Frédéric Splendore Sets Men’s Supported Via Alpina FKT

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On Sunday, August 16, Switzerland’s Frédéric Splendore reset the men’s supported fastest known time on the roughly 2,000-kilometer (1,242 miles) Via Alpina route — which runs the full length of the Alps — to 23 days, 11 hours, and 42 minutes.

But he didn’t stop there. The Via Alpina accounted for less than half of Splendore’s planned run from Monaco to Ukraine, which he is undertaking to raise funds for victims of the conflict in Ukraine. He’s calling his run Beyond Borders.

The modern Via Alpina route was established in 2024 and aimed to replace the four previously existing variations. It travels through eight countries, between Trieste, Italy, and Monaco, passing through Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Italy, and France, and has an elevation gain of about 103,600 meters (340,000 feet), according to the Fastest Known Time (FKT) website.

Splendore ran the route from west to east, starting in Monaco. He averaged just over 85 kilometers (53 miles) per day. His time bests the prior men’s supported FKT of Jake Catterall, which was 35 days, 21 hours, and 4 minutes. It is also faster than the previous overall and women’s supported fastest known time, set by New Zealander Sophie Woods less than a month ago, by 5 days, 6 hours, and 17 minutes. While Splendore captures the overall and men’s supported FKTs, Woods, of course, maintains the women’s supported record. 

Woods covered the route in the other direction, beginning in Triest, and the two were aware of each other’s plans.

Splendore told iRunFar: “Some time before I started my project, I checked the FKT website, and I saw that Sophie had written two days before that she was going to do Via Alpina. So, I wrote to her before she started and let her know that a small part of the official route was closed in Valais, Switzerland. We exchanged a little bit on our future Via Alpina runs … I knew she was aiming to do it in 30 days, and I told her I was going to try in 25 days. We both made it faster!”

Highs and Lows

On July 24, Splendore set off from Monaco, and he told iRunFar that the first day of the challenge was one of his highlights: “The landscapes in Mercantour National Park were so beautiful, but hard.”

By the end of the first week, Splendore had reached the border of his home country, Switzerland, and had already covered 583 kilometers (362 miles) with 33,586 meters (110,190 feet) of elevation gain. One of Splendore’s aims is to raise one Euro for every meter of elevation accumulated over the course of his run to Ukraine, which he expects to be about 140,000 meters (459,000 feet).

The second week took him from the Grand Saint Bernard pass — on the border of Italy and Switzerland — to Austria. Here, fatigue had begun to set in, and he reported on social media: “Incredible scenery, but also sore feet, endless climbs, and some of the toughest descents since the start.” Just over the halfway point then, he had covered 1,068 kilometers (663 miles) and climbed 66,648 meters (218,661 feet).

Like Woods, Splendore faced additional challenges posed by Europe’s record-breaking heatwaves this summer and thunderstorms that necessitated some carefully planned detours.

He told iRunFar: “The lowest point was three days before the finish, before Črna Prst refuge [in the Julian Alps, Slovenia], when night was falling, pain growing in my left leg, and I had still 10k to do on the ridge, by night, with butterflies flying in my head, eyes, mouth, nose. I was so tired, but my team was waiting for me at this refuge, so I had to go there. I arrived around midnight so tired, and I knew I had two days more after that.”

He held firm, however, and recalled his joy on “the last day, when I knew I could do it and finish this Via Alpina, even with all the pain I had during all of it, and especially the last two days.”

Continuing to Ukraine

But now, rather than resting up and reflecting on his enormous achievement, Splendore is continuing on the second part of his journey toward Ukraine. Without the pressure of an FKT looming, he is finding the second half of his run to be more relaxed and said, “I’m enjoying it, even with my tired body and legs. Days are easier, even with the heat, there is less elevation gain, and also fewer kilometers, 70 to 80 per day.”

About his “why” for the challenge, Splendore shared, “I wanted to use my passion, my sport, to make something meaningful … I followed the war since the beginning, and I wanted to do something to help the population there [in Ukraine]. So, crossing Europe by foot until Ukraine, with a record on the Via Alpina to make the project known and to make the fundraising work, was the goal.”

An accomplished road runner, Splendore has a marathon personal record of 2:23 and was the 100k Swiss national champion in 2023. Back in 2018, he completed a self-supported thru-hike of the 4,270-kilometer (2,653 miles) Pacific Crest Trail over 116 days.

More information about his Beyond Borders project is available on Splendore’s website, and there is a donation link if you would like to support the cause.

Frédéric Splendore Sets Men’s Supported Via Alpina FKT by Sarah Brady.