GR20 Record: Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz

GR20 record: how do you devour Corsica in 27h29'? ⏱️

Thursday September 24, 2026, 5 a.m. Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz leaves Calenzana, the northern gateway of the GR20. Friday, 8:29 a.m.: the Savoyard sets foot in Conca, at the far south of the island, after 27h29' of non-stop effort 🏔️. His GPS track shows 166 km and 12,500 m D+. The route differs slightly from the hikers' GR20, which is split into 16 stages over roughly 180 km. They count in days, he counts in minutes. The mark to beat? The 29h46' set by François D'Haene, the first man under the 30-hour barrier on July 9, 2026. The four-time winner of the UTMB will have reigned less than 80 days over the island. In 17 years, the benchmark has melted from 32h54' (Kilian Jornet, 2009) to 27h29', and never had a single attempt shaved off 2h17'.

This is an FKT (Fastest Known Time), validated by fastestknowntime.com in the supported category. No bib, no finish arch: a team stamps the logbook at each stage to authenticate the crossing. On the women's side, Anne-Lise Rousset has held the supported record in 35h50' since 2022.

Scree fields, pacers and the Corsican night: where was the time won? 🪨

The game plan came down to one word: attack. From the Tighjettu refuge (km 30), Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz was already 36 min ahead. At Vizzavona, at the halfway point, the gap grew to 1h40'. The north of the GR20 forgives nothing: scree fields, rocky slabs, steep slopes where you progress with poles in hand more than by running. Dream terrain for this specialist in technical ultras, who even set the best time on the Cirque de la Solitude segment, the most dreaded passage on the route. His pacers sometimes struggled to keep up. At the Bavella pass, the clock showed a 2h14' lead. A few route-finding errors cost him minutes in the dead of night 🌙 . The final stretch, more runnable, then saw him fly toward Conca "like a cannonball," in his own words. Behind the runner was a true racing stable: nine pacers took turns, including Théo Detienne and Arthur Joyeux-Bouillon. They carried water, food and gear, and the Savoyard ran without a pack 🎒 . Aid station stops: 3 to 4 min. Mild weather as a bonus: same outfit and same shoes from start to finish.

Who is Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz, the new boss of the GR20? 🏆

Born in 1992 in Marthod, near Albertville in Savoie, the kid was kicking a ball around before switching to trail running in 2012, during his physiotherapy studies. French long trail champion in 2018, he joined the ultra-trail elite in 2021: a win at Transgrancanaria, then 2nd at the UTMB behind… D'Haene, already. 2023 propelled him to stardom: he won the Hardrock 100 in Colorado, then the Diagonale des Fous on La Réunion in 23h21' 🌋 . Two ultra majors in the same season: the list of those who've done it remains short. The GR20 has obsessed him since 2020. An injury postponed the attempt planned for 2025. In 2026, his whole season converged on Corsica: in July, he won the Ultra-Trail di Corsica at the Restonica Trail, a UTMB World Series stop in Corte, over 110 km and 7,200 m D+ in 14h41'21". Twenty stays on the island, reconnaissance runs in August: the Savoyard read the course like a book.

A good sport, D'Haene hailed the feat with a "Goes to show, you can always push the limits." Lambert Santelli and Guillaume Peretti, former record holders, believe the mark will fall someday, but not anytime soon or by such a margin.

Your turn to take on Corsica? 🏁

You probably won't cross the island in 27h29', and no one will hold it against you. The Corsican mountains welcome all calves: the Restonica Trail offers formats from 17 km to 110 km around Corte, the Trail de Bonifacio takes you to the edge of the cliffs 🌊 , and the calendar of trails in Corse-du-Sud is just waiting for you. Choose your distance according to your level, book your bib on Finishers and meet us on the start line.