Vincent Bouillard wins Western States 100 in record-breaking fashion
© Hilary Ann Yang / WS100Vincent Bouillard produced a stunning victory at the Western States 100 in the Sierra Nevada, completing the brutal course in 13:46:15 and smashing the prestigious American race record by 23 minutes. The Annecy native becomes the first Frenchman to win the California classic. Thomas Cardin also delivered an outstanding fourth-place finish, covering the 161 km and 5,500 m of elevation gain faster than the previous record.
We were convinced his triumph at UTMB would not be a one-off. And there is no need to mince words: Vincent Bouillard has written one of the finest chapters in French ultra-trail history by winning the 53rd edition of the Western States 100, one of trail running’s four legendary races alongside UTMB in Chamonix, the Diagonale des Fous on Réunion Island and Hardrock in Colorado. He flashed a broad smile after crossing the line, and it was easy to see why at Placer High School, the Auburn school’s stadium.
After an extraordinary journey through the canyons and rivers of the Sierra Nevada, the 32-year-old was first across the line in a time comfortably inside Jim Walmsley’s record of 14:09:28, set in 2019. Bouillard stopped the clock at 13:46:15. The HOKA Team Trail Elite member, who has worked with the brand since 2016 and is currently a product engineer, had dropped out at the 125 km mark last year. This time, he turned the tables on fate. Vincent Bouillard becomes only the fourth man to win both UTMB and Western States, joining stars Kilian Jornet, Jim Walmsley and Tom Evans. Two of them had lined up on Saturday: Jornet, the 2011 Western States winner, and Walmsley, a four-time champion (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2024). Both eventually dropped out.
In warm but not scorching conditions, Vincent Bouillard finished ahead of Italy’s Francesco Puppi (13:51:08) and American Ryan Montgomery (13:53:55), who also went under the previous record, giving a clear sense of the blistering pace of this year’s race. On his Western States debut, Thomas Cardin, the 2024 European trail champion, stormed to fourth in 14:07:58 and could have claimed the new record himself.
It is extremely rare for multiple records to fall in the same edition. Western States somehow produced two at once. In the women’s race, the honors went to American Jennifer Lichter in 15:28:05, ahead of teammate Riley Brady (15:42:14) and Canadian Marianne Hogan (15:51:44). The record, set by Courtney Dauwalter at 15:29:33 in 2023, also fell.