The trail calendar is entering its final busy stretch of 2026, with two UTMB World Series events under way this weekend and two more significant races to come in the next eight days. TransLantau by UTMB on Hong Kong's largest island and the inaugural HOKA Pacific Trails California by UTMB on the Central Coast are both running from 13 to 15 November, before Patagonia Bariloche and Ultra-Trail Cape Town take the season towards its close.
TransLantau, now in its sixth edition, has drawn more than 2,000 runners to Lantau Island at the mouth of the Pearl River, territory the organisers describe as the most untamed in Hong Kong. The programme opened on Friday with the TL100, a 104km route with 4,500m of climbing worth three Running Stones, followed by Saturday's TL50, a 45km race with 2,500m of ascent, and Sunday's 27km TL25 and 15km TL15. All three shorter races sold out. Registration donations support student-athlete scholarships, programmes for young women and a local mural project.
In California, nearly 900 runners are taking part in the first edition of Pacific Trails California after last year's planned debut was cancelled because of the weather. The headline 51km race starts at 7am on Saturday from Rancho San Fernando Rey, a working ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, and climbs around 1,550m on a point-to-point route of historic ranch roads, wagon tracks and singletrack through oak canyons and coastal sage scrub to the ridgetops. It carries two Running Stones, with a 20km race also on the programme. The event adds a West Coast stop to the UTMB World Series in a region with a deep pool of American trail talent.
Next week the focus moves to the southern hemisphere. Patagonia Bariloche by UTMB runs from 18 to 22 November in Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina, with around 4,000 runners across six distances up to 100 miles, on courses that cross Mapuche ancestral territory. Then Ultra-Trail Cape Town, from 20 to 22 November, serves as the finale of the 2026 World Trail Majors. Its six races all finish at Gardens Rugby Football Club beneath Table Mountain, from the 163km UTCT, which starts on Friday evening, to the 99.1km UT100 that starts at 4am on Saturday and climbs Table Mountain and Karbonkelberg early on. Last year Jeff Mogavero won the UT100 in 11:04:53, just 31 seconds ahead of Dmitry Mityaev.
The World Trail Majors has produced several standout performances in recent weeks, including Chris Myers' first sub-20-hour run at the Grampians Peak Trail 100 Mile in Australia, and Cape Town will settle the circuit's final standings. Beyond that, the UTMB World Series continues with Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko from 26 to 28 November and HOKA Chiang Mai Thailand, the series' Asian Major, which spans two weekends from 27 November with nearly 11,000 runners expected.