Red Bull athlete Fernanda Maciel (Brazil) crossed 172.8 kilometres of Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat, more than 13 hours faster than the previous record

LLICA, Bolivia, Oct. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Red Bull athlete Fernanda Maciel (Brazil) set a new overall fastest known time (FKT) across Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat, on September 28–29, 2026. Fernanda Maciel completed the 172.8-kilometre route from Llica to Uyuni in 19 hours, 50 minutes and 8 seconds. The time is 13 hours, 14 minutes and 2 seconds faster than the previous overall record of 33:04:10, set by Brazilian Valmor Giuseppe Leonardo in 2023. The record was officially confirmed via fastestknowntime.com.

The Llica-to-Uyuni route sits at approximately 3,700 metres above sea level, close to the 3,776-metre summit elevation of Mount Fuji. At that altitude, each breath delivers about 35 percent less oxygen than at sea level. The route has approximately 311 metres of positive elevation gain.

Fernanda Maciel started at 05:00 on September 28, 2026, beneath the arch in Llica on the western side of the salt flat. Maciel navigated by phone along the route Leonardo used in 2023. A hailstorm had turned sections of the Salar de Uyuni into shallow water and mud, with hidden water-filled holes beneath the surface. Around kilometre 145, Maciel crossed a series of pools and stopped to change shoes and socks.

Maciel's stomach began to struggle with food after the first 100 kilometres, and Maciel did not follow a fixed target pace.

"I had to adapt my legs to a pace where my body was comfortable running 170 kilometres at altitude in a desert," Maciel said.

Maciel reached the road after 16 hours and 45 minutes of running. Maciel covered the final road section of approximately 27 kilometres at around 10 kilometres per hour, reaching Uyuni Cathedral at 00:50 on September 29, 2026.

The Salar de Uyuni record adds to the FKT list of Red Bull athlete Fernanda Maciel, a former environmental lawyer based in Chamonix, France. Fernanda Maciel holds women's records on five of the Seven Summits: Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Mount Vinson and Carstensz Pyramid. Maciel has also set speed records on Gran Paradiso and on La Vuelta al Hielo in the Patagonian ice fields. Denali and Mount Everest remain in Maciel's Seven Summits FKT project.

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