Lionel Trivel

About

Lionel Trivel is a French firefighter (sapeur-pompier de Loire) and ultrarunner from Yssingeaux in the Haute-Loire department of the Massif Central, where he trains on the volcanic highlands surrounding his home. He became a professional firefighter in 2001 and qualified as a fire diver in 2004, and the discipline of that career shaped his approach to extreme endurance racing. He entered competitive sport through multisport raids — winning the Corsica Raid in 2003 — before transitioning to trail running, where his self-described diesel engine and deep preference for mountainous adventure over speed events make him a natural long-distance specialist. His international breakthrough came at the 2009 UTMB, where he finished 5th overall; he followed that with 6th place at the Grand Raid de la Réunion - Diagonale des Fous in 2011 and 9th at the Ultra Trail Mount Fuji in 2013. He has since made the 330-kilometre Tor des Géants in Italy his primary arena: 4th in 2013 in the best French time recorded to that point in the race's history; 8th in 2017 as first French finisher in 84 hours 33 minutes; and in 2018 a 4th-place finish in 77 hours 2 minutes 54 seconds — the outright French record, which still stands. Self-coached, he designs his own training programme and completes intensive four-to-five-day mountain blocks in the Haute-Loire highlands, training in isolation on the same terrain where he lives and works.

Notable Wins

• — 5th UTMB 2009
• — 6th Grand Raid de la Réunion - Diagonale des Fous 2011
• — 4th Tor des Géants 2013 (best French time at the time)
• — 9th Ultra Trail Mount Fuji 2013
• — 8th Tor des Géants 2017 (1st French finisher
• — 84:33)
• — 4th Tor des Géants 2018 (French record 77:02:54)

Race History