Coming off a surprise win at the 2024 UTMB, Vincent Bouillard of France is not an unknown at the 2025 Western States 100. In the following interview, Vincent talks about how his life has changed since winning UTMB last summer, how he approaches his training and life by focusing on doing fewer things but doing them well, and what type of shoes he thinks will excel on a course like this one.
To learn more about who’s racing, check out our men’s and women’s previews before following our live race coverage on race day.
[Editor’s Note: If you are unable to see the video above, click here to access it.]
Vincent Bouillard Pre-2025 Western States Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Vincent Bouillard before the 2025 Western States 100. How are you, Vincent?
Vincent Bouillard: Yeah. I’m great. Thanks.
iRunFar: Welcome to Olympic Valley.
Bouillard: Thank you. Thank you.
iRunFar: It’s been ten months since you won UTMB. That’s probably enough time to have some perspective on that. What are your thoughts almost a year later?
Bouillard: Well, honestly, more than anything, I’m happy and grateful. Like, I think for sure, I worked hard to get to where I’m at, but I’m also very lucky and grateful to be here to be able to enjoy having fun doing this sport, and participating in events like this weekend is pretty special. So just reflecting on it because of yeah, happiness and excitement for continuing on this journey of having fun with it.
iRunFar: Yeah. You’ve already run races since then. You ran Chianti [Ultra-Trail], and now you’re here. Do you feel like since you’ve won UTMB there’s a lot more pressure? Are you still able to be out here and enjoying it as you did in the past?
Bouillard: I think both are true. For sure, there’s definitely pressure in the sense that, like, well, before last year, not a lot of people knew about me or cared about what I was doing or saying in the sport. So, yeah, that that’s different. But at the same time, it doesn’t prohibit me from still enjoying the activity of trail running and approaching the competition in a similar way. Like, at the end of the day, it’s still for me a way to try and prepare myself in the best way and execute a race strategy. So, some things have changed for sure, but the approach truly of like, what I’m trying to get to, is not different.
iRunFar: Yeah. I mean, because you have changed from being a full-time person working at product at Hoka to now working half time. And I’ve seen lots of people make a transition from full-time to part-time or full-time to pro athlete, and things change.
Bouillard: Yes.
iRunFar: Training becomes work rather than training being fun and enjoyment.
Bouillard: Yeah. No, it’s true. There’s definitely a big transition of trying to set the right balance, which was the purpose for me in transitioning to part-time was there has been a lot of tension after my UTMB last year of like, one with a full-time job. Like, yes. But I guess my purpose is not to show that we have to do a 100%, 150% in every area of life. Like, I’m much happier doing things more reasonably, doing fewer, but doing better. And that’s kind of been the mantra of this first half of the year is to maybe be a little bit more reasonable on what we do, but, yeah, executing that. Trying to do it better. Yeah.
iRunFar: So, does that mean like, in your training volume, you’ve not gone to 150% of what was successful for you at UTMB?
Bouillard: Yeah. Totally. That’s actually, my training volume hasn’t changed that much. Like, what’s changed the most is I’ve added some time in the gym lifting weight, which I used to do, but not with the same amount of precision. And I have a strength training coach that’s helped me since the beginning of the year. And then the other thing that’s changed, I think, is that while I have similar or the same amount of hours, I put more quality into when they happen.
iRunFar: Mm hmm.
Bouillard: Like, before it used to be like, well, I start work at whatever hours. I need to wake up and run between like, 5:00 and 7:00 a.m. or something. Now I have the comfort of I’m going to prioritize my sleep, and going running when it’s best for my metabolism and trying to optimize some of the invisible training side.
iRunFar: So, it’s optimizing the training and recovery rather than doing more.
Bouillard: Exactly. Yeah. Trying to recover better, trying to not rush through some training weeks, and maybe putting a little bit more quality before I try and change the quantity aspect.
iRunFar: And you’ve been a runner for a long time, but your running has taken a step up. Undoubtedly, winning UTMB, you’re stronger than you’ve ever been. Yes?
Bouillard: Yeah. I think, yeah, for sure. I can’t deny that. Like, that was a breakthrough. Unexpected in the sense that I was not going in for the win or nothing.
iRunFar: Mm hmm.
Bouillard: I still look at my, I think, journey in the sport as a progression. Like, UTMB is not the longest effort I’ve done. I’ve done some longer things on the bike, solo, like not on the race setup. And I think that’s what’s part of the excitement is to keep going on that journey of discovering and pushing limits. And competition is a great way to do that because with stronger and stronger competition on the trail running races, we push each other and get better at training and find the new tweaks. And yeah, I think that’s exciting for everybody.
iRunFar: And you also push yourself on race day.
