SaintExpress (SaintéLyon), by the numbers
The SaintéLyon’s shorter half, starting at 11 PM in Sainte-Catherine and crossing the Monts du Lyonnais by headlamp into Lyon. Built from 3,854 finishes in 2025, checkpoint by checkpoint.
Chaponost km 31.6
On the stretch into this checkpoint the median finisher ran 4% slower than their average pace for the race.
- Median finisher
- 3:59
- You, 5:50 finish
- 3:57
The shading shows how the field's pace on each stretch compares with their own average for the race: rose is slower, blue is faster, and stretches close to average stay grey.
The slowest stretch is the one into Chaponost (km 32), where the median finisher ran 4% slower than their average pace for the race, 3h 59m into the race. The next hardest is the stretch into Pré-Finish (km 45). The course gives time back on the way into Lyon, where the field ran 20% faster than their average pace for the race.
Where the field slows down
The slowest stretch is the one into Chaponost (km 32), where the median finisher ran 4% slower than their average pace for the race, 3h 59m into the race. The next hardest is the stretch into Pré-Finish (km 45). The course gives time back on the way into Lyon, where the field ran 20% faster than their average pace for the race.
- Median finish
- 5:51
- hours, all finishers
- Finish rate
- 93%
- 3,854 of 4,144 starters
- Fastest 10%
- 4:37
- finish under this
- Women in the field
- 29.2%
- share of finishers
Where the finish times land
3,854 finish times, one bar per hour. The median finisher crosses the line in 5h 51m; the fastest 10% are done under 4h 37m.
Most runners finished between 5 and 6 hours: 1,398 of them.
About 49% of finishers were faster than that.
| Checkpoint | Km | You arrive |
|---|---|---|
| Le Camp - Saint-Genou | 11.3 | 1:24 |
| Soucieu-en-Jarrest | 25.0 | 3:03 |
| Chaponost | 31.6 | 3:57 |
| Pré-Finish | 45.1 | 5:46 |
| Lyon | 45.7 | 5:50 |
Your time is spread the way the median finisher spread theirs over this course, so the climbs and the night take their real share. Aid-station stops are included, as they are in the recorded splits.
On race day you get a tracker for your phone, a sheet for your crew and a strip to print for your wrist, all set to this time.
When the median finisher reaches each checkpoint
The median finisher's real arrival at all 5 timed checkpoints, and how the field's pace moves segment by segment.
Show all 5 checkpoints as a tableHide the table
| Checkpoint | Km | Median arrival | Field pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le Camp - Saint-GenouFly it11.3 km | 11.3 | 1:24 | 6% faster |
| Soucieu-en-JarrestFly it25.0 km | 25.0 | 3:03 | 7% faster |
| ChaponostFly it31.6 km | 31.6 | 3:59 | 4% slower |
| Pré-FinishFly it45.1 km | 45.1 | 5:47 | 4% slower |
| LyonFly it45.7 km | 45.7 | 5:51 | 20% faster |
Field pace compares the median finisher's pace on the stretch into each checkpoint with their own average for the whole race. Runners who missed a cutoff or dropped are not in the data (finishers only).
The course
The key climbs, a pacing plan matched to the terrain, and the whole route in 3D.
SaintExpress (SaintéLyon) questions
What is a typical SaintExpress (SaintéLyon) finish time?
The median finish across 3,854 finishers (2025) is 5h 51m. The fastest 10% finish under 4h 37m; the slowest 10% finish after 7h 20m.
What percentage of runners finish SaintExpress (SaintéLyon)?
93% across the 2025 edition (3,854 finishers from 4,144 starters).
Train for SaintExpress (SaintéLyon)
Make a training plan built around this course and your race day, or see what a model trained on real ultras predicts for you.
When does SaintExpress (SaintéLyon) registration open?
Leave your email and you'll get one message when entries open for the next edition, with the link. Nothing else.
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Writing about SaintExpress (SaintéLyon)? This card shows the course profile and the field's numbers, and links back here.
<iframe src="https://runpact.com/embed/races/saintexpress-45k" title="SaintExpress (SaintéLyon) on RunPact" width="100%" height="200" style="border:0;border-radius:12px" loading="lazy"></iframe>Methodology and sources
Split data: official per-runner checkpoint times for the 2025 SaintExpress (SaintéLyon), 3,854 finishers at 5 timed checkpoints. All split-derived figures describe finishers only. Runners who dropped or missed a cutoff do not appear in split data, so buffer statistics understate how tight cutoffs are for the full field. Medians are used throughout. Apart from the finish-time explorer, which scales the median finisher's splits to the time you pick, no figure on this page is modeled or extrapolated.