On Saturday, August 1, New Zealander Sophie Woods (née Grant) completed her traverse of all the size of the Alps, on the Through Alpina route, setting a brand new total supported quickest identified time of 28 days, 17 hours, and 59 minutes. This beats each the prior males’s document of 35 days, 21 hours, and 4 minutes, set by the U.Okay.’s Jake Catterall in 2024, and the earlier girls’s document of 38 days, 2 hours, and 54 minutes, set by Tessa Caspers (The Netherlands) in 2025.
Sophie Woods on her option to setting a brand new total FKT on the Through Alpina route by means of the Alps. All photographs: Zoe Salt
The route stretches from Trieste, Italy, to Monaco. On the way in which, it passes by means of Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, again into Italy, and thru France earlier than terminating at Place du Palais in Monaco. Woods averaged simply over 70 kilometers (43 miles) and over 4,000 meters (13,123 toes) of climbing every day to cowl a complete of two,018 kilometers (1,254 miles) and 117,614 meters of elevation (385,873 toes).
Woods, an ultrarunner from New Zealand who lives within the U.Okay., excels at long-distance technical trails. She is a three-time Tor des Géants finisher, positioned third within the 2026 Winter Backbone Race, and took 15th within the 2017 UTMB, and twelfth there in 2015. She’s additionally completed high 10 on the Lavaredo Extremely Path on quite a few events, together with sixth in 2023, and has quite a few accolades in skyrunning, additionally.
Motivations and Preparations
She had deeply private causes for eager to tackle the Through Alpina quickest identified time (FKT), and instructed iRunFar:
“After years of attempting to get pregnant, adopted by a failed IVF switch, I reached some extent the place I needed my life to look totally different. I’ve raced at so many unbelievable occasions over the previous decade, however I now not needed to maintain returning to the identical begin traces. I had by no means been significantly concerned with trying an FKT, however when my husband, George [Woods], instructed this route, it sounded far too good to cross up.”
Sophie Woods and her husband, George, after setting the brand new total FKT on the Through Alpina.
On how she ready for the problem, she shared: “I used to be very acutely aware of the stress I used to be going to put on my physique, so I labored arduous within the health club to construct energy. I additionally targeted closely on my vitamin in order that I started the problem with as a lot vitality in reserve as attainable.”
She additionally leaned closely on the experiences of others within the FKT world and stated: “I listened to as many podcasts that includes Tara Dower and Karel Sabbe as I might, and I picked the brains of my La Sportiva teammates John Kelly and Sabrina Verjee. I needed to be taught from their experiences and restrict the variety of errors I made out on the path.”
A Run By the Alps
Woods set off from Trieste at 4 a.m. on Saturday, July 4, and ran by means of temperatures of 33 levels Celcius (91 Fahrenheit) on the primary day, as all of Europe endured an unprecedented heatwave. Already throughout the border and into Slovenia, the second day offered a brand new problem as her help crew automobile, Quentin the van, started having mechanical issues. The third day noticed Woods push by means of 20 hours of steep climbing and technical descents.
By the sixth day, Woods had traded the quieter, technical sections of the route for busier trails, touring from Grunsee to Obstansersee-Hütte, Austria. By the top of the primary week, she had reached the Italian Dolomites and had already lined 480 kilometers (300 miles) and climbed nearly 28,000 meters (92,000 toes).
Woods runs by means of the Vanoise Nationwide Park in France.
The second week posed new challenges, together with knee ache and crew entry points, which necessitated reducing the eighth day brief, however Woods was nonetheless on observe to interrupt each the ladies’s and total information. The eleventh day was marred by horseflies and the onset of thunderstorms, which pressured a change in plans for the next days.
Woods recalled, “Fairly early within the journey, Zoe [Salt, a photographer who accompanied Woods and documented much of the FKT] and I have been caught in a horrendous thunderstorm. It grew to become so scary that I discovered myself occupied with what I’d inform her household if one thing went badly incorrect.”
The second week ended with brutal tarmac sections by means of Austria amid 37-degree-Celsius (98 Fahrenheit) warmth. Woods instructed iRunFar, “The warmth was extraordinarily robust. I used to be very lucky to have a crew who packed me with ice each time I noticed them. I additionally tried to remain as moist as attainable, cooling myself down in each stream and fountain I handed.”
Into the third week, the warmth continued to rage as Woods journeyed by means of Liechtenstein and into Switzerland, however her spirits remained excessive. By this part, Woods discovered herself operating amongst rivals within the Crossing Switzerland extremely, which added ambiance and momentum.
A Staff Effort
On the twentieth day, Woods was stunned by then-overall Through Alpine FKT holder, Catterall, who got here out to point out his help. By the top of the third week, she’d lined 1,434 kilometers (891 miles) and climbed 84,442 meters (277,041 toes).
As phrase had filtered out by means of varied channels about Woods’s run, she was joined every day by a number of native runners and journalists all through the fourth week. Fellow Kiwi and 2025 UTMB champion, Ruth Croft, was among the many associates popping out to point out their help and share some miles.
Sophie Woods (proper) is joined by associates (left to proper) Martin Gaffuri, Ruth Croft, Daniel Jones, Katie Morgan, and Katie Wright throughout her Through Alpina run.
For Woods, the spotlight of the entire expertise was the miles shared with associates. She recalled, “By the third week, I had spent quite a lot of time alone, so having so many shut associates come out to hitch me was extremely motivating. Their firm, help, and love utterly renewed my vitality at a time once I actually wanted it.”
Because the heatwave continued, wildfires ravaged elements of the mountains, that means Woods and her crew needed to continually adapt and plan detours as sections of the path grew to become impassable. This meant including distance and elevation, whereas staying as true to the unique route as attainable. Undeterred, Woods surged on. Towards the top of the third week, her husband, George, coined her new path title, “Freight Practice.”
The week ended with a really technical part from Colle Della Lombarda in Italy to Camp D’Argent in France, amidst thunderstorms, swarms of bugs, and really lengthy sections with out crew entry. With nearly a month of climbing already in her legs, Woods lined over 84 kilometers (52 miles) and almost 6,000 meters (19,700 toes) of climbing on the twenty eighth day, then slept for simply 90 minutes earlier than the ultimate push to the end.
On the ultimate day, Woods lined the final remaining 58 kilometers (36 miles) into Monaco, ending in a complete time of 28 days, 17 hours, and 59 minutes, beating the general document by greater than per week.
Woods on the end of the Through Alpina in Monaco.
Woods felt massively indebted to her crew, led by her husband George; photographer Salt for her work documenting the journey; and an extra staff at dwelling managing media and different logistics.
She stated: “Till you try one thing like this, I don’t assume you’ll be able to totally perceive how essential it’s to have the proper folks in your nook. Every day, all I might do was place myself of their palms and allow them to inform me what to do. I used to be so exhausted that I used to be typically utterly incapable of creating choices for myself.”
She added: “I had a formidable group of ladies in my nook managing all the things from my Instagram posts to the media requests that started arriving after Stephanie Case’s publish went viral. Their work allowed me to focus solely on shifting ahead.”
