WORLD MOUNTAIN & TRAIL RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIPS CANFRANC 2025 (SEPTEMBER, 25-28) FIVE COURSES REVEALED

Posted by Corriendo la Vida on September 24, 2024 in canfrancpirineos2025, trail running spain, wmra, wmra 2023, wmra 2024, wmra 2025, wmtrc, wmtrc 2025, WORLD ATHLETICS | 1 Comment

WORLD MOUNTAIN & TRAIL RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIPS CANFRANC 2025 (SEPTEMBER, 25-28) FIVE COURSES REVEALED.With one year to go until the celebration of the World Mountain and Trail Running Championship (WMTRC), which will celebrate its third edition from September 25 to 28, 2025, we already have the confirmation of the five official routes of the events.

You can read the news in Spanish. MUNDIAL MONTAÑA Y TRAIL RUNNING CANFRANC WMTRC (25-28SEP) RECORRIDOS OFICIALES

WORLD MOUNTAIN & TRAIL RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIPS CANFRANC 2025

FIVE COURSES REVEALED

With exactly one year to go until the opening ceremony, the World Mountain and Trail Running Championship (WMTRC) Canfranc-Pirineos 2025 is gearing up to be a landmark event in the sport’s history. Set to take place from September 25-28, 2025, in the Spanish Pyrenees, this will be the third edition of the championship, following the success of Chiang Mai 2022 and Innsbruck-Stubai 2023.

The championship is a collaboration between World Athletics, the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA), the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) and the International Trail Running Association (ITRA), while the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA) is part of the local organising committee.

As part of the one-year countdown celebration, the local organizing committee has unveiled the five championship race courses. With the exception of the Uphill race, all races will start and finish at the iconic Canfranc International railway station. This historic venue will set the stage for some of the world’s finest mountain and trail runners to compete.

Photo Mayayo

THE UPHILL RACE

The Uphill race, however, will begin 2km away from the Canfranc International railway station. At the Santa Cristina Hotel, and will climb 986 vertical meters in a 6.5km route to Larraca peak through a pine forest. This course was recently featured in the World Masters Mountain Running Championship, held just two weeks ago.

the mountain classic

The mountain Classic race will challenge the fastest mountain runners of the world. The athletes will toe the line in front of the Canfranc International railway station and will cover 15km with 820 vertical meters split in two different loops of 8 and 7km through the Epifanio ravine before reaching the finish line back at the railway station. The Junior U20 course will go only through the first loop of the Classic race, with a length of 7,5km and 400m of altitude gain.

THE SHORT TRAIL

The Short Trail event will follow the renowned CanfrancCanfranc marathon course (44.5km, 3700m altitude gain), which has seen victories from legendary athletes like Luis Alberto Hernando, Manu Merillas, and Charlotte Morgan. The climbs to La Moleta and Larraca peaks, the Loma Verde area and the downhill to the finish line in the station from Collado Estiviellas –with its famous 122 bends– will be among the highlights of the race.

the long trail

Meanwhile, the Long Trail race will span 82km and feature a 5700m altitude gain, crossing the border into the French Pyrenees to reach the spectacular Lacs d’Ayous and passing famous ski stations such as Formigal and Candanchú.

Photo Jose Ángel Muñoz

WORLD MOUNTAIN & TRAIL RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIPS CANFRANC 2025

The third edition of the unified world championship brings together all events under World Athletics patronage, together with partners IAU, ITRA and WMRA. This celebration of outdoor sports  will take place for the first time at the Pyrenees from September 25 to 28, 2025, thus succeeding those already held in Thang Mai 2022 (Thailand), and Innsbruck-Stubai (2023).

Canfranc-Pirineos has established itself as a prime location for world-class sporting events, thanks to its experience hosting the prestigious CanfrancCanfranc races (an annual event that has featured three Gold level Valsir Mountain Running World Cup races for three years) and the World Masters Championships earlier in 2024. The region is set to host the Spanish Mountain Running Championship in June 2025, providing a final rehearsal before welcoming approximately 1700 athletes from 70 countries to the WMTRC.

The event will also have the maximum sporting guarantee by applying, as is already customary at CanfrancCanfranc, the WADA anti-doping protocol, the same one that governs the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and where Canfranc was a pioneer among mountain races throughout Spain.

Foto Ruben Fueyo

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WORLD MOUNTAIN & TRAIL RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIPS CANFRANCPIRINEOS 2025

WORKING  FROM THE MOUNTAINS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.

These sports projects for Canfranc blend into a long tradition of sustainable development in these mountains. This tiny mountain village of just 400 inhabitants within the Alto Aragón is on the verge of celebrating the first century of the Canfranc International Station and the pioneering environmental work by engineer Benito Ayerbe to protect it, with millions of trees plante on formery barren mountain slopes. A historical green  heritage that has now been revived to its greatest splendor with the reopening of the Station in its original style as a 5* luxury hotel operated by Barcelo Royal Hideaway.

 In this XXI century, Canfranc  is preparing to go further, creating the first special natural protection area in all Aragon, in order to recognize and protect the legacy of those environmental pioneers from the Belle Epoque. Ever since them. this town chose to live by blending in with  its mountains: Taking care of them and enhancing the best of them for world travellers and sportsmen alike.

 Today, that tradition remains more alive than ever with the Canfranc Canfranc mountain races, together with a network of more than 500 kilometers of trails marked and mapped  for the safe use of any visitor. And new outdoor projects are in the pipeline, such as a new via ferrata that will allow visitors  to discover new dimensions of the Pyrenees.

Photo Jose Ángel Muñoz

RUNNING IN A UNIQUE AND PRIVILEGED ENVIRONMENT

The organization of Canfranc Pirineos 2025 is fully aware that technical excellence is an essential requirement to organize an international competition such as the Mountain and Trail Running World Championship.

The routes have been carefully planned, taking international requirements into account, while offering the experience of running in a unique and privileged environment. Sustainable development recommendations will also be rigorously applied. The proposals for the different modalities are:

Photo: Mayayo