Mélanie Finas

“There’s no perfect time — you make it.”

Melanie Finas

Biography

Born in 1993 and originally from Lambres-lez-Douai (northern France), Mélanie Finas later settled in Toulouse and has built a strong reputation in long-distance trail running. Racing for SATUC, she delivered a top-20 finish in her age group at UTMB 2024 (32:10:06), and in 2025 she claimed a major win at the Transmartinique.

Discipline

Trail / Ultra-trail

Race distances

Trail & Ultra (30–170K)

Nationality

🇫🇷 France

Date of birth

April 1993

Hometown

Lambres-lez-Douai, France

With KIPRUN since

2022

Follow Mélanie

Key highlights

90K du Mont-Blanc: 4th woman & first French (2021)

On her first big test at this distance, Mélanie delivered a standout performance in Chamonix: 4th in the women’s race and first French woman, in 14:00:39.

Transmartinique: women’s winner (2023)

On the 134K ultra, she took the women’s victory in 23:11, mastering a tough, tropical course.

UTMB Mont-Blanc: finisher in 32:10 (2024)

She finished UTMB in 32:10:06, placing 33rd woman (and 19th in her age group), confirming her steady rise on ultra-long formats.

Away from the trails, Mélanie brings a very “engineer-like” mindset. A data scientist based in Toulouse, she likes to understand what makes the difference over time: recovery, sleep, effort management, and nutrition. She often highlights how better recovery helps you handle ultra distances. And despite her level, she stays clear-eyed about the journey, also speaking about the races that don’t go to plan — the ones you finish on grit — and how they build experience just as much as the big days.