Sébastien Chaigneau

About

Sébastien Chaigneau is a French professional ultrarunner born February 23, 1972, in Châtellerault, who rose from complete non-runner to one of the world's finest mountain ultra specialists within a decade. Growing up in the flatlands of central France, he discovered mountains through family ski holidays and later through military service in the Alpine forces of the French Army. He ran his first trail race in 2001 — a 50km with 2,800m of elevation gain — finishing 18th in 6 hours 6 minutes, and ran his first UTMB in 2003. Turning professional in 2009, the year he placed 2nd at UTMB, he climbed to 3rd at UTMB in 2011, confirming himself as a perennial contender. His definitive season was 2013: he won the Transgrancanaria in the Canary Islands, then traveled to Silverton, Colorado, and won the Hardrock 100 Endurance Run in a new counterclockwise course record of 24 hours 25 minutes 50 seconds, breaking Karl Meltzer's mark from 2009. He had also set the Transgrancanaria course record of 12 hours 50 minutes in 2012 and won the Ultra Trail Mont Fuji in Japan. After retiring from elite competition, Chaigneau transitioned to working as a videographer at major trail events, running alongside the leaders at UTMB with a camera.

Notable Wins

• — Hardrock 100 2013 (CCW CR
• — 24:25:50)
• — Transgrancanaria 2013
• — Transgrancanaria 2012 (CR
• — 12:50)
• — Ultra Trail Mont Fuji
• — UTMB 2nd 2009
• — UTMB 3rd 2011

Race History