It’s the twenty fifth yr for the Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon in Spain’s Aizkorri-Aratz Pure Park in Basque Nation, and it’s going to be an absolute blockbuster.
Casually often called Zegama or because the Zegama Marathon — Zegama is Zegama, as they are saying — the race is once more a part of the Golden Path World Sequence, and this yr’s is perhaps the perfect but. The mountain runners of Basque Nation play unbelievable hosts, because the area fills for the weekend with legions of followers supporting the fortunate people collaborating on this yr’s version.
The race takes place on Sunday, Might 17 at 9 a.m. native time, which is 1 a.m. U.S. Mountain Daylight Time.
The beginning and end line is within the village of Zegama in northeastern Spain, and the course climbs 4 of the best peaks within the space — Aratz, Aizkorri, Aitxuri, and Andraitz — after which descends again to Zegama. It’s on a looped course with 2,736 meters of climbing over a generally technical 42 kilometers. That’s roughly 8,976 toes of elevation achieve over 26.2 miles.
The primary 16k is sort of all up because the race climbs as much as Aratz, a part of the Aizkorri massif. It then drops again down, after which goes again up the Sancti Spiritu climb at 20k. That is the “wall of noise” that’s popularly photographed throughout the race, with spectators lining the steep 600-meter climb. The cycle repeats with one other downhill, a shorter climb, and an final 12k descent again to Zegama.
This yr’s race is the primary of the 2026 Golden Path World Sequence (GTWS), and it’s the primary race of the yr for lots of the high runners. Prize cash runs 10 deep with 3,000 Euro for the winners.
After a nine-year hiatus from this occasion, iRunFar is again in Zegama and protecting the race. Keep tuned!
Learn on for a full race preview.
2026 Zegama Marathon Girls’s Preview
A yr in the past, Spain’s Sara Alonso gained the ladies’s race in 4:27. She is again for a title protection, and Sweden’s Tove Alexandersson, a relative newcomer to path working, will doubtless be her strongest challenger. However with a mixture of Zegama veterans and people new to the race, something can occur.
Girls’s Podium Contenders
Spain’s Sara Alonso is the defending ladies’s champion. She gained final yr’s race in 4:27, and he or she’s already in good kind for 2026. Alonso gained two Skyrunner World Sequence races to start out 2026. She was second on the Path World Championships Brief Path race in 2025 — to Sweden’s Alexandersson — and fourth at OCC, all as a part of one other world-class yr. Additional again, Alonso was third at Zegama in 2022 in 4:26. Alonso is native to the world and can profit from sturdy crowd help.
Sara Alonso successful the 2025 Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon. Photograph: Zegama-Aizkorri
Sweden’s Tove Alexandersson doesn’t race on trails usually, however when she does, she’s actually, actually good. Alexandersson raced for the primary time in 2026 — and for the primary time in new-sponsor Salomon gear — when she gained the Grand Raid Ventoux 50k in France in late April. One might say the race wasn’t that aggressive as a result of she gained by 27 minutes, however she gained final yr’s Path World Championships Brief Path race by virtually 34 minutes. Alonso was second. That was an extremely dominant efficiency on an enormous stage. Additional again, Alexandersson was second on the 2023 World Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race and has gained world championships in six completely different sports activities. If Alexandersson runs nicely at Zegama, she might threaten Nienke Brinkman’s 4:16:43 course report from 2022.
Tove Alexandersson, the 2025 Path World Championships Brief Path ladies’s winner. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Alexandersson and Alonso starred on the Path World Championships Brief Path race final yr, and Italy’s Fabiola Conti starred on the Path World Championships Lengthy Path, the place she was third. Her solely Zegama begin seems to have been in 2022 when she completed fifth. Conti began 2026 with a third-place run on the Skyrace des Matheysins in early Might.
Fabiola Conti completed third on the 2025 Path World Championships Lengthy Path. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Swiss runner Judith Wyder chased Alonso round Zegama final yr and completed second in 4:29. It was her first Zegama outing, and he or she blasted the ultimate downhill. In contrast to many others, Wyder has already raced this yr and was second on the Chianti 75k. She completed over 9 minutes again from the win whereas racing with abdomen points. Can Wyder keep nearer early to offer her downhill prowess an opportunity late?
Judith Wyder ending second on the 2025 OCC. Photograph: UTMB
Native Basque runner Malen Osa has raced Zegama twice and completed no worse than third. She was second in her debut on the race in 2024 and third final yr behind Alonso and Judith Wyder. Osa gained the Skyrace des Matheysins in France in early Might 2026, ending nicely forward of fellow Zegama contender Conti. Is Osa a lock for an additional podium run, or higher? Like Alonso, Osa will obtain monumental fan help.
