Isabelle Bernier

About

Isabelle Bernier is a Québécois ultra-trail runner and Montessori schoolteacher from Magog who came to the sport of trail running only in her mid-thirties and within a few years was standing atop an international podium. A single mother raising two daughters, she took up serious ultra-trail training around 2014 and became the first woman to solo the roughly 123-kilometre circumnavigation of Lac Memphrémagog, completing it in just over 13 hours — a feat she has since repeated. In 2018 she travelled to China for the Ultra Trail Maxi Race, where she won the women's title over the 105-kilometre, nearly 6,000-metre-climbing course in 19 hours 48 minutes 7 seconds, finishing 56 minutes clear of the runner-up. She has also raced the Diagonale des Fous on Réunion Island, placed second among women at the brutal 190-kilometre Ultra Run Raramuri in Mexico's Copper Canyon in 53:57:43, and won bronze at the Canadian Ultra Trail Championship held at Québec Mega Trail in 2022. Running, she has said, is less about competitive domination than passion, escape, and personal growth — captured in her motto: 'one step at a time, we can climb mountains.'

Notable Wins

• — Ultra Trail Maxi Race China 2018 winner (19:48:07)
• — Ultra Run Raramuri (Mexico) 2022 2nd woman (53:57:43)
• — Canadian Ultra Trail Championship (Québec Mega Trail) 2022 bronze
• — first woman to solo Tour du Lac Memphrémagog (123km)

Race History