Bouillard: Yeah.
iRunFar: Just looking back at Chianti Ultra Trail, you and Kilian [Jornet] racing, it seemed like an epic adventure for both of you.
Bouillard: Yeah.
iRunFar: Did it feel that way out on the trail?
Bouillard: Yeah. I think it was great. Jim [Walmsley] dropped us pretty early on because we’re too slow for him. I mean, he had an amazing day out there. And I think for different reasons, Kilian and I had some more difficulties, and it so happened that we were, I guess, close to each other during the race. And I really think we helped each other, at least mentally, to keep going even if we weren’t having the best day.
And yeah, I think it definitely is an illustration of it’s a competition. It’s a battle. But especially on ultra distances, like, we go fast, but it’s a relative fast. As you know, we’re able to chitchat. We’re not like at VO2 max level effort. And so, yeah, that’s definitely I think a very cool part of this type of competition.
iRunFar: So, coming here to Western States, it’s very different than a UTMB or some of the races in Europe. You can have crews at those races.
Bouillard: Mm hmm.
iRunFar: But here it feels like crew and pacers are an even bigger component.
Bouillard: Yeah.
iRunFar: What does that look like for you here at Western States for the first time?
Bouillard: I think it’s really exciting because I’ve always liked to prioritize races not too far from where I live.
iRunFar: Mm hmm.
Bouillard: So this is, I guess, not a good example in the sense of like, coming all the way from Europe where I live since a year ago now. But I’ve lived on the West Coast for five years. We were in Southern California and then up in Oregon. And what’s really cool about this weekend is that my wife and I did travel from Europe, but outside of that, all of our crew are from the West Coast. So, it’s all of our like, friends and community that is going to share that, that we can have racing with us. And I think that’s really special because, I mean, there’s beauty of, you know, chasing solo efforts and FKTs and things, but the community aspect of this sport is really beautiful. And we could do Western States without crewing. It would just look very different.
iRunFar: Mm hmm.
Bouillard: And probably a little bit slower. And so, it’s really fun to, you know, plan out your strategy. Like, it’s an ultra for the crew. Like, it’s a super hard taxing day for the entire crew. And well, I think I’ve done it once myself on the crew side in 2021 here at Western, and I very much remember, like, it’s a super exciting day as well. So, I’m excited for that.
iRunFar: Who’s pacing you? Who’s trying to keep up?
Bouillard: Yeah. I have two friends. Both live in Portland, in Oregon. Forrest Strong is one of them. He actually paced me for my first 100k at Gorge Waterfall in Oregon. And the other one, Brandon Johnson, is a good friend of mine and colleague at Hoka. I guess he’s more on the road marathon side, but he’s tipped into trail before. It’s not his first exercise of pacing ultrarunners actually. So, I’m excited to have both help me out on course.
iRunFar: Nice. Well, you are involved in innovation in Hoka here in the footwear side. I don’t want to, like, not trying to get which actual shoe you’re wearing, but you’ve seen the course before. You know what it’s like. What kind of qualities would you want in a shoe to run Western States?
Bouillard: Yeah. So, I’ve seen all the course but the first 50k, I haven’t gotten a chance. I actually like that. I get a little bit of surprise the first few hours. But it is different than UTMB, or I guess one of the first differences is that it’s mostly very dry, but you cross a lot of streams or like, you get your feet wet a lot. So, yeah, it actually is pretty demanding in terms of the key functionalities that you want out of the shoe. So, yeah. It’s fun for the first time to not just work on what athletes are going to wear, but wear one myself.
iRunFar: So, what are some of those qualities that make it unique? Again, I don’t want to know what model you’re wearing or something, but.
Bouillard: I think one of the first things, and I’ve heard other media talk about that is you’re going to get your feet wet very early on. And so ,knowing that, you want your shoe to react in a way that, like, is not going to completely change the behavior of the shoe and optimizing the breathability and for the water to get out.
iRunFar: Yeah.
Bouillard: And so that’s one key component. Having run on a lot of the course, there is also lots of dust and debris. And so, I don’t know if a gaiter is mandatory, but having, at least being aware that you can have debris get inside is also a big factor. Yeah. And then it’s, a lot of people say it’s California carpet, which I agree. It’s not the most technical trail. It’s still a trail. Like, I wouldn’t want to run this with a full on like, road marathon shoe. Like, especially with the pace at which we’re going to go. Like, we get really tired. And so, the trail gets, I guess, relatively more challenging than it would be on just a single section.
iRunFar: So not a true road super shoe with a full carbon plate. You have to have something that’s a little more adaptable.
Bouillard: Yeah. Yeah.
iRunFar: Alright. Well, thank you very much and best of luck out there, Vincent.
Bouillard: Thank you so much. Pleasure.
