Vincent Bouillard Wins Western States 100 2026 and Enters the History Books
On June 28, 2026, in Auburn, California, Vincent Bouillard won the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run in 13:46:15, ripping 23 minutes and 12 seconds off Jim Walmsley's legendary 2019 course record. A masterclass in tactics, a kind weather window — and a Frenchman now firmly seated at the top of world trail running, two years after his UTMB coronation.
It is nothing short of a seismic shift. The previous mark (14:09:27) had stood for seven years, set by American powerhouse Jim Walmsley on his home turf. Bouillard did not merely break it: he sent it more than twenty minutes into the past — and dragged three other runners (Puppi, Montgomery, Cardin) under the old benchmark in his wake. Western States 2026 will be remembered as the year the dam broke.
A Record That Changes Everything
To grasp the magnitude of the performance, you have to revisit the timeline. Western States is 100 miles (161 km) from Olympic Valley to Auburn, across the Sierra Nevada, with 5,500 m of climbing and 7,000 m of descent — a course that is technically runnable but routinely brutalized by canyon heat and early-altitude exposure.
Walmsley's record (14:09:27) dates back to 2019. Before him, Jim Walmsley again in 2018 (14:30:04). Before him, Tim Olson in 2012 (14:46:44). In seven years, nobody had come within twenty minutes of the 2019 standard. Bouillard simply erased it: 13:46:15, a moving average of 11.7 km/h over 161 km of mountain terrain.
The other loud signal: Francesco Puppi (Italy, 2nd in 13:51:08) and Ryan Montgomery (USA, 3rd in 13:53:55) also finished under the old record. Frenchman Thomas Cardin, 4th in 14:07:58, did too. Four men under 14:10 on a day when history had never seen a single one.
The Race: Patience, Then Execution
On paper, Bouillard was not the listed favorite. He was returning to American soil after a brutal 2025 DNF (dropped at mile 80 with stomach issues) and stepping into a stacked field: Kilian Jornet back on the course, Jim Walmsley, Hans Troyer, Adam Peterman, Zach Miller.
His strategy: never panic.
At the start in Olympic Valley, under 51°F (10.5°C) — one of the three coldest starts in race history — American Hans Troyer took the early reins. At Devil's Thumb (mile 47.8), Troyer was 26 minutes under record pace. Walmsley was in the mix. Puppi was building. Bouillard, meanwhile, sat several minutes back, locked into a chase pack of three.
"I really wanted to keep that conservative mindset all the way to Foresthill," he said at the finish. "I knew I couldn't match Jim's or Francesco's climbs. So I stayed close, but I kept gas in the tank."
At Foresthill (mile 62), the traditional inflection point at Western States, Bouillard turned the screws. Troyer cracked and dropped at Rucky Chucky (mile 78). Puppi took the lead. The Frenchman came back like a heat-seeker. At mile 90 (Quarry Road) he put Puppi away and rolled the last 10 miles on a wide-open highway.
The finish on the Placer High School track in Auburn will live in the archives. 13:46:15. Walmsley scrubbed off the board. A new chapter opens.
The 2026 Podium: An Anthology
| Place | Runner | Country | Time | Gap to old record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vincent Bouillard | 🇫🇷 | 13:46:15 | −23'12 |
| 2 | Francesco Puppi | 🇮🇹 | 13:51:08 | −18'19 |
| 3 | Ryan Montgomery | 🇺🇸 | 13:53:55 | −15'32 |
| 4 | Thomas Cardin | 🇫🇷 | 14:07:58 | −1'29 |
| 5 | Zach Miller | 🇺🇸 | 14:20:09 | +10'42 |
Four men under the old record, two Frenchmen in the top 4, a 100-mile debutant (Puppi) finishing 2nd: the depth of the 2026 field defies belief.
A spotlight on Thomas Cardin. At 31, the Savoyard from Cognin posted, on his very first 100-mile race, a time that would have been the course record the morning before. He had earned his Golden Ticket by winning the Chianti 120k last March; he leaves Auburn with an automatic qualifier for 2027 and a crystal-clear intent: come back and win.
