On Thursday, July 23, 2026, France’s Aurélien Sanchez set a brand new males’s supported quickest identified time on the Pacific Crest Path within the western United States. His time of 45 days, 20 hours, and quarter-hour betters the earlier report of 46 days, 12 hours, and 50 minutes, set by Charles Sabbe of Belgium in 2023, by 16 hours and 35 minutes.
Aurélien Sanchez with buddy and fellow runner John Kelly throughout his 2026 Pacific Crest Path quickest identified time, as Sanchez handed via the Sierra Nevada of California. Picture: Jessi Kelly
When Sanchez introduced he was going for the Pacific Crest Path (PCT) quickest identified time (FKT), he declared he needed to finish it in lower than 46 days. His effort averages a formidable 56 miles (90 kilometers) per day.
The PCT has develop into one of many extra aggressive long-distance FKTs lately. Sabbe reclaimed the boys’s supported FKT from Timothy Olson in 2023, decreasing it by practically 5 days.
Troublesome Desert Miles
The PCT crosses america from the U.S.-Mexico border at Campo, California, to the U.S.-Canada border at Manning Provincial Park in British Columbia. As one of many longest trails within the U.S., the route runs 2,653 miles (4,270 kilometers) and consists of greater than 400,000 toes (121,920 meters) of elevation acquire. The path passes via California, Oregon, and Washington, traversing via the Sonoran and Mojave deserts earlier than climbing via the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges. Sanchez departed from Campo on the morning of June 8.
Sanchez’s unique plan was to push tougher than Sabbe via the California desert by sleeping much less and masking extra floor, hoping to succeed in the Sierra Nevada with a one-day benefit. He briefly held that tempo, ending day three roughly 22 miles (37 kilometers) forward of Sabbe’s schedule. However excessive winds, sizzling days, chilly nights, and accumulating fatigue decreased his result in round 9 miles (15 kilometers) by the tip of day 4.
Eleven days into the try, Sanchez acknowledged that his aggressive opening technique had not paid off, writing on social media, “The plan was aggressive. My purpose was to succeed in the Sierra Nevada with a one-day lead. I received’t make it, that’s a part of the sport. I took a chance, and it didn’t repay. Now it’s time to adapt and preserve transferring ahead. The PCT remains to be a good distance from over.”
Aurélien Sanchez along with his crew and John Kelly throughout his 2026 Pacific Crest Path quickest identified time. Picture: Jessi Kelly
In for the Lengthy Haul
From there, Sanchez settled right into a tempo remarkably just like Sabbe’s. Regardless of battling excessive warmth, scarce water sources, wildfires, and lengthy stretches of burned forest — the conventional however tough situations of the PCT — he remained inside placing distance of the report. Round two weeks into the trouble, he started combating foot and ankle ache and admitted he had thought of ending the try. However, he reached the midway level on July 2 – some 25 days after beginning – matching Sabbe’s tempo from 2023.
He additionally crossed into Oregon on day 30, mirroring Sabbe’s schedule. Even after spending an evening within the hospital receiving remedy for a foot an infection late within the try, Sanchez returned to the path and entered Washington on day 38, matching Sabbe’s schedule as soon as once more, with the end result nonetheless unsure. As Sanchez entered Washington state, his workforce wrote on social media, “The dream is inside attain, however nothing is assured but,” earlier than including that Sanchez would “decrease his head, grit his tooth, and preserve transferring ahead.”
Sanchez was supported primarily by his associate, Lucille Malgouyresand her cousin, Martin Tullotwith different family and friends becoming a member of the crew for parts of the try. Malgouyres documented the logistical challenges on social media, writing that she slept solely 14.5 hours over the primary 11 days. Over the course of this 1.5-month effort, wildfires, street closures, and detours difficult crew entry, whereas one deliberate crew rendezvous within the Sierra Nevada was delayed after a crew member developed altitude illness.
Aurélien Sanchez and John Kelly chat throughout his 2026 Pacific Crest Path quickest identified time. Picture: Jessi Kelly
A Background in Doing Arduous Issues
Sanchez isn’t any stranger to lengthy, arduous efforts. In 2018, he set the boys’s then-overall unsupported FKT on the 223-mile (359 kilometers) John Muir Path, a big portion of which follows the precise path of the PCT.
He was additionally one in all solely three finishers on the 2023 Barkley Marathons and competed in a few of Europe’s longest ultramarathons, together with the 224-mile (360 kilometers) Tor des Géants and the 435-mile (700 kilometers) SwissPeaks Path.
The Remaining File Push
It was Sanchez’s closing push over the past three days of his try that sealed the deal. The place Sabbe had been pressured to take a roughly 70-mile (113 kilometers) detour at round mile 2,550 due to wildfires in Washington state in 2023, Sanchez was in a position to stay on the extra direct official PCT path to the Canadian border. With wildfire closures a daily function of the path, official seasonal reroutes are thought of a part of the PCT for FKT functions, making altering route situations an inherent a part of the problem. A comparability of their routes might be considered right here. Sanchez surged forward, transferring for round 18 hours on two consecutive days earlier than a closing 16-hour effort on the forty sixth and closing day.
When he arrived on the northern terminus of the Pacific Crest Path, lastly touching the U.S.-Canadian border, Sanchez had achieved precisely what he got down to do: end in underneath 46 days and set up a brand new males’s supported PCT FKT. Shortly after ending, Sanchez wrote on his live-tracking web page“This report wouldn’t have been doable with out the unbelievable assist of my household, mates, companions, and everybody who inspired me all through this journey. Thanks to your belief, your messages, and your vitality. This achievement belongs to you as properly. The journey continues!”
[Editor’s Note: This article was written by guest columnist Clare Gunton.]
File photograph of Aurélien Sanchez in the course of the 2019 John Cappis 50k in Colorado. Picture: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
