Golden Trail Series

The Golden Trail Series is a series of trail races consisting of short but fast races with moderate elevation gain or steep skyrunning type races that reach altitudes of 2,000 meters or more.

Clothing and sporting equipment manufacturer Salomon launched the Golden Trail Series in 2018 to promote short-distance trail running. It’s still supported by Salomon and continues to be successful.

Formats

Since its launch in 2018, Golden Trail Series (the organizers) have developed three different formats.

• The original Golden Trail World Series (GTWS), six races and one Grand Finale. Click here for the complete set of rules.
• The Golden Trail Championship (GTC), a new national format, was launched in 2020 in response to closures and travel restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
  Click here for the complete set of rules.
• The Golden Trail National Series (GTNS) debuted in 2019 in several European countries The goal of the GTNS is to bring together the best national athletes and invite them to participate in the Golden Trail Championship (GTC).

At GTWS and GTC events, prize money is available in a variety of categories. Go to the Golden Trail website and look up the relevant series for more information.

As part of the series, there are several chances to win Golden Tickets or Golden Passes. A Golden Ticket provides free transportation, lodging, and meals for an entire week of competition. You can find all the details on the Golden Trail website. (Editor’s note: These Golden Tickets aren’t related to the Golden Tickets that allow a runner to participate in the Western States Endurance Run without having to enter the lottery).

Golden Trail World Series

The Golden Trail World Series (GTWS), the original series, was founded by Salomon in 2018 to promote short-distance trail running. The series comprises events in several countries, with race distances typically ranging from 22 kilometers to 42 kilometers. (Editor’s note: Meanwhile, some races in some series go over distances of 50 kilometers and more.) These races frequently include elevation gains of about 3,000 meters. The first edition included five qualifying races and one final.

In 2019, the series was renamed from Golden Trail Series to Golden Trail World Series, its current name. Currently, a total of seven races are included in the competition, six of which are qualifying races and one Grand Finale.

To be invited to the Grand Finale, runners must compete in at least three of the six qualifying races and place in the top eleven. The overall ranking will take into account the runner’s three best results plus the final race result. Of course, men and women will be ranked separately.

Up to now, the bulk of GTWS races have taken place in Europe. Among them such epic events as Zegama-Aizkorri, the Mont-Blanc Marathon, the Dolomyths Run, Sierre-Zinal, the Chiemgau Trail Run, and Skyrhune. The Grand Finale of 2021 was held on the Canarian island of El Hierro.

In the 2018 season (pre-Covid-19), the inaugural year of the GTWS, several races took place outside of Europe: the Pikes Peak Marathon (Colorado, USA); the Otter Trail (South Africa).

The final of the 2019 season was held in Nepal at the Annapurna Trail Marathon.

For a complete list of races in the GTWS and their results, visit the Golden Trail Series website (click here). No GTWS races were held in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Click here for the complete set of the GTWS rules.

Golden Trail Championship

The Golden Trail Championship (GTC) was launched as an additional national format in 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns in many countries prevented athletes from traveling to events around the world.

Due to cross-border travel restrictions, national competitions were held in different countries in a series of 3 to 4 races. The races took place on consecutive days at the same location (a 3- or 4-day stage race that counted as a single event). The sum of an athlete’s finish times was used for the ranking.

In addition to the overall ranking, a Golden Trail Climber Champion, a Golden Trail Downhiller Champion, and a Golden Trail Sprinter Champion were crowned.

Following the success of the 2020 Golden Trail Championship (GTC), the Golden Trail Series organization has decided to continue with the GTC format. Beginning in 2021, the GTC and the Golden Trail World Series (GTWS) will alternate every other year. GTWS took place in 2021, so the next GTC will be held in 2022.

Click here for the complete set of the GTC rules.

Golden Trail National Series

The Golden Trail National Series (GTNS) debuted in 2019 in several countries, including France-Belgium, Spain-Portugal, Italy, Czech Republic-Slovakia, and Poland.

The goal of the GTNS is to bring together the best national athletes and invite them to participate in the Golden Trail Championship (GTC).

These athletes will have the opportunity to compete in the most prestigious international trail running championship the following year and compare themselves with the best athletes in the world.

Formula: 2 to 5 national races, a national final, and a GTNS Grand Final with the best athletes of each GTNS.

The GTNS events are held every year. The top three men and women in the GTNS Grand Finals are invited to compete in the Golden Trail Championship the following year.

The GTNS Grand Finals are held every other year