The Women's Race: Jenn Lichter Erases Dauwalter
The women's story is just as historic. Jenn Lichter (USA, 30, Missoula) ran 15:28:05 to break Courtney Dauwalter's 2023 course record by 1 minute and 28 seconds. She led from almost wire to wire, breaking the race open at Devil's Thumb.
The women's podium:
- 1st: Jenn Lichter (USA) — 15:28:05 — course record
- 2nd: Riley Brady (USA) — 15:42:14
- 3rd: Marianne Hogan (Canada) — 15:51:44 (third podium in a row)
When the Elite Falls: Jornet and Walmsley DNF
The other storyline of the day belongs to the missing names. Kilian Jornet dropped at mile 38, returning to the race after several years away. Jim Walmsley, the record holder, also dropped, unable to hold the pace dictated up front.
Hans Troyer paid the steepest price for his early aggression: leading at Devil's Thumb with 26 minutes on the record, he collapsed in the descent to Cal Street and dropped at Rucky Chucky. Western States never forgives ambitious starts — except, apparently, for those who know how to wait.
Weather: The Fastest Western States in History
You cannot tell the story of this edition without addressing the climate. Western States is heat. The historical average for race-day highs: 90°F (32°C). In 2026: 74°F (23°C), or 16°F (9°C) below average — one of the three coolest starts and one of the most forgiving days ever recorded.
Direct consequence: a finisher rate of 87%, an all-time high. The Devil's Thumb and El Dorado canyons, usually turned into furnaces, stayed runnable. The result echoes across every layer of the results sheet: six men under 14:30, seven women under 16:30.
Does this take anything away from Bouillard's run? No. Conditions were the same for everyone, and his gap to Puppi (5 minutes) or Montgomery (8 minutes) is still enormous. But the meteorology helps explain why four men knocked off the record on the same day.
Vincent Bouillard, a Meteoric Path
A trained engineer, Vincent Bouillard is something of an anachronism in the world ultra scene: he still works part-time as a footwear engineer at Hoka, alongside his ultra career. No conventional pro structure, a family, a six-month-old daughter, and a schedule he stitches together himself.
His resume compresses into three years what others build over a decade:
- 2024: Winner of the UTMB (175 km around Mont-Blanc), to widespread shock
- 2025: DNF at Western States, mile 80, GI distress
- 2026: Winner and course record holder at Western States 100
For his 2026 build-up, he spent five weeks in Santa Barbara to heat-acclimate to the California climate, then two weeks in Olympic Valley for altitude. A methodical, almost clinical approach that contrasts with his image as an intuitive runner.
"I had unfinished business here. Last year I left with an open wound. This year I wanted to show I can also run a smart race."
What This Changes for World Trail Running
Three takeaways emerge from the 2026 edition:
1) The hierarchy shifts. The Walmsley-Dauwalter duo, which had set the benchmark since 2017, is no longer the absolute reference. The new generation (Bouillard, Puppi, Lichter, Brady) imposes higher standards still.
2) France at the summit of world ultra. With two Frenchmen in the top 4 (Bouillard 1st, Cardin 4th), layered onto recent UTMB success, French trail is having a moment. As Joseph Mestrallet, data scientist of trail performance has shown, the depth of the French talent pool now aligns with that of the United States.
3) Pacing, again and always. Bouillard's tactical lesson lines up with what we now see across every elite ultra: patience pays. Troyer attacks early, drops. Bouillard hides, wins. The capacity to hold a sub-maximal effort over the first 60 km remains the discriminating factor — and it is built through years of well-managed fundamental endurance work.
What's Next?
The question is already on everyone's lips: Bouillard at UTMB 2026? He has not committed, but a Chamonix win on the heels of Auburn would make him the first runner in history to complete the UTMB + Western States double in the same season. Not Walmsley, not Jornet, not D'haene has ever pulled it off.
One thing is certain: we have not heard the last of the Hoka guy who quietly carried the American course record back to the land of camembert.