The Grand Trail Running Tour of Europe
[ TRSoul note: guest post by runabroad.com, a blog where you'll find a selection of the best runs around the world]
The Grand Tour of Europe has always been a traditional travel for all kind of travellers. But the Old Continent offers superb option for lovers of trail running as well: from the frozen glaciers of Switzerland to the gentle hills of Tuscany, there are dozens of (amazing) races available. Here are our favorite ones:
Snowdonia Marathon, UK
www.snowdoniamarathon.com
The demanding and spectacular route of the Snowdonia Marathon starts in Nant Peris and encircles Snowdon, Wales’ and England’s highest peak. The race finishes in Llanberis and offers some pretty punishing inclines and a very scenic route. Fly to UK for the last Sunday of October.
Chianti Ecomarathon, Italy
www.ecomaratonadelchianti.it
An autumn weekend (October 18th) to enjoy trail running, historical towns and a stroll in the worldwide famous Piazza del Campo in Siena: the Chianti Ecomarathon (just 2kms on a road) starts from the square of Castelnuovo Beradenga in the splendid landscape of Tuscany and continues into the Chianti hills and vineyards. A 9 km walk and a 17 km race will take place as well, with the bonus of extra local food and wine.
Zermatt Marathon, Switzerland
www.zermatt-marathon.ch
Surrounded by a range of amazing mountains, with 42,195 km and 1944 m of total slop, the Zermatt Marathon is not an easy stroll in the park: from Sunnega to Riffelalp, the views are spectacular and a pint of the free beer is waiting for you at the end of the challenge in Gornergrat. August 9 is the big day on the Alps.
Zermatt Marathon
Trail Napoléon, France
www.corsica-run.com
The Trail Napoléon is a 23km trail run with a positive ascent of more than 950m in the island of Corsica, from the cité Impériale in Ajaccio to Parata. The race offers incredible views over the Iles Sanguinaires and an unspoiled trail in the maquis. A shorter and easier option (16km, 700m+) is available on the same day for hikers.
Race the Train, UK
www.racethetrain.com
Race the Train (August 15) is a competition between runners on a 14 miles trail course and a steam train. A superbly themed race to challenge the Talyllyn Railway (www.talyllyn.co.uk), a historic narrow-gauge railway, one of the great trains of Wales. A must do at least once for who likes to jog in the countryside and all multi – terrain runners.
Swiss alpine marathon Davos, Switzerland
www.swissalpine.ch
Known as well as the crazy peak experience, the Swiss alpine marathon actually offers trail races for different ability. From the K11 along the superb Davos Lake to the K78, an ultramarathon for the faint hearted at an altitude of 2600 meters. Two different marathons, C42 and K42 with different ascents and descents, two half marathon, K21 and Nordic Walking trail, and a K30 complete the programme of the weekend late in July.
You can try to challenge the 48-hour treadmill world record (240 miles) or you can take some time off and enjoy shorter races in the most amazing countries in Europe. What is your running goal for 2010?
Great list, I would suggest as well the Gantrisch-Halbmarathon (www.gantrisch-halbmarathon.ch) next weekend in Switzerland.
Here in Barcelona there are a couple of running Tours companies, http://www.runningtoursbarcelona.com which I haven’t tried and also http://www.runningcostabrava.com which is a trail running company you could try if you are looking for medieval towns, castles, beaches, monasteries, etc…, located in Girona close to Barcelona, got pretty nice route as you can notice from these blog reviews:
http://www.thebrackpack.com/
http://www.irunfar.com/2010/02/trail-running-in-spain.html/comment-page-1#comment-56835
Here a calendar of spain’s mountain running races
http://www.corredordemontana.com/carreras/calendario-comunidades/cataluna.html
I recoment Pirines ones
Thanks James, I added your suggestion to http://www.runabroad.com/2010/05/where-to-run-locally.html as well.