No matter the course, no matter the distance, if it’s a major trail running race, Americans Katie Schide (pre-race interview) and Jim Walmsley (pre-race interview) will likely find themselves at the front. And so it was at the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail, the third and longest race at the 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, where Schide and Walmsley both took home commanding wins in competitive fields.
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This year’s championships — a series of races attracting some of the world’s best trail runners for a chance to compete for their country — arrived in the mountain village of Canfranc in the Spanish Pyrenees. The 81-kilometer (50.3 miles) Long Trail race attracted many top athletes, like Schide and Walmsley. They were joined by others like France’s Marion Delespierre (pre-race interview), the defending women’s champion, and Italy’s Francesco Puppi (pre-race interview), the winner of this year’s CCC.
The Pyrenees are (in)famous for their steep, technical trails, and the course for the Long Trail fit that description seamlessly. The route, a giant mountain loop around Canfranc, featured 5,078 meters (16,600 feet) of elevation gain, with an initial 1,500-meter (5,000-foot) climb to the summit of La Moleta, the highest point on the course at 2,572 meters (8,438 feet). Given the uniqueness of the course, chatter during the week seemed to indicate that runners would be slower than the race organization’s predicted times of 8.5 hours for the top men and 10 hours for the top women.
The U.S.’s Katie Schide, 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail champion. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
In the end, though, on a near-perfect weather day in the mountains, the American duo of Walmsley and Schide again demonstrated why they are favorites for any race they enter, both running very close to those predicted times. Schide ran from the front for the entire way to win the women’s race by more than 25 minutes in 9:57:59, while Walmsley, after battling with Frenchmen Benjamin Roubiol and Louison Coiffet for much of the race, pulled away late to win in 8:35:11.
Entering the race, it was expected to be a battle between the United States, France, and Italy for the team competition on both the men’s and women’s sides. In the women’s race, Italy ended up taking home top honors, with the U.S. and France in second and third, respectively. In the men’s race, France took home first, with the U.S. in second and Italy in third.
Read on for full race details, and be sure to read our in-depth coverage of the 2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill and the 2025 Trail World Championships Short Trail from earlier in the week.
Jim Walmsley (U.S) on the descent from Llano de Tortiellas Alto (71k) on his way to the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail win. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail Women’s Race
Katie Schide (pre-race interview), an American who lives and trains in France, has accomplished something very few athletes across any sport ever do: She has normalized greatness. The ever-smiling Schide, who seems to excel across any distance and course, took the lead from the start of this race and stayed there for nearly 10 hours, never trailing at any point. In fact, the “1” indicating her place at every checkpoint on her official splits offers a quantifiable look at her untouchable performance.
Katie Schide (U.S.) in a line of runners on the first climb of the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
The fact that her commanding win was not surprising perhaps speaks even more loudly. After all, this is what Schide does. In 2024, she won the Western States 100 by more than 30 minutes and UTMB by almost 40, the latter in a course record. This year, she broke the course record at the Hardrock 100, winning by nearly three hours. Then, in early August, Schide placed second at Sierre-Zinal, a finish considered all the more impressive given its proximity to Hardrock and its 31-kilometer (19 miles) distance, much shorter than races she’s typically dominated.
“I’ve heard myself described as a 100-mile specialist,” Schide said in her pre-race interview, “which I never intended to be.”
The 81-kilometer Long Trail race fell somewhere between the 31 kilometers of Sierre-Zinal and 174 kilometers of UTMB, and was a distance that Schide was eager to race this year.
“Those are the athletes that have always inspired me the most: people who could be really strong at short races and then also perform really well at ultras,” she said.
Katie Schide (U.S.) descends during the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail with 10k to go. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
It was with this inspiration that Schide arrived at the start line in Canfranc for the Long Trail race. By 15k at Carreton, Schide had already built a nearly five-minute lead, and it only grew from there. By halfway at Ibón de Truchas, she was ahead by almost 20 minutes; by Peyrenère at 59k, the lead was more than 30. She looked smooth and confident throughout, wearing her trademark smile as she ran alone for several hours. Schide finished in 9:57:59, under the race organization’s predicted time of 10 hours for the top woman.
“I’m not sure how much I agree with the predicted times from the race organization,” she said in her pre-race interview. “They’re quite optimistic in our abilities, I think.”
Given Schide’s two-year run of domination, they were probably justified in their thinking.
Behind Schide, Nepal’s Sunmaya Budha, who finished 10th at this event in 2022, and Italy’s Fabiola Conti, the skyrace and mountain marathon specialist, were locked in a close battle for second place for most of the day. At Ibón de Truchas (40k), Budha was ahead by less than a minute, and 7k later at Col d’Ayous, they came through together.
