Caroline Chaverot

Caroline Chaverot came to trail running late. She had spent nine years as a competitive kayaker in Switzerland, narrowly missing selection for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, before stepping away from sport entirely. She did not start trail running until 2012, six months after the birth of her third child, entering a 42-kilometer race almost as an experiment.

Chaverot grew up near Geneva and has lived most of her adult life in the Mandallaz region of France, about 30 kilometers south of the city. She worked as a high school history and geography teacher throughout her competitive career, training 10 to 15 hours per week in the forests near her home.

Her breakthrough came at the 2013 CCC, the 101-kilometer UTMB race, which she won while still nursing her youngest son. By 2016 she had become the dominant force in women's ultra trail racing: she won 11 of the 12 races she entered that year, including UTMB, the IAU Trail World Championships, Transgrancanaria, and the Skyrunning World Championships.

Her 2017 Hardrock 100 win remains her most discussed performance. She got lost in the dark for roughly 90 minutes, sustained lacerations from a fall, and still finished in 28:31:50. The victory was her 12th major ultra win in four years of competitive trail running.

Chaverot retired from competition after turning 43, having transformed from a retired kayaker and schoolteacher into the most decorated women's trail ultrarunner of her generation.