SCOTT Sports athlete makes history in GR20 race

SCOTT athlete Anne-Lisa Rousset made history by completing the GR20 trail in Corsica, France in under 40 hours. Photo: SCOTT Sports.

CORSICA, France — On June 13, SCOTT athlete Anne-Lise Rousset took on one of the biggest challenges of her career by establishing the new fastest-known time on the GR20, an iconic trail located on the French island of Corsica, in 35 hours, 50 minutes, and 40 seconds. This beautiful but highly demanding route covers 170.3 kilometers (approx 105 miles) and 12,690 meters in elevation.

“The performance came 100% from sharing,” said Rousset. “The Northern part was incredible because I didn’t have a real slump. So it was always fun. But the Southern part was a different atmosphere, my mental had to take over. And for me, it was the sharing that kept me going. I remember how happy I was to see everyone at the refueling stations and how happy I was to be with three people all the time [accompanied by two pacers]. It makes for a really strong mix. I had an incredible adventure with my friends.”

Trail runner Rousset left on Monday at 6 a.m. from Calenzana in Haute-Corse, has succeeded in beating the women’s record of the iconic trail route, the GR 20, by completing the north-south crossing of the trail in 35 hours 50 minutes and 40 seconds, which is 5 hours less than the former record held for 10 years by Emilie Lecomte (41 h 22 min in 2012).

An epic journey surrounded by two pacers who took turns on different parts of the route (according to the new rules) and who made her cover some 170 km and 13,000 meters of elevation.

Running relentlessly, day and night, on Europe’s most mythical trail Rousset became the first woman to achieve a time under 40 hours on the GR 20; less than a year after the birth of her baby boy.

Rousset ran in the Supertrac RC shoe, the go-to shoe for SCOTT athletes taking on high alpine technical races. The award-winning Radial Traction outsole provides improved traction and durability. Its refined upper includes an innovative Schoeller coldblack® and 3XDRY® material, which provides unparalleled levels of protection and comfort.

At 33, Rousset is a professional athlete, veterinarian, and recent mother from Cantal, France. Since a couple of years back, Anne-Lise has been living in Haute-Savoie, together with her husband and trainer, Adrien Séguret. With a very time-consuming work agenda composed of on-call duty, she has to juggle training with work.

“It’s extraordinary and satisfying to think that we’ve worked hard for eleven months, tried to live a normal life with a baby, working our jobs full time, and to now finishing the GR20 is the fulfillment of everything we wanted,” said husband and trainer Adrien Séguret.