Trail Alsace Grand Est by UTMB hits its opening flag in Obernai this evening, with the 158-kilometre Ultra-Trail des Chevaliers starting Thursday night and the rest of the programme rolling through to Sunday across the two Alsatian departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin. The event has built rapidly since joining the UTMB World Series in 2023, and the 2026 edition is the first to spread the racing across a full four days, with the Trail des Ecuyers 10K and the children's races bracketing the longer events at either end of the weekend.
The Chevaliers 158K is the marquee race and the longest course on the UTMB calendar in mainland France outside of the Mont-Blanc week itself. Runners take in 5,100 metres of vertical gain along the Vosges ridge line, threading the Champ du Feu, Mont Sainte-Odile and the high pastures above Munster before dropping into the vineyards on the final stretch back to Obernai. The course's mix of forested ridge running, exposed open ridges and gentle vineyard descents makes for a relatively fast 100-miler by UTMB standards, with the elite men's projected time around 18 hours.
Saturday's Ultra-Trail des Paiens covers 108 kilometres and 3,900 metres of climb, sharing the central Vosges section with the Chevaliers but trimming the northern loop. It is the most popular distance in the programme this year, with the 1,200-runner cap reached in March, and it serves as the headline race for runners chasing Western States or UTMB qualifying points without committing to a full 100-mile entry. The 56-kilometre Trail des Sorcieres and the 25-kilometre Trail des Romains round out Saturday's racing, both with day-long cut-offs aimed at the regional club scene.
The race remains tightly bound to its terroir. Aid stations carry local Munster cheese and Alsatian breads alongside the more familiar UTMB World Series fare, and the weekend's village in Obernai now spans three squares with a brand presence list that has grown to match the major European trail expos. Local police have confirmed a partial closure of the D854 between Obernai and Mont Sainte-Odile through Friday and Saturday morning, with shuttle buses running from the start area to the main support points along the ridge.
Trail Alsace shares its weekend with Ultra-Trail Snowdonia in Wales and the back end of Ultra-Trail Australia in Katoomba, giving the World Series an unusually busy three-continent window in mid-May. UTMB Live opens for the Chevaliers field tonight and runs through the weekend for every distance. Running Lookout will be tracking elite splits at the Champ du Feu and Mont Sainte-Odile checkpoints, with full Chevaliers and Paiens results expected late Friday and through Saturday respectively.