Sunmaya Budha of Nepal runs in second place at the Ibón de Truchas, halfway into the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
During the 13-plus kilometers between Col d’Ayous and Peyrenère at 59k, they stayed together to set up what looked to be a compelling final 20k of racing. Over the next 5k, though, Budha pulled away slightly, entering 65k at Candanchu with about a 90-second lead, and by Llano de Tortiellas Alto at 71.5k she had built an eight-minute lead, which she would not relinquish.
Ultimately, Sunmaya Budha finished second in 10:23:03. Fabiola Conti held on for third in 10:35:51.
Fabiola Conti (Italy) finished third at the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
The battle for the top five was equally compelling and came down to the wire. Between 73k at Collado de Estiviellas and the finish just 8k later, Canada’s Jazmine Lowther passed Rosa Lara (Spain) to edge her by just under two minutes. Lowther’s last 50k was impressive, as she moved all the way up from 29th at 15k to finish fourth in 10:45:18.
Jazmine Lowther (Canada) descending from the Llano de Tortiellas Alto at 71k during the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail. She finished fourth. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Lara, who finished sixth at OCC four weeks ago, held off France’s Anne-Lise Rousset Séguret to round out the top five. Rousset Séguret, the winner of this year’s Transvulcania Ultramarathon, who has said this would be her final year of professional running, hung around the middle of the top 10 for the majority of the race before taking sixth.
Lara Rosa (Spain), who finished fifth, descending from the Llano de Tortiellas Alto (71k) at the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Finishing less than five minutes behind her was Martina Valmassoi (Italy) in seventh, who posted a strong finish despite battling a hamstring injury earlier this year. France’s Marion Delespierre (pre-race interview), the defending champion at this race, used an impressive second half of the race to finish eighth in 11:03:01.
Martina Valmassoi (Italy) at 21k into the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
But perhaps the race of the day — and maybe the entire championships — was for ninth place. After more than 80k of racing through the mountains, Italy’s Giuditta Turini and France’s Hillary Gerardi (pre-race interview) found themselves in what amounted to a track race, sprinting against each other in an epic conclusion on the final straightaway. Turini edged her by a single second, and both women fell to the ground at the finish line.
Giuditta Turini (Italy) placed ninth at the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail Women’s Results
- Katie Schide (United States) – 9:57:59 (pre-race interview)
- Sunmaya Budha (Nepal) – 10:23:03
- Fabiola Conti (Italy) – 10:35:51
- Jazmine Lowther (Canada) – 10:45:18
- Rosa Lara (Spain) – 10:47:15
- Anne-Lise Rousset Séguret (France) – 10:50:45
- Martina Valmassoi (Italy) – 10:55:07
- Marion Delespierre (France) – 11:03:01 (pre-race interview)
- Giuditta Turini (Italy) – 11:05:19
- Hillary Gerardi (France) – 11:05:20 (pre-race interview)
Women’s Teams
- Italy
- United States
- France
The 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail women’s podium (left to right): 3. Fabiola Conti, 1. Katie Schide, 2. Sunmaya Budha. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail Men’s Race
In his pre-race interview, Jim Walmsley (U.S.) struck the tone of someone who was just happy to be there. Only four weeks after he won the 2025 OCC, Walmsley, the American ultrarunning star, entered the Trail World Championships Long Trail with a shorter taper and not knowing how his “racing legs” would respond. “I think I’m in a good spot to be competitive, and I’m excited to compete,” Walmsley said, “and that’s all I can ask for at this point.”
Only he will know if that was an honest assessment of his fitness or a small psychological ploy, because he ran a typical Walmsley race, hanging out in the top five before definitively taking the lead around 60k. He won by nearly 11 minutes.
The U.S.’s Jim Walmsley, 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail champion. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
It was another feather in the cap of Walmsley, who has won the Western States 100 four times, most recently in 2024, and UTMB in 2023. If there were doubts that he was a flat-course specialist who wins races solely with his speed, this win — on trails he described as “chunky” in his pre-race interview — further cemented the idea that he, like Katie Schide, can win on any terrain, in any distance, against any competition.
And competition there was. Entering the race, there were several runners who could have been considered favorites to win. Reigning Long Trail champion Benjamin Roubiol (France) was returning to defend his title, while Italy’s Francesco Puppi was also riding the fitness from a win four weeks ago at CCC. Even several of Walmsley’s American teammates — rising star and 2025 Western States 100 champion Caleb Olson (pre-race interview), the ever-consistent 2022 Long Trail champion Adam Peterman, and 2025 Hardrock 100 fifth-place finisher Zach Miller — were among the top competitors in a loaded field. Olson unfortunately had to drop early due to knee pain from a fall in the race.
Benjamin Roubiol (France) leads Jim Walmsley (U.S.) and Vincent Bouillard (France) on the first climb, 5k into the race. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
In a surprise to no one, Walmsley started the race near the front of the field, remaining in the top four through Canal de Izas at 21k in a lead pack that included Roubiol, his French teammate Louison Coiffet, and Sweden’s Petter Engdahl. By the next aid station, Formigal at 30k, the trio of Walmsley, Coiffet, and Roubiol was still together, but Engdahl had fallen back.
