Katharina Hartmuth (Germany) and Vincent Esmiol (France) took triumphant and emotional wins of the 2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k on the Portuguese island of Madeira.
The race set off from the village of Porto Moniz because the clock struck midnight to start on Saturday, April 25. After a tender sundown, some drizzle was forecast, and temperatures hovered round 61 levels Fahrenheit (16 levels Celsius) in a single day earlier than rising into the 70s (21 levels Celsius) with solar through the day.
The beginning of the 2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k at midnight on Saturday, April 25. Photograph: MIUT/João M. Faria
Final yr, the course was considerably rerouted as a consequence of a extreme wildfire, and for the seventeenth version this yr, it was introduced again to close regular — a results of an unimaginable effort in post-fire path rehabilitation. The course travels point-to-point throughout the island, from Porto Moniz within the northwest to the city of Machico within the east. The Laurisilva forest initially of the course is a UNESCO World Heritage Web site, with its subtropical expanse of laurel bushes, mosses, and ferns.
Runners undulate by this dense greenery within the night time, earlier than ascending to almost the summit of Madeira’s highest peak, Pico Ruivo (1,862 meters/6,109 toes). There’s a checkpoint right here for runners at 69 kilometers (43 miles), with the frontrunners arriving because the morning gentle is properly underway. From there, runners basically have a protracted downhill by an ever-changing panorama to the end line, with loads of difficult climbs and massive views of the Atlantic Ocean interspersed. The 109k (67.7 miles) course has 7,165 meters (23,500 toes) of elevation acquire over technical terrain and lots of stairs.
The Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k (MIUT) the fifth occasion within the 2026 World Path Majors. It’s one among 5 races over the weekend, ranging in distance from 17 to 110k. The 50k Uncover race is a part of the 2026 World Path Majors Quick Sequence.
A runner at midnight, early morning hours of the 2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k. Photograph: MIUT/João M. Faria
Prior to now, the celebrities haven’t aligned for Hartmuth at MIUT. She wished to race in 2023, however prioritized the Path World Championships a few weeks later. In 2024, she withdrew earlier than the beginning after getting hit by a automobile whereas on her bike. Final yr, she made it so far as the island earlier than studying that she had a bone bruise on her femur. That previous adage rings true: Attending to the beginning line is a lot of the journey.
This yr, she made it. From that time onward, although, Hartmuth confronted some sturdy competitors, with Jazmine Lowther (Canada), Helen Mino Faulkner (U.S.), Valerie Arsenault (Canada), and Rebecca Hormann (Switzerland) among the many pre-race favorites. All of them have been new to the race, presenting a good taking part in subject.
Among the many prime picks for the lads’s race, Miguel Arsenio (Portugal) was the one repeat competitor from latest years. He got here second final yr and DNFed the yr earlier than. Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz (France) took second in 2018 and was making his first return to the race since then. They have been joined by sturdy French and American contingents, that includes Esmiol and Gautier Phrases from France, and Rod Ahead and Tyler Inexperienced from the U.S.
Learn on to see how the race unfolded.
2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k Ladies’s Race
The ladies’s race, general, was fairly neat and constant. The early leaders remained in place, and even the gaps between them didn’t change very a lot as soon as the race was absolutely underway. Germany’s Katharina Hartmuth took the lead from the beginning, with Helen Mino Faulkner (U.S.), Jazmine Lowther (Canada), and Valerie Arsenault (Canada) not too far behind. By the Fanal checkpoint at 12k, and a lot of the manner by the primary climb of this rugged race, Hartmuth had a five-minute hole on Mino Faukner, already making her intentions recognized.
Aside from Hartmuth, the lead pack of girls maintained their ranks by the following few checkpoints, with Sarah Keuschnig (Austria), Kelsey Hogan (Canada), and Rebecca Hormann (Switzerland) additionally within the combine. After the downhill part to Chão de Ribeira at 20k, there was already a 34-minute hole between Hartmuth in first and Hormann in seventh, all at staggered intervals, neatly unfold out.
Germany’s Katharina Hartmuth wins the 2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k on Saturday, April 25. Photograph: MIUT/João M. Faria
By the Estanquinhos checkpoint at 30k, although, after basically 10k of climbing, it was clear simply how a lot of a burner Hartmuth was on. She was now already over an hour forward of Hormann in seventh, the place she would in the end end. Hartmuth was steadily pulling forward, wanting easy and completely happy. Mino Faukner was 17 minutes behind the lead in second, and Lowther was quarter-hour behind Mino Faukner in third.
By Chão dos Louros (44k), Hartmuth had flown down the mountain to increase her hole on Mino Faukner to twenty-eight minutes, passing by the checkpoint in 5:56 elapsed.
At 44k, the form of the top-10 girls remained largely because it had been — Mino Faukner, Lowther, and Arsenault have been nonetheless the following three girls after Hartmuth — however by Curral das Freiras at 58.4k, earlier than the excessive peaks part began in earnest, Keuschnig, who had been in eighth place, had dropped. At 10:24 a.m. native time and 10:24 elapsed on the race clock, Hartmuth reached the checkpoint just below the summit of Pico Ruivo at 69.4k. This was formally wanting like a dominant efficiency.
