Guillaume Calmettes

About

Guillaume Calmettes is a French research scientist at UCLA whose day job studying skeletal muscle physiology and energy metabolism coexists with an ultra-endurance career built around two of the sport's most demanding events. Born in France and based in Los Angeles, he won the 2017 Big Dog's Backyard Ultra — completing 59 loops for 245.835 miles (395.9 km) over 59 hours as the sole official finisher, outlasting 57 competitors with a relaxed demeanour that became the event's defining image that year. His Backyard win earned him guaranteed entry to the Barkley Marathons, where in 2019 he became the first French person to complete the Fun Run — three of the five 42km loops within the 40-hour cutoff — one of only a handful of runners each year to achieve even that milestone at the legendary Tennessee race. Calmettes embodies the scientist-athlete archetype, applying the same rigour to understanding performance that he brings to the laboratory.

Notable Wins

• — Big Dog's Backyard Ultra 2017 (sole finisher
• — 245.835 miles)
• — Barkley Marathons Fun Run 2019 (first French finisher)

Race History

Recent Coverage