On the morning of July 4, French ultrarunner François D’Haene set off quietly from the Blank’s Cabin Trailhead in Colorado’s Sawatch Range.
Just over 35 hours later, he arrived at the Fish Hatchery Trailhead near Leadville with a new fastest known time (FKT) on the fabled Nolan’s 14 route: an achievement that redefines what’s possible on one of the hardest mountain challenges in the U.S.
D’Haene completed the 95-mile, 14-peak route in 35 hours, 33 minutes, and 41 seconds, taking nearly four hours off the previous supported record set by David Hedges in 2023 (39:06:40). In doing so, he became the first athlete to break the 36-hour mark on a line with nearly 45,000 feet of vertical gain and an average elevation around 12,000 feet.
“I am so happy, but, wow, it was crazy,” D’Haene said afterward to iRunFar.
Though best known for his four wins at UTMB and a record-setting performance at Hardrock 100 in 2021, D’Haene is no stranger to FKTs. He holds the supported record on California’s John Muir Trail and won Italy’s 200-mile Tor des Géants just last year.
But Nolan’s 14 is in a different category: unmarked, high-altitude, and largely off-trail, the line has humbled even the most experienced mountain runners. The route was first conceptualized in the 1990s by Jim Nolan and first attempted in 1998. Today, its completion rate is estimated at just 15%.
D’Haene had quietly announced his intentions in June: sharing training updates on Strava and videos on YouTube, but opted to run without public live tracking. Pacers and a full support crew met him along the way.
The effort started at 7:00 a.m. Friday, with D’Haene summiting Mount Shavano about 90 minutes in. By the Avalanche Trailhead, roughly a third of the way in, he was 50 minutes up on Hedges’ splits. That gap widened to over three hours by Friday night as he tackled the technical climbs of Columbia and Harvard in the dark.
The second day began with 11 peaks already completed, but the remaining three, La Plata, Elbert, and Massive, are all massive climbs on their own. D’Haene reached Mount Elbert, Colorado’s highest point, at 1:20 p.m. Saturday, and tagged the final summit at about 33 hours and 45 minutes before descending to the finish at Fish Hatchery.
Though weather was a concern early on, light snow and thunderstorms swept through on Friday morning—conditions stabilized enough for the effort to continue.
“The weather on Friday started crazy, we were a little worried with the forecast. We had small thunderstorms and even a little snow. Then after that it was ok. But during the night, it was cold,” D’Haene said.
Like many before him, D’Haene had first heard of the route through other elite mountain runners, including Anna Frost and Iker Karrera. He recce’d sections of it last year, then returned this season to train on the entire line.
“I love races,” he said, “but I also love FKTs, and for me Nolan’s was a great place for an FKT.”
The full GPS file is now up on his Strava, and while splits show his advantage grew steadily throughout the day and night, it wasn’t until Saturday afternoon that the enormity of the effort became clear: D’Haene hadn’t just edged the record…he obliterated it.
With his Nolan’s 14 time now the mark to beat, D’Haene adds yet another mountain trophy to a career that already rivals Kilian Jornet’s in scope and longevity. Whether anyone will match this latest feat anytime soon remains to be seen, but they’ll have to move fast.
