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François D'Haene breaks the GR20 record — 29h46, the first-ever sub-30 crossing
It took two attempts in one week, but François D'Haene has done what no one had managed before: he crossed Corsica's GR20 in under 30 hours. On 9 July 2026 he completed the roughly 180 km route — with its ~12,800 m of ascent — in 29 hours and 46 minutes, becoming the first person ever to break the mythical 30-hour barrier and dethroning Corsican runner Lambert Santelli, whose 30h25 had stood since 2021.
A record won on the second try
It didn't come easily. Three days earlier, on 6 July, D'Haene had run 31h06 — almost exactly matching his own 2016 time, but well short of the goal. Rather than settle, he reset, waited out the heat, and went again. This time everything lined up: he set off from Calenzana at 04h30, ran the technical north in the cool of the morning, and reached Conca the next day to shave 39 minutes off Santelli's mark.
Why the GR20 resists even the best
The GR20 is routinely called Europe's toughest long-distance trail, and D'Haene's two runs are a reminder why. This isn't a runnable path: long stretches are technical rock, chains and cables, boulder chaos and exposed ridgeline where even elite mountain runners slow to a scramble. Add Corsica's fast-changing weather — his start was pushed back for conditions, twice — and a sub-30 crossing needs near-perfect form, weather and logistics all at once. The GR20 rewards preparation and punishes improvisation, at every pace.
What it means if you're planning your own GR20
Here's the useful part for the rest of us. If the fastest specialist on the planet needs just under 30 hours non-stop to cross the GR20, it puts an ordinary crossing in perspective: most hikers take 8 to 16 walking days, and how you split those days matters. Book the wrong refuges or overreach on daily distance and the trail will punish you.
That's exactly the gap our free planner fills: pick a fitness profile, and it splits the GR20 into realistic daily stages around the real refuges — with live availability, offline maps, GPX export and a morning weather briefing. You won't be chasing D'Haene's record, but you'll walk a trail that fits you.
Plan your own GR20
Set your pace, see live refuge availability, offline maps and a daily weather briefing — free.
Open the GR20 planner