The Shoes a Full-Time Hoka Employee Used to Win the World’s Hardest Trail Race

In 2023, Vincent Bouillard crewed for Jim Walmsley at UTMB, the most prestigious trail race in the world — not to mention the hardest (if not for the terrain then the elite competition.)

A year later, Bouillard won the damn thing himself, clocking 19 hours, 54 minutes and 23 seconds over a famously demanding course that runs more than 100 miles through Italy, Switzerland and France.

But what’s most notable about his victory isn’t the time — even if it was the third fastest in history, behind only Walmsley (19:37:43) and four-time winner Kilian Jornet (19:49:30).

Hoka

You see, Bouillard wasn’t a favorite coming into last weekend’s race or anywhere near the top 10. He’s not even a sponsored athlete (although he boasts some impressive wins in the last couple years, including the 100-mile Kodiak Ultra Marathons by UTMB).

Nope. The 31-year-old Frenchman is a full-time employee at Hoka, where he has worked since 2016 — first as an intern and now as a senior manager of product engineering for the company’s innovation division.

That means that Bouillard, who now lives in Annecy, France, where Hoka was founded, most likely played a role in developing the very shoes he wore in the race: a black-and-white pair of Tecton X 2.5s.

A prototype for the podium

As chance would have it, Hoka originally designed the shoes for Walmsley, one of its premiere athletes, who dropped out of this year’s UTMB a few kilometers short of the halfway point.

Like most super shoes today, the Tecton X 2.5 features a carbon plate, as well as a wide, thick platform of ultra-efficient PEBA foam.

It also has an ankle gaiter to keep out trail debris, and it swaps out traditional laces for a quick-toggle system similar to some of Hoka’s other models like the Transport.

Unfortunately, Hoka only made 100 pairs of the Tecton X 2.5s, which sold out in the leadup to another famous 100 milers, Western States.

But not all is lost. The model served as the foundation for the newly released Tecton X 3, which shares the same general formula but features of more accommodating fit.

Don’t worry, they’re still wicked fast. The French ultramarathoner Ludovic Pommeret wore a pair at UTMB, where he finished fifth overall with a time of 20 hours, 57 minutes and 48 seconds.

Hoka

Hoka Tecton X 3

• $275 at Hoka

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