Thursday's Vertical Kilometre delivered a sharp opener to the Transvulcania weekend, but the heart of the festival arrives on Saturday morning, when the long-running 73-kilometre ultramarathon and a sold-out half marathon set off from opposite ends of La Palma. Both races count towards the 2026 Mountain Running World Cup, and both promise the kind of volcanic vistas, ridge running and brutal descents that have made this Canary Islands fixture one of the toughest tickets in trail. The ultra leaves the Faro de Fuencaliente lighthouse at 06:00 local time, while the half marathon starts ninety minutes later from El Pilar.
The ultramarathon course climbs more than 4,300 metres along the volcanic spine of the island before plunging down to Tazacorte and finishing in Los Llanos de Aridane. It rewards strong climbers with quick legs on the rocky descents, a combination that has historically favoured runners with a track-and-mountain crossover. The half marathon over 24.8 kilometres and 2,097 metres of climbing is a different beast, biased towards short-format mountain specialists who can sustain near-threshold efforts on relentless gradients. Race organisers say the half marathon sold out months ahead of registration deadlines, a sign of how seriously elite athletes now treat mountain World Cup ranking points.
On the women's side, the Saturday races are likely to be defined by the Kenyan contingent. Joyce Njeru, who finished fourth in the 2025 World Cup, has already won the Changping Beijing Classic and placed second in the uphill in China this season, and she leads the women's series field on form. Compatriot Ruth Mwihaki Gitonga arrives with momentum from her win at the season-opening Sao Bras Cross Classic in Portugal in April, while Philaries Jeruto Kisang opens her 2026 World Cup at Transvulcania. Italy's Camilla Magliano currently leads the World Cup standings on points and will be defending that lead against the Kenyan trio.
The men's ultramarathon is shaping up around defending World Cup champion Philemon Ombogo Kiriago, who is comfortable across both uphill and long-distance formats and starts his title defence on the longer Saturday course. Behind him a deep European field will press for podium spots on a route that punishes any runner who attacks the early climbs too hard. The half marathon, meanwhile, is expected to play out as a tactical race over the upper sections, with the long technical descent into Tazacorte typically deciding the placings rather than the uphill segments. World Athletics rates this weekend as the most consequential mountain meet on the early-season calendar.
For spectators, the live coverage window is generous: the half marathon should crown its winners by mid-morning, while the front of the ultramarathon is expected to come through the Roque de los Muchachos high point around the eight-hour mark before descending into the finish in early afternoon. Race operators are using a chip-tracking and live leaderboard set-up similar to last year's, with rolling video from drone teams positioned at the Pico Birigoyo and El Time vantage points. After Saturday, the Mountain Running World Cup moves to Annecy in late May, but the standings table will look very different by Saturday night, regardless of who claims the wins on La Palma.