Malen Osa, who hails from Basque Nation, was a fan favourite on the 2024 Zegama Marathon. Photograph: Zegama Marathon/Igor Quijano
Spanish ladies usually dominate this race, and Rosa Lara is a part of that group. Seven of final yr’s high 10 have been from Spain, and Lara was fourth. She was additionally eighth in 2024. She was fifth on the 2025 Path World Championships Lengthy Path, 11 minutes behind Conti.
Lauren Gregory of the U.S. had a breakout 2025 on the GTWS. She was fourth on the Damaged Arrow Skyrace 23k, Fifteenth at Sierre-Zinal, and fifth on the World Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race. That Fifteenth-place end at Sierre-Zinal appears to be like like an aberration, and Gregory will certainly goal one thing higher at Zegama. In 2026, Gregory gained the Gorge Waterfalls 30k in early April and was second on the Canyons 50k on the finish of April. Canyons was Gregory’s longest race thus far, and her potential to get well might influence her Zegama efficiency.
Lauren Gregory wins the 2025 Tepec Path. Photograph: Golden Trails Sequence/Rising Story/Colin Olivero
Different Quick Girls
Mădălina Amariei has a bunch of podium finishes in her dwelling nation of Romania, and he or she gained the 2025 Tatra Skymarathon and the 2024 Giir di Mont race.
Mădălina Amariei, the 2025 Tatra Skymarathon ladies’s winner. Photograph: Skyrunner World Sequence
Canada’s Jade Belzberg has been up the ranks the final couple of years. She was second on the Chuckanut 50k in March 2026, gained final yr’s JFK 50 Mile, and was seventh ultimately yr’s Damaged Arrow Skyrace 23k, a GTWS contest.
Jade Belzberg, the 2025 JFK 50 Mile ladies’s winner. Photograph: Greg Holder/H3 Pictures
Czech runner Barbora Bukovjan would possibly’ve solely began racing trails in 2025. Nonetheless, she was Tenth on the 2025 Path World Championships Brief Path.
Júlia Font dropped ultimately yr’s Zegama. The Spanish runner, although, was thirteenth at Sierre-Zinal and has the potential for a top-10 run. Font might be racing Zegama on one week’s restoration. She was second on the Transvulcania Marathon one week earlier than Zegama.
Júlia Font, the 2024 Gorbeia Suzien Skyrace ladies’s winner. Photograph: Skyrunner World Sequence
María Fuentes from Spain had an enormous yr in 2025. After very restricted leads to the years prior, she raced at the least eight occasions final yr. High performances included a 14th-place end on the 2025 Path World Championships Brief Path and a fourth-place run on the Pitz Alpine Glacier Path 24k GTWS race. She was additionally second on the 2025 ETC.
In 2025, French runner Lucille Germain gained the Skyrace des Matheysins, the Monte Zerbion Skyrace, and the Hochkönig Skyrace throughout France, Italy, and Austria. She was sixteenth at Zegama in 2022.
Lucille Germain, the 2025 Hochkönig Skyrace ladies’s winner. Photograph: Skyrunner World Sequence
Spain’s Núria Gil dropped out of Zegama in 2023, her final try on the race. Earlier than that, in 2022, she was sixth. Most not too long ago, she was second on the January 2026 Arc of Attrition 41k, ending virtually seven minutes again of the winner, Naomi Lang.
Núria Gil on her solution to successful the 2023 Patagonia Run 42k. Photograph: Patagonia Run/Carlos Mir
Naiara Irigoyen is one other top-level Spanish lady this yr. She was thirteenth and Tenth at Zegama in 2024 and 2023.
Naiara Irigoyen, the 2025 Sobrescobio Skyrace ladies’s winner. Photograph: Skyrunner World Sequence
Swiss runner Theres Leboeuf was fifth at Zegama in 2025, fourth in 2024, third in 2023, and seventh in 2022. She seems to not have raced since dropping from final yr’s OCC.
Theres Leboeuf on her solution to third place on the 2023 Path World Championships 40k. Photograph: Roast Media/World Mountain and Path Working Championships
At Zegama final yr, Marta Martínez was one of many seven Spanish ladies within the high 10, slotting in that Tenth-place spot. Martínez was third on the occasion in 2024 and eighth in 2023.
