Transvulcania is now three days out, with the 73-kilometre marquee ultra on La Palma's volcanic ridgeline scheduled for 9 May and a Mountain Running World Cup double header on the Vertical Kilometre and Half Marathon framing the weekend either side. The race village in Los Llanos de Aridane has begun bib-pickup operations as elite athletes arrive from the European spring circuit.
The women's ultra continues to look the more layered story of the weekend. Ekaterina Mityaeva, runner-up in 2025 in 8:36 and a six-time Transvulcania top-tenner, returns to settle a narrow margin from last year, with Blandine L'Hirondel listed against her at the front of the elite list. Both have come through the early season relatively unscathed, and L'Hirondel's runs in the Iberian one-day calendar have given her form data that organisers say converts well to the long climb up the Cumbre Vieja.
The men's field is structured around a clutch of long-time Transvulcania regulars and a handful of Mountain World Cup specialists testing themselves at the longer distance. Course knowledge counts on the Reventon climb and the long descent into Tazacorte, and several of the names projected to feature near the front have multiple finishes on the same route. Aid station planners say tropical-storm pre-positioning has not been necessary this year, with conditions on the ridge expected to be cool and dry.
Around the headline ultra, the World Mountain Running Association has bolted on the Vertical Kilometre on Thursday evening and the Half Marathon on Saturday afternoon as official Mountain Running World Cup fixtures. That double header has drawn a stronger short-course field than recent editions, with several athletes targeting both the up-only blast and the half-distance race in the same weekend rather than choosing between them.
For UK and Irish runners the trip remains an end-of-season Easter-half-term staple. Organisers expect about 1,800 finishers across the weekend's distances, in line with recent years, with the marathon and half-marathon distances having sold out earliest in the registration window. Live coverage will run through Transvulcania's own livestream and via the WMRA's competition feeds for the World Cup events.