Bruno Brunod (; born 10 November 1962) is an Italian former cyclist who began his career in his thirties. He is twice world champion of the

Skyrunner World Series The Skyrunner World Series is an annual international championship of skyrunning (high altitude endurance races) and the official International Skyrunning Federation (ISF) race circuit for mountain running. Each year the Skyrunner World Series pr ...

and holds numerous speed records for climbing and descending some of the highest mountains in the world, like the

Matterhorn The , ; ; ; or ; ; . is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the Main chain of the Alps, main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, ...

in 1995, broken only in 2013 by a professional 25 years younger than him, Kílian Jornet Burgada. his speed records for the

Monte Rosa Monte Rosa (; ; ; or ; ) is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over , is the D ...

in 1997 and the

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in both the Western Hemisphere and the ...

in Argentina in 2000 remained unbroken. Brunod produces results like a professional athlete, but has retained the spirit and humility of an amateur, for which he is widely admired especially amongst fellow mountain runners.

Biography

Brunod grew up in the

Aosta Valley The Aosta Valley ( ; ; ; or ), officially the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, is a mountainous Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Fr ...

. When he was 16 years old, a tourist gave him a bicycling magazine and he began dreaming of

bicycle racing Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

wanting to emulate his fellow countrymen

Fausto Coppi Angelo Fausto Coppi (; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the World War II, Second World War. His successes earned him the title ''Il Campionissimo'' ("Champio ...

and

Gino Bartali Gino Bartali, (; 18 July 1914 – 5 May 2000), nicknamed Gino the Pious and (in Italy) Ginettaccio, was a champion road cyclist. He was the most renowned Italian cyclist before the Second World War, having won the Giro d'Italia twice, in ...

. It was not until his military service, that Brunod could afford and start

bicycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of bicycle pedal, pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the ...

. He entered an amateur team in

Brianza Brianza (, ) is a geographical, historical and cultural area of Italy, at the foot of the Alps, in the northwest of Lombardy, between Milan and Lake Como. Geography Brianza extends from the Canzo area, North of Monza (approximately ...

. Thanks to his talents he was able to cycle with

Claudio Chiappucci Claudio Chiappucci (born 28 February 1963 in Uboldo, Varese, Lombardy) is a retired Italian professional cyclist. He was on the podium three times in the Tour de France general classification: second in 1990, third in 1991 and second again in 19 ...

, double runner-up of Giro and Tour de France in the 1990s. Brunod left bike racing soon moving far away from the world of doping. He returned to his career as a mason, specialized in stone facings and roofs, and took up running in the mountains as a diversion. After 3 years of preparation, he set a record of climb and descent of the

from

Breuil-Cervinia Breuil-Cervinia (; ; Valdôtain: ), officially Le Breuil from September 2023, is a of the ''comune'' of Valtournenche, Italy. It is a winter and summer tourist resort. Etymology The name ''Breuil-Cervinia'' is a fusion of two terms. On the one ...

in 1995 and continued to do so over the next 10 years. (see section "records") In 2005, he attempted a record ascent time of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

with a project named ''Everest Vitesse 2005'', but had to stop after about 16 hours, at camp 3 at about 8.200 meters. In 2012 he wrote the introduction to the book ''Perseverare è umano'' by Pietro Trabucchi. After a pause of about 7 years, dedicating himself to his family and job, he returned to running in 2013. In 2016, his autobiography was published with a foreword by

Kilian Jornet Burgada Killian or Kilian, as a given name, is an Anglicized version of the Irish name . The name was borne by several early Irish saints including missionaries to Artois (France) and Franconia (Germany) and the author of the life of St Brigid. The na ...

Personal life

Brunod is married and has five children. Kilian Jornet has noted his humility and said "To me and all the rest of mountain runners, he is God".

Records

* 1995 record of climb and descent of the

from

in 3 hours and 14 minutes "after a meticulous preparation, spanning 3 years and 34 climbs". In August 2013, Kílian Jornet Burgada broke this record improving it by 22 minutes. Brunod awaited Burgada after his descent and said to the ''Aosta Sera'': "I expected that Kilian would beat my record, he is a professional athlete, as opposed to my times, in which this enterprise was a quasi hobby". * 1996

World Champion, world record in the "Vertical Kilometer" in the

Val d'Isere Val may refer to: Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a Soviet assault rifle Music *''Val'', album by Val Doonican * VAL (band), Belarusian pop duo People * Val (g ...

(France)
Correre e vivere, skyrunning e scialpinismo raccontati da Bruno Brunod, Jean Pellissier e Xavier Chevrier – Issime (AO)
', ''La Stampa'', 4 January 2013. and record ascent time for

Mount Elbert Mount Elbert is the highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America. With an elevation of , it is also the highest point in the U.S. state of Colorado and the second-highest summit in the contiguous United States after Mount Whitney, w ...

SkyMarathon in 1 hour and 54 minutes. * 1997 Record for the climb and descent of

(4.459 meters) starting from Gressoney in 4 hours and 45 minutes, unbroken *1998 Skyrunner World Series World Champion * 2000 Record for climb and descent of

, Argentina, in 5 hours and 57 minutes * 2001 Record of ascending

Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...

the long way via

Marangu Marangu is a town located in Moshi District of Kilimanjaro Region. it is divided into Marangu East and Marangu west, each with its own village. It is recognized as one of the main gates for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. it is also famous for bei ...

in 5 hours and 38 minutes. It was broken in 2010 by Kilian Jornet Burgada with 5 hours, 23 minutes and 50 seconds. *2002 winner of the Becca di Nona Skyrace in the Aosta Valley, "Alpine Sky Raid" and second place in the world circuit of Skyrunning. *2003 winner of the Becca di Nona Skyrace, course record on the Aosta Valley Alta Via (''Haute route'', "high trekking route") number 1, 120 kilometres long and over 9,000 meters of vertical descent. *2004 winner of the Becca di Nona Skyrace in the Aosta Valley,Albo d'oro della Becca di Nona skyrace
beccadinonaskyrace.com/ winner of the

Canazei Canazei ( Ladin: ''Cianacéi'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located in the upper part of the Val di Fassa, about northeast of Trento. Its name derives from the Latin wo ...

(Trento, Italy) race of the Vincitore della gara di Canazei "Skyrunning World Series" circuit and winner of the finals of the Buff Skyrunner World Series in Malaysia. * 2013 Tor des Géants 36th place overall * 2016 First 4 K Alpine Endurance Trail of Valle d'Aosta, 2nd place

Bibliography

References

External links