World GTWS Calendar 17.05 – 25.10.2026
Source: GTWS 2026 Calendar – GOLDEN TRAIL WORLD SERIES – GTWS
The 2026 Golden Trail World Series (GTWS) has been officially announced, featuring eight races spanning three continents. The season is notable for its debut in Canada and a Grand Finale held in South Korea.
Notably, the 2026 season introduces Segment Points (climbing, downhill, and sprint) and a new Team/Brand Ranking system.
GTWS 2026 Race Schedule
| Date | Race | Location | Key Detail |
| May 17 | Zegama-Aizkorri | Spain | The iconic season opener in the Basque Country. |
| May 24 | Ledro Sky Trentino | Italy | Technical peaks; former site of the 2025 Finale. |
| July 5 | Quebec Mega Trail | Canada | New for 2026; the series’ first-ever stop in Canada. |
| Aug 1 | Pitz Alpine Glacier Trail | Austria | High-altitude alpine racing in the Tyrol. |
| Aug 8 | Sierre-Zinal | Switzerland | The legendary “Race of the Five 4000ers.” |
| Sept 20 | Myoko Trail | Japan | New for 2026; technical terrain in the Japanese Alps. |
| Sept 27 | Jinshanling Great Wall | China | Racing along the historic Great Wall. |
| Oct 24–25 | Muju Trail (Grand Finale) | South Korea | New for 2026; the season’s culminating event. |
Key Rules & Changes for 2026
- Scoring: An athlete’s top three results from the seven regular-season races are used for the overall ranking heading into the Grand Finale.
- Segment Points: For the first time, extra points (up to 150 total for the season) are awarded to the fastest runners in specific uphill, downhill, and sprint sections of each race.
- No Prologue: Unlike previous years, the 2026 Grand Finale will not feature a prologue race.
- Prize Pool: The total series prize money has increased to over €435,000.
Other “GTWS” Series
If you were looking for motorsports, there are two other series using the same initials:
- GT Winter Series (Gedlich Racing): A car racing series in Southern Europe (Portimão, Valencia, Barcelona) running from January to March 2026.
- Gran Turismo World Series: The e-sports championship, which typically begins its online qualifiers in January with live rounds starting in March.
The Golden Trail World Series (GTWS) was created to do for trail running what the Diamond League did for Athletics: create a high-octane, televised, and easily digestible circuit that pits the world’s best athletes against each other on the most iconic short-course trails.
Origins and Vision (2017–2018)
Launched in 2018 by Salomon and spearheaded by Greg Vollet, the GTWS was a response to the growing fragmentation of trail running. At the time, elite runners were scattered across hundreds of different races. The series aimed to:
- Centralize Talent: Bring the top 30 runners to the same start lines.
- Focus on Speed: Unlike “Ultra” distances that can take 20+ hours, GTWS focuses on 20km to 42km distances to emphasize speed, technicality, and spectator engagement.
- Media Revolution: It introduced “Chasing Dreams,” a high-quality TV series and live broadcasts using drones and Starlink to make trail running a spectator sport.
Evolution and Key Milestones
- 2018 (The Inaugural Season): Stian Angermund and Ruth Croft became the first champions. The Grand Finale was held at the Otter African Trail Run in South Africa.
- 2020 (The Championship Year): Due to the pandemic, the World Series was replaced by the Golden Trail Championship in the Azores—a 4-day stage race that became one of the few global sporting events held that year.
- 2021–2023 (Global Expansion): The series expanded its “National Series” (GTNS) to act as a feeder for local talent to reach the World Series.
- 2024–2025 (The African Dominance): Recent years have seen the rise of Kenyan and Moroccan athletes, such as Elhousine Elazzaoui (2024 & 2025 Champion) and Joyce Njeru, signaling a shift in the traditional European/American dominance of the sport.
Hall of Fame: Overall Winners
| Year | Men’s Champion | Women’s Champion |
| 2018 | Stian Angermund (NOR) | Ruth Croft (NZL) |
| 2019 | Kilian Jornet (ESP) | Judith Wyder (SUI) |
| 2020 | Bart Przedwojewski (POL)* | Maude Mathys (SUI)* |
| 2021 | Stian Angermund (NOR) | Maude Mathys (SUI) |
| 2022 | Rémi Bonnet (SUI) | Nienke Brinkman (NED) |
| 2023 | Rémi Bonnet (SUI) | Sophia Laukli (USA) |
| 2024 | Elhousine Elazzaoui (MAR) | Joyce Njeru (KEN) |
| 2025 | Elhousine Elazzaoui (MAR) | Madalina Florea (ROU) |
*2020 was a 4-day Championship format rather than a full World Series.
The “Iconic” Races
While the calendar changes, a few “Classics” form the backbone of the GTWS history:
- Zegama-Aizkorri (Spain): Known for its “Tour de France” style atmosphere with thousands of screaming fans on the climbs.
- Sierre-Zinal (Switzerland): The fastest race in the series, often called the “Race of the Five 4000ers.”
- Marathon du Mont-Blanc (France): A high-altitude classic in the home of mountain running, Chamonix.