Marta Martínez on her solution to third on the 2024 Zegama Marathon. Photograph: Zegama Marathon/Igor Quijano
Élisa Morin of Canada scored a Tenth-place end on the 2025 World Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race. She was ninth at OCC earlier than that and gained each the Uphill and Traditional races at Défi des Couleurs late final yr.
Élisa Morin, the 2025 Quebec Mega Path 50k ladies’s winner. Photograph: Quebec Mega Path/Olivier Ménard
Sweden’s Ida Nilsson has starred at longer distances in recent times, however she gained Zegama in 2018. She was twenty fifth there in 2022. Final yr, Nilsson was fourth on the Western States 100.
Ida Nilsson on her solution to fourth on the 2025 Western States 100. Photograph: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
French runner Élise Poncet doesn’t race usually, however she did win the 2026 Grand Raid Ventoux 26k. She was second on the 2024 Trofeo Kima 52k and 14th at Sierre-Zinal in 2021.
Ida Amelie Robsahm of Norway was inside the highest 10 at Zegama in 2025, too. She completed seventh final yr and was ninth in 2024. Robsahm gained the 2026 Chianti 46k in March.
Ida Amelie Robsahm, the 2026 Chianti 46k champion. Photograph: Chianti Extremely Path/Marzia Benigna
It’s her first try at Zegama, however Kenya’s Valentine Rutto was eleventh ultimately yr’s Sierre-Zinal and gained the 2025 Giir di Mont 31k. She’s seen loads of success in shorter races, together with successful a Mountain Working World Cup Traditional race in China in 2025.
Valentine Rutto, the 2025 Chongli Mountain and Path Working Pageant Up and Down ladies’s winner. Photograph: World Mountain Working Affiliation/Marco Gulberti
Takako Takamura of Japan was sixteenth on the 2024 Sierre-Zinal. Extra not too long ago, she was fifth on the Mt. Fuji 40k on the finish of April 2026 and third on the Ueda Skyrace in early Might 2026.
Takako Takamura, the 2024 Asia Pacific Path Working Championships Brief Path ladies’s winner. Photograph: Asia Pacific Path Working Championships
Spain’s Anna Tarasova was on the Transvulcania Ultramarathon begin listing, however didn’t race. Is that a sign of harm, or only a re-prioritization towards Zegama? Tarasova raced at Zegama in 2024 and 2023, ending Twelfth and twentieth.
Anna Tarasova ending third on the 2025 CCC. Photograph: UTMB
Italy’s Martina Valmassoi has raced all around the world, however this seems to be her first Zegama. Extra well-known for long-course success, Valmassoi was seventh on the 2025 World Path Championships Lengthy Path and third on the 2025 Transvulcania Ultramarathon.
Martina Valmassoi ending third on the 2025 Transvulcania Ultramarathon. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Lide Urrestarazu from Spain didn’t race a lot in 2025, however was sixth on the Calamorro Skyrace that yr. In 2024, she was fifth at Zegama.
Lide Urrestarazu, the 2025 Gorbeia Suzien ladies’s winner. Photograph: Skyrunner World Sequence
2026 Zegama Marathon Males’s Preview
Males’s 2025 winner Elhousine Elazzaoui is anticipated again on the beginning line. The Moroccan stormed the final 12k downhill in 2025 to win by over seven minutes. Course record-holder Kilian Jornet of Spain will go for an unbelievable Twelfth Zegama win, and certainly has a race plan to attempt to higher Elazzaoui’s downhill energy. With a number of different males who’ve positioned within the high 5 on the occasion earlier than, the ultimate consequence will doubtless be unpredictable till the very finish.
Males’s Podium Contenders
Elhousine Elazzaoui is usually unbeatable in races not named Sierre-Zinal. The Moroccan boat raced the final downhill in final yr’s Zegama and gained in 3:43. Whereas not near the course report, that was extremely seven minutes higher than everybody else on the day. He was second in 2024, too. Elazzaoui’s races usually look the identical. He’ll hit the course excessive level in a lead group after which dash the ultimate downhill to win. Elazzaoui raced an informal 33k in Mallorca earlier this yr and completed in a first-place tie with teammates Dakota Jones and Kilian Jornet. Let’s hope Elazzaoui and Jornet aren’t content material to accept a tie right here.
