François D'Haene (born 24 December 1985 in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

) is a French elite athlete who specializes in ultra running and mountain running. He won the

Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) is a single-stage mountain ultramarathon, first held in 2003, that follows the route of the Tour du Mont Blanc. Since UTMB Group's partnership with IRONMAN Group in 2021, UTMB World Series will formally launch ...

in 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2021. and the Grand Raid on Réunion in the Indian Ocean in 2013, 2014 and 2016. He is the winner of the first Ultra-Trail World Tour, in 2014. He holds the speed record for the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB), 167 km in 20 h 11 min 44 sec, a record that he improved in 2017 (170 km in 19 h 01 min 32 s). He's also known for being the fastest on the

GR20 The GR 20 (or ''fra li monti'') is a GR footpath that crosses the Mediterranean island of Corsica running approximately north–south, described by the outdoor writer Paddy Dillon as "one of the top trails in the world". The whole trail is abou ...

in Corsica, crossing it in 31 h 06 min. On October 17, 2017, he set a new record on the

John Muir Trail The John Muir Trail (JMT) ( Paiute: Nüümü Poyo, ''N-ue-mue Poh-yo'') is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. From the northern terminus a ...

in California's Sierra Nevada, finishing it in 2 days, 19 hours, and 26 minutes. On July 17th, 2021, D'Haene won the Hardrock 100 mile ultramarathon in 21:45:51; breaking both the counter clockwise and overall record, both previously held by Kilian Jornet. He used to be a physiotherapist, and became a wine-grower in 2012. He is married and has three children, and lives in the

Beaujolais Beaujolais ( , ) is a French ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) wine generally made of the Gamay grape, which has a thin skin and is low in tannins. Like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites from the region, which mak ...

winemaking region.

External links

Personal website

References

Living people French male mountain runners French ultramarathon runners French sky runners 1985 births {{France-ultradistance-bio-stub