Laurence Klein

About

Laurence Klein (née Fricotteaux) was born January 22, 1969 in Grenoble and is one of France's most decorated long-distance runners across road, trail, and desert ultra formats. For more than 20 years exclusively a road specialist, she built an extraordinary résumé at 100km: European Champion (2007), World Vice-Champion (2007), and holder of the French women's 100km record at 7 hours, 26 minutes and 44 seconds — a mark she still holds. She also won the French Marathon Championship in 2008 (2:37). Her transition to multi-day desert racing was equally dominant: she won the Marathon des Sables — the legendary six-stage, 250km desert ultramarathon across Morocco's Sahara — three times, in 2007, 2011, and 2012. She won the French Trail Championship in 2010, the World Trail Team Championship in 2011 alongside Maud Gobert and Aurélia Truel, and the World Master 100km title in 2015. She ran her final competitive 100km at the Millau event in 2019, winning it. A mother of two, she now offers personalised coaching and training plans specialising in preparing runners for the Marathon des Sables and other ultra formats.

Notable Wins

• — Marathon des Sables 2007
• — 2011
• — 2012; European 100km Champion 2007; French Marathon Champion 2008; French Trail Champion 2010; World Trail Team Champion 2011; World Master 100km 2015

Race History