Elhousine Elazzaoui, the 2025 Damaged Arrow Skyrace 23k males’s winner. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Spain’s Kilian Jornet first gained Zegama in 2007, the sixth yr of the race. He gained once more in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2022, and 2024. That’s 11 occasions. His 3:36 run on the 2022 race continues to be the course report. Jornet’s 2025 season was Western States 100-focused, at the least from a racing perspective. He took second on the 2025 Chianti 120k, to get a Western Golden Ticket entry, after which adopted that up with third at Western itself. This yr, he’s introduced a mixture of shorter and longer races, together with this one.
Kilian Jornet on his solution to successful the 2024 Zegama Marathon, his eleventh victory on the race. Photograph: Zegama Marathon/Igor Quijano
Swiss runner Rémi Bonnet would possibly’ve had a tough begin to his 2026 racing yr. He pale from the entrance of the Grand Raid Ventoux 50k in France in late April to seventeenth place. He had an analogous gradual begin to 2025 and was injured for a lot of the yr, solely to return again to smash the sector on the World Mountain Working Championships Uphill race. He adopted that up with a brand new Vertical Kilometer world report. Bonnet was fourth at Zegama in 2023, seventh in 2022, and gained in 2018. If that Grand Raid Ventoux 50k was an anomaly and Bonnet is match and wholesome, he’s one who ought to work to hole Elazzaoui earlier than the ultimate downhill.
Switzerland’s Rémi Bonnet, the 2025 World Mountain Working Championships Uphill males’s champion. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Italy’s Daniel Pattis was third at Zegama in 2025, and he’s raced at the least 4 occasions already in 2026. Pattis was second on the 2026 Chianti 46k, ending 94 seconds behind race winner Francesco Puppi.
Daniel Pattis ending third on the 2025 Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon. Photograph: Zegama-Aizkorri
Manuel Merillas of Spain had a nasty race ultimately yr’s Zegama. He was solely nineteenth after successful the race in 2023. Since final yr’s Zegama, Merillas has been on a tear. He was second on the Path World Championships Brief Path and gained two Skyrunner World Sequence races to start out 2026.
Manuel Merillas, the 2026 Acantilados del Norte males’s winner. Photograph: Skyrunner World Sequence
Luca Del Pero was fourth at Zegama final yr. The Italian runner was additionally sixth on the Path World Championships Brief Path, seventh at OCC, and second on the Lavaredo 50k final yr. By the point of Zegama final yr, Del Pero had already gained 4 races. We haven’t seen him but in 2026.
Luca Del Pero, the 2025 Gorges du Tarn Skyrace males’s winner. Photograph: Skyrunner World Sequence
Davide Magnini of Italy got here again from a long-term harm in 2025 to win the Marathon du Mont-Blanc and end eighth on the Path World Championships Brief Path. He was second at Zegama in 2022.
Davide Magnini, the 2025 Giir di Mont 32k males’s winner. Photograph: World Mountain Working Affiliation/@marcogulberti_photography
Third at OCC in 2024 and second in 2023, Spain’s Antonio Martínez was seventh at Zegama in 2025. He was slightly off kind in late 2025, ending eighth ultimately yr’s OCC, thirteenth on the Path World Championships Brief Path, and dropping at Les Templiers 80k. He’s but to race in 2026.
Antonio Martinez, the 2026 Transgrancanaria Marathon males’s winner. Photograph: Transgrancanaria/David Delfour
Zegama didn’t go nicely for Spain’s Alain Santamaría final yr, the place he dropped. Santamaría raced at the least 14 occasions final yr, although, and was fourth on the Path World Championships Brief Path. Extra not too long ago, Santamaría was third at Acantilados del Norte in March 2026 behind Merillas.
Alain Santamaría on his solution to fourth on the 2025 Path World Championships Brief Path race. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Different Quick Males
Italian Lorenzo Beltrami was fifth at Zegama in 2025. In 2026, he was third on the Andersen Marathon Path and second on the Istria 42k. He was overwhelmed by fellow Zegama entrants in each races. Within the former, Pattis and Gialluca Ghiano have been in entrance, and within the latter, Beltrami was simply over a minute again of Roberto Delorenzi.
Lorenzo Beltrami, the 2024 Penang Skyrace males’s winner. Photograph: Skyrunner World Sequence/Antton Guaresti
Romania’s Bogdan Damian has but to get inside the highest 10 at Zegama in three makes an attempt. He was twenty third, seventeenth, and eleventh in 2025, 2024, and 2023. Can Bogdan cease the backward development in 2026?
Switzerland’s Adrien Briffod was forty ninth on the 2024 Olympic Video games within the triathlon. In 2025, he led Sierre-Zinal by the midway level and finally completed fourth. In 2026, he was second on the Grand Raid Ventoux 26k.
