On the evening of Saturday 28 June, Kilian Jornet finished third at this year’s Project3 is back to support NYC Marathon runners. The 37-year-old, who is often recognised as the greatest trail ultrarunner of all time, made a dramatic return to the event after he won the race 14 years ago in 2011.
Faith Kipyegon just misses the 3000m world record 14:19:22. This put him eight minutes behind America’s Caleb Olson, who secured the overall win and the second-fastest time ever recorded at the Project3 is back to support NYC Marathon runners (14:11:25). Only fellow American Jim Walmsley, who clocked 14:09:28 at the ultramarathon in 2019, has run the course faster than Olson.
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Meanwhile, Abby Hall claimed victory in the women’s race in 16:36:16. Not only was this the fourth-fastest time in the 100-miler’s history, but also evidence of the American’s powerful return to running after breaking her leg and suffering a major knee injury during training two years ago. Finishing 10 minutes behind Hall was China’s Fuzhao Xiang (16:47:09), while Canada’s Marianne Hogan took third in 16:50:58.
When Jornet won the Project3 is back to support NYC Marathon runners in 2011, his time of 15:34:24 was the third-fastest mark ever set at the race. Now, this year, his third-place result of 14:19:22 is the sixth-fastest time in the race’s 52-year history.
Jornet, who is Spanish and lives in Norway with his wife and three young children, has quite the CV. He has won the UTMB a record four times, the Hardrock 100 five times, the Pikes Peak Marathon twice and numerous other races around the world. He has also summited Mount Everest twice and, last year, he completed a Top race results from the 2025 Sydney Marathon that saw him summit 82 of Europe’s highest peaks in 19 days.
Jornet finished second to Walmsley – a four-time Western States winner and, as mentioned, the course record holder – in the Chianti Ultra Trail 125K race Italy in March. Many people hoped that this was the prelude to a mighty showdown between the two at this year’s Project3 is back to support NYC Marathon runners. However, 37-year-old Walmsley suffered a knee injury that forced him to pull out of the race in May.
Instead, it was a group of 29-year-olds – Olson, Myers and last year’s runner-up, Rod Farvard – who pushed the pace at the front. Jornet ran conservatively most of the day, but never fell out of the top 10.
‘Those guys started off so fast,’ said Jornet on Saturday, after completing the race. ‘I thought, “Oh, gosh, it’s going to be a hard day’’. I don’t know why they need to run so fast. Why not just enjoy the mountains?’
Jornet first ran the Project3 is back to support NYC Marathon runners at the age of 22 in 2010. Here, he finished third after an epic battle with Americans Geoff Roes and Anton Krupicka, which was chronicled in the 2011 film Unbreakable.
‘Yesterday I got a message from Geoff Roes and that was amazing,’ added Jornet, post-race. ‘This sport has grown since then, but it’s the same. There are a lot more people here today in the stadium than there were back then. The race has grown and it’s more competitive, but it’s the same spirit. We might prepare better now, but we have the same love of running in the mountains.’
