Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz

From Marthod to his first steps in the mountains ⛷️

As a young boy, Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz doesn’t dream of a stopwatch, but of a round ball. He plays football for many years in Marthod, and tears down the slopes in alpine skiing in winter, between the slalom gates. Nothing, in this classic Savoyard childhood, suggests that he will become one of the best ultra-trail runners in the world 🌍.

As a teenager, he dreams of becoming a physio. At the end of his first year of university, he passes the entrance exam for physiotherapy school. It’s during this period that, in 2012, he lines up for his first trail races. The long format immediately appeals to him: he completes the Ultra Tour du Beaufortain in just 14 hours, and discovers a feeling that will never leave him, that of pure performance 🏃‍♂️.

Six years after his beginnings, in 2018, recognition arrives: he is crowned French Champion of Long Trail. This title marks a turning point—that of an athlete who no longer runs just for pleasure, but now aims for excellence.

Between records and fatherhood 🏆

What sets Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz apart is his rare versatility. In 2020, in the middle of lockdown, as his racing goals are canceled one after another, he channels his frustration into a personal project: he takes on the record of the 14 summits over 2000 m in the Bauges massif, which he completes in 14h26—a benchmark time on this playground he knows by heart, near Lake Annecy.

That same year, he sets a world record for elevation gain over 24 hours: 17,218.2 meters of D+ swallowed up in 23h40'51, at the cost of 81 laps on a 28% gradient ⛰️.

2021 confirms his entry into the very exclusive circle of the world elite: victory at the Transgrancanaria, then a resounding 2nd place at UTMB, behind François D'Haene. In 2022, personal life catches up with competition: his goal on that same race falls through, but the birth of his first child, with his wife Julia, becomes the finest victory of his season 👶. At the same time, he continues to work as a physiotherapist, a job he combines with training, before also becoming a trail and ski-mountaineering coach from late 2023. 

The 2023 turning point, and the feat that reshapes the GR20 🥇

2023 is the season of total confirmation: out of six races contested, Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz wins four and never finishes lower than 2nd place. He first wins the Entrelacs Run & Trail (37 km), followed by two podiums at the Trail Nivolet-Revard (55 km) and the MaXi-Race Lake Annecy (88 km). Then comes the year’s major goal: the Hardrock 100 in the United States, which he wins in 23 hours, with nearly an hour’s lead over his chasers. He follows up with a win at the Wildstrubel by UTMB (70 km), before ending the year in style by winning the Diagonale des Fous on Réunion. The Hardrock and Diagonale des Fous double in the same season proves he’s not a trail runner like the others. 

In July 2026, he adds a new line to his record by winning the Ultra-Trail di Corsica de la Restonica, over 110 km and 7200 m+, in 14h41'21. A result that, without him yet knowing it, will be the prelude to a far more resounding feat.

Because it is on this same island of Corsica that Dunand-Pallaz will make French trail history. Two and a half months earlier, in July 2026, François D'Haene had become the first runner to break the symbolic 30-hour barrier on the GR20, with a time of 29h46. After his victory in Corte, Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz returns for a reconnaissance on the GR20 trails in August, and realizes that beating D'Haene’s mark is doable. On September 24, 2026, at 5 a.m., he sets off from Calenzana, in the north of the island, accompanied by top-level pacers, Arthur Joyeux-Bouillon and Théo Détienne. From the first hours, he takes the lead and never lets it go: in Vizzavona, he is already well ahead; at the Bavella pass, he has 2h14 in hand on D'Haene’s pace. He finishes “like a cannonball,” in his own words, and crosses the finish line in Conca on Friday, September 25 at 8:29 a.m., after 27 hours and 29 minutes of effort ⏱️. He thus smashes the old record by more than 2 hours, becoming the new holder of the men’s GR20 crossing record.

And now, which summit to aim for? 🗻

From football in Marthod to the GR20 record, Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz has never chosen the easiest path—only the one that suits him. Between his patients, the athletes he coaches, and his own racing objectives, he keeps pushing back a limit he seems to redefine each season. The question remains which summit he will set his sights on next year. UTMB, which has already given him a memorable 2nd place, is never far from his thoughts. While waiting to see him set off toward his next challenge, take on yours right now and book your own bib on Finishers!