Like Bogdan, Raul Butaci is from Romania too. He gained the April 2026 Penyagolosa CSP. Traditionally, he hasn’t been nearly as good at Zegama, ending thirty fifth and thirty second in 2025 and 2023, respectively. Butaci was 14th on the Transvulcania Ultramarathon just one week earlier than this yr’s Zegama.
Raul Butaci wins the 2024 Transgrancanaria Traditional. Photograph: Transgrancanaria/Miguel Travieso
French runner Sylvain Cachard has had success at Sierre-Zinal, however that is his first Zegama. He was seventh and fourth at Sierre-Zinal in 2024 and 2023, and he positioned ninth on the Path World Championships Brief Path in 2025.
Sylvain Cachard after successful the 2022 SkyRace des Matheysins. Photograph: Skyrunner World Sequence
Louison Coiffet had a fantastic Path World Championships Lengthy Path in 2025 when he completed in a second-place tie alongside French teammate Benjamin Roubiol. He was twentieth at Zegama in 2024.
Louison Coiffet (left), Benjamin Roubiol (center) throughout the 2025 Path World Championships Lengthy Path. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Switzerland’s Roberto Delorenzi hasn’t but acquired Zegama proper but. He dropped in 2025 and was twenty ninth in 2022. He was off at Sierre-Zinal final yr too, ending 53rd after two earlier top-five finishes on the occasion in 2024 and 2023. Extra not too long ago, he gained the 2026 Istria 42k race forward of Beltrami.
Roberto Delorenzi, the 2024 SkyMasters males’s champion. Photograph: Antton Guaresti
Prolific racer Gianluca Ghiano from Italy dropped at Zegama in 2022, his solely try on the race. He was second on the 2026 Andersen Marathon Path race to Pattis and gained the 2026 Istria 69k.
Gianluca Ghiano, the 2025 Monte Zerbion Skyrace males’s winner. Photograph: Skyrunner World Sequence
Spain’s Nicolás Molina was eighth at Zegama in 2025. In 2026 to date, he was sixth on the Calamorro Skyrace, and first on the Penang Skyrace in Malaysia and the Ueda Skyrace in Japan.
Kenya’s Philemon Kiriago and Patrick Kipngeno are GTWS regulars, however don’t seem on the Zegama begin listing. Kenya’s Robert Pkemoi is, nonetheless. He was sixth at Zegama in 2024 and fifth in 2023.
Loïc Robert from France dropped from Zegama final yr. He was ninth there, although in 2024 and this yr, he was fifth at Acantilados Del Norte 29k.
Loïc Robert on his solution to successful the 2024 Madeira Sky Race. Photograph: Antton Guaresti
Skilled highway bike owner Lorenzo Rota Martir of Italy was eleventh at Zegama in 2025 and Tenth on the Path World Championships Brief Path race final yr, too.
Alongside French teammate Coiffet, Benjamin Roubiol was a part of the second-place tie ultimately yr’s Path World Championships Lengthy Path. Zegama is perhaps slightly quick for him, although he was eleventh on the 2024 OCC. He was twenty eighth at Sierre-Zinal in 2025 and fifth at Skyrace des Matheysins in 2026.
Benjamin Roubiol working to a second-place tie throughout the 2025 Path World Championships Lengthy Path. Photograph: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Ezekiel Rutto from Kenya was fourth on the 2025 Marathon du Mont-Blanc and Tenth at Sierre-Zinal in 2024.
This might be an enormous step down in distance for China’s Jia-Sheng Shen. He was sixth on the Tarawera 102k in February of 2026 and eighth at UTMB in 2025. He additionally simply completed sixteenth on the Transvulcania Ultramarathon every week earlier than Zegama.
Jia-Sheng Shen on his solution to fourth on the 2023 Western States 100. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Taylor Stack is the American males’s nice hope. Stack had a breakout 2025 that included a Twelfth-place end on the World Mountain Working Championships Up and Down race, Twelfth at Sierre-Zinal, and sixth on the Damaged Arrow Skyrace 23k. In 2026, he set a brand new course report on the Desert RATS 50k in April.
Taylor Stack ending third on the 2025 U.S. Mountain Working Championships. Photograph: American Path Working Affiliation/Nancy Hobbs
Name for Feedback
- It’s an extended listing of elite entrants. Who did we depart that out that needs to be highlighted?
- Who’re we too excessive on, and too low?
