no public explanation, and Courtney Dauwalter, the women's favourite, quit at almost the same point 13 minutes later. Ben Dhiman went on to win in a course-record 18:16:29.

How Vincent runs

Bouillard is an economical, low-drama runner with a very high sustainable pace on runnable ground. He does not surge or chase early moves. Instead he settles into an effort he knows he can hold and lets the race come back to him, and both of his signature wins were built in the second half rather than the first. At the 2024 UTMB he dropped to ninth on the climb to La Balme, then worked his way up and took the lead leaving Courmayeur at 83km, winning by 28 minutes.

His Western States course record followed the same pattern. He was never far from the front: third at Foresthill (mile 62), about 11 minutes down; second and five minutes behind Francesco Puppi at the Rucky Chucky river crossing (mile 78); and he only took the lead at Quarry Road, ten miles from the finish, before holding it to the first sub-14-hour finish in the race's history.

For most of his rise he was a full-time engineer at HOKA without an athlete contract, the first unsponsored runner to win UTMB in two decades, and his racing reflects that economy: no wasted effort early, and a clear sense of where the race will be decided.

Where Vincent is strongest

Big-stage 100-milers with long runnable sections: the canyons and the river-to-Auburn finish of Western States, and the valley floors and runnable descents of UTMB, where he can hold a rhythm past 100km that few can match.

His 2026 UTMB, where he dropped out at Lac Combal as favourite after losing time on the Col du Bonhomme climb, shows that early steep climbing in poor shape is where he is most vulnerable. His best races come when he arrives at the second half with plenty in reserve.

The edge. Late-race speed. At Western States he took the lead only in the final ten miles and still broke the course record by 23 minutes.

What you can learn from Vincent

1. Aim to run the second half as fast as the first

Negative or even splitting remains the most reliable way to run a fast 100-miler, and Bouillard's course record proves it. In practice that means starting at an effort that feels almost too easy and checking that you are still running the flat and downhill sections well after halfway. If you are walking the runnable parts late in the race, you started too fast.

2. A full-time job is not a barrier

He won UTMB while working a full working week as an engineer. If your time is limited, put your effort into the sessions that matter most: one long run, one quality session and consistent easy running. Consistency across months beats occasional big weeks.

3. Practise running the runnable parts

Courses like Western States reward the ability to keep running on gentle terrain late in a race. Include long runs where the second half is on flat or rolling ground at a steady pace, so your legs learn to keep turning over when they are tired.

4. Consolidate after a breakthrough

Two years passed between his surprise UTMB win and his Western States record. After a breakthrough race, resist rushing into the next big goal. Recover fully, then build steadily so the next result rests on a deeper base rather than on one good day.

Selected results

Year	Race	Result
2026	UTMB	DNF (withdrew at Lac Combal, ~72km, as the leading favourite)
2026	Western States 100	1st (13:46:15 course record, first sub-14 hours)
2024	UTMB	1st (19:54:23, as an unsponsored athlete)

A selection, not a complete race history.

Official profiles

Compare yourself with Vincent

ITRA index calculator: estimate the km-effort and an indicative performance band for your own race result (not an official ITRA Performance Index).
Trail pace calculator: turn your road pace into a trail pace and finish time for a given elevation profile.

Frequently asked questions

Who holds the Western States 100 course record?

Vincent Bouillard, who ran 13:46:15 in June 2026, 23 minutes faster than Jim Walmsley's 2019 record and the first sub-14-hour finish in the race's history.

Was Vincent Bouillard really unsponsored when he won UTMB?

Yes. He worked as a product and innovation engineer at HOKA but had no athlete contract when he won the 2024 UTMB, and raced in shoes he had helped develop.

How did Vincent Bouillard do at the 2026 UTMB?

He did not finish. He started as the outright favourite but dropped out at Lac Combal, around 72km in, after fading on the climb to the Col du Bonhomme. Ben Dhiman won the race in a course-record 18:16:29.

Runners with a similar profile

Tom Evans (United Kingdom): Western States champion, UTMB champion, and the first British man to win in Chamonix in fifteen years.
Jiaju Zhao (China): Ran 65:55:22 for the 330km Tor des Géants in 2026, a course record and the first win by a runner from outside Europe.
Jim Walmsley (United States): The first American man to win UTMB, and the athlete who redefined how fast a 100-miler can be run from the front.
Ben Dhiman (United States): DNF'd UTMB twice, was runner-up once, then won it on his fourth attempt in the fastest time the race has ever seen.

Sources and verification

Checked against the following sources on 2026-08-29:

Canonical page: https://trailia.run/best-trail-runners/vincent-bouillard

Published by Trailia (https://trailia.run), a personalised trail running coaching platform. This profile is a factual reference, not a ranking.