Helen Mino Faukner of the U.S. takes second on the 2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k. Photograph: MIUT/João M. Faria
Remarkably, the gaps between the primary three girls remained roughly the identical all the way in which from 44k to the ultimate checkpoint at 96k, although Hartmuth prolonged her lead by some minutes extra at this level. Throughout that center a part of the race, Mino Faulkner was persistently round half an hour behind Hartmuth, and Lowther was round quarter-hour behind her. The hole again to Arsenault in fourth place steadily widened, and between Pico Ruivo at 69.4k and Portela at 90k, nearing the tip of a protracted descent, it had grown from 40 minutes to an hour.
Mino Faulkner was nonetheless transferring properly as she handed by the ultimate checkpoint, Larano at 96k, and this was simply as properly, as a result of Lowther was about to place the hammer down. There was a 10-minute hole between them at Larano, however Lowther made fast work of the final 13 kilometers.
Katharina Hartmuth completed comfortably in first place in 14:54:53. Helen Mino Faukner took second place in 15:50:00, and Jazmine Lowther closed in behind her to take third place in 15:54:22. The impact of the late-race effort was seen as Lowther crossed the end line. Valerie Arsenault and Kelsey Hogan rounded out the ladies’s prime 5.
Canada’s Jazmine Lowther ran in third for a lot of the 2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k, and in the end earned that remaining podium spot. Photograph: MIUT/João M. Faria
2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k Ladies’s Outcomes
- Katharina Hartmuth (Germany) – 14:54:53
- Helen Mino Faulkner (U.S.) – 15:50:00
- Jazmine Lowther (Canada) – 15:54:22
- Valerie Arsenault (Canada) – 17:27:00
- Kelsey Hogan (Canada) – 17:41:10
- Marta Vigano (Italy) – 18:19:51
- Rebecca Hormann (Switzerland) – 19:05:14
- Olga Sapach (Impartial) – 19:12:09
- Patricia Ribeiro (Portugal) – 19:28:39
(Editor’s Notice: On the time of this text’s publishing, not all top-10 girls have completed. We’ll replace this text as they do.)
With terraced fields behind her, Germany’s Katharina Hartmuth climbs on her strategy to profitable the 2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k. Photograph: MIUT/João M. Faria
2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k Males’s Race
Not like the ladies’s race, the lads’s race by no means fairly settled down. Rod Ahead (U.S.) and Vincent Esmiol (France) pushed the tempo collectively early on. By way of the Fanal checkpoint at 12k in 1:33 elapsed, the leaders additionally included Eric Sorenson (U.S.), Ethan Peters (Canada), Tyler Inexperienced (U.S.), Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz (France), and Gautier Phrases (France).
France’s Vincent Esmiol breaks the tape to win the 2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k on Saturday, April 25. Photograph: MIUT/João M. Faria
By Estanquinhos at 30k, Farvard and Inexperienced had managed to increase a little bit of a niche to Airiau and Miguel Arsenio (Portugal) in third and fourth, but it surely was nonetheless by only a few minutes. Some 14k later at Chão dos Louros (44k), with the actual peaks simply forward, Inexperienced led the sphere by about 90 seconds, with Farvard in second and Dunand-Pallaz third.
Esmiol was the primary to the checkpoint close to the summit of Pico Ruivo (69.4k) in 8:56 elapsed. Dunand-Pallaz was almost six minutes behind in second, and Airiau seven minutes again in third. Inexperienced was now the fourth man. They have been now over midway, however with lots of troublesome terrain forward of them. A few of that forecasted rain had left muddy trails and legs, and a gray mist endured by the morning, but it surely was heat. The hole again to the likes of Peters in fifth was now half an hour, however with such a protracted downhill to the end, nothing was a foregone conclusion but.
Regardless of Farvard’s sturdy begin, by the excessive nation in the course of the race, he’d slipped into the again half of the highest 10, and he’d in the end end eleventh. Additionally, early pace-pusher Sorenson left the race earlier than the excessive nation.
France’s Gautier Airiau wanting happy to take second on the 2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k. Photograph: MIUT/João M. Faria
At Chão da Lagoa (79k), there have been 4 males inside 13 minutes of one another — Esmiol nonetheless main, Airiau now in second, Dunand-Pallaz third, and Inexperienced fourth. At Larano, the ultimate checkpoint at 96k, Esmiol had an eight-minute lead, whereas an expansion of underneath three minutes separated Airiau and Inexperienced in second and third. Within the kilometers earlier than this checkpoint, Inexperienced had already hunted down and handed Dunand-Pallaz and was now chasing Airiau within the remaining kilometers.
In the end, every of the top-three males had sufficient power to take care of their positions, although it made for an thrilling end. Vincent Esmiol received in 12:49:03. Gautier Airiau completed in second place in 12:57:52, and Tyler Inexperienced completed in third in 13:03:10. Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz and Ethan Peters in the end rounded out the top-five males.
The U.S.’s Tyler Inexperienced rounds out the 2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k males’s podium with third place. Photograph: MIUT/João M. Faria
2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k Males’s Outcomes
- Vincent Esmiol (France) – 12:49:03
- Gautier Phrases (France) – 12:57:52
- Tyler Inexperienced (U.S.) – 13:03:10
- Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz (France) – 13:25:07
- Ethan Peters (Canada) – 13:36:39
- Pavel Serov (Norway) – 13:42:26
- Tommy Sullivan (U.S.) – 13:49:55
- Josu Hidalgo (Spain) – 14:08:49
- Miguel Arsenio (Portugal) – 14:09:38
- Dimitri Soltysiak (France) – 14:15:00
Vincent Esmiol of France climbs within the early morning, on his strategy to profitable the 2026 Madeira Island Extremely-Path Legend 110k. Photograph: MIUT/João M. Faria