Louison Coiffet (left), Benjamin Roubiol (middle), and Jim Walmsley at Canal de Izas, 21k into the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Over the next 20 kilometers, the French duo of Roubiol and Coiffet stayed within touching distance of Walmsley, while Italian Cristian Minoggio, whom Walmsley raced to the line at OCC four weeks ago, remained behind Engdahl in a strong fifth, less than six minutes back of the leader.
Cristian Minoggio (Italy), who would finish fourth at the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail, runs next to the Ibón de Truchas (40k). Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
But in the 13-plus kilometers between Col d’Ayous at 47k and near Peyrenère at 59k — the longest stretch of the race between checkpoints — Walmsley opened up a lead of nearly a minute over Coiffet, while Roubiol fell off the pace. He was now more than six minutes behind Walmsley.
Petter Engdahl ran in fourth place at the Ibón de Truchas, halfway into the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail. He would finish in sixth. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
From there, as he’s done so many times in the course of his career, Walmsley pressed the gas to erase any hope his competitors still might have held. By Candanchu at 65k, his lead had grown another minute; by Llano de Tortiellas Alto just over 5k later, it had ballooned to nearly seven minutes. With only about 10k to go, all Jim Walmsley had to do was avoid blowing up — a goal he accomplished — and he finished in 8:35:11 for the win.
Ruobiol, for his part, rebounded quickly from his fall off the pace, rejoining his teammate Coiffet by Llano de Tortiellas Alto at 71k. The French duo ran the rest of the race nearly in tandem, finishing together in 8:46:05 to all but guarantee the team win for their country.
Benjamin Roubiol (left) and Louison Coiffet of France on the descent from Llano de Tortiellas Alto (71k). They would tie for second. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Cristian Minoggio, who entered the race as perhaps the third most accomplished runner on his own team behind Puppi and Andreas Reiterer, remained steady in fifth for the middle chunk of the race before passing Engdahl in that long 13k stretch between Col d’Ayous at 47k and near Peyrenère at 59k to take fourth, where he would remain until his finish in 8:57:16. It was another strong performance from the Italian, who can add a top five at this race to his second-place finish behind Walmsley at OCC for an impressive 2025.
Slovakia’s Peter Fraňo, meanwhile, also passed Engdahl in that same stretch to break into the top five, but Engdahl remained within 90 seconds of him by the final checkpoint at Collado de Estiviellas at 74k. Peter Fraňo ultimately held on for fifth in 9:01:37, while Petter Engdahl, despite falling away from the lead pack earlier, took sixth in 9:03:38.
Peter Fraňo (Slovakia) finished the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail in fifth place. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
The race for the rest of the top 10 was a good one. Poland’s Andrzej Witek, who took third at this year’s OCC behind Walmsley and Minoggio, battled with Peterman early in the race before taking over seventh place for good by Peyrenère. Peterman, who hung around in the top 10 for the entire race, faded late, letting a six-plus minute lead over a charging Puppi — who at one point in the race was 49th — evaporate from Candanchu to Llano de Tortiellas Alto. But he retook a minute lead by Collado de Estiviellas, setting up a compelling finish. In the end, Adam Peterman rebounded to finish eighth in 9:18:36, with Francesco Puppi less than two minutes behind in ninth at 9:20:22.
After running much of the second half of the race in close proximity, Frenchman Vincent Bouillard, the 2024 UTMB champion, beat out teammate Baptiste Chassagne, the runner-up in that same race, by finishing 9:22:10 to Chassagne’s 9:25:28, to round out the top 10.
Adam Peterman (U.S.) at 21k into the 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail. He would finish inside the top 10. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail Men’s Results
- 1. Jim Walmsley (United States) – 8:35:11 (pre-race interview)
- 2. Benjamin Roubiol (France) – 8:46:05
- 2. Louison Coiffet (France) – 8:46:05
- 4. Cristian Minoggio (Italy) – 8:57:16
- 5. Peter Fraňo (Slovakia) – 9:01:37
- 6. Petter Engdahl (Sweden) – 9:03:38
- 7. Andrzej Witek (Poland) – 9:12:38
- 8. Adam Peterman (United States) – 9:18:36
- 9. Francesco Puppi (Italy) – 9:20:22 (pre-race interview)
- 10. Vincent Bouillard (France) – 9:22:10
Men’s Teams
- France
- United States
- Italy
The 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail men’s podium (left to right): 2. Benjamin Roubiol, 1. Jim Walmsley, 2. Louison Coiffet. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Coverage Thanks
Thanks so much to Uxue Fraile for helping iRunFar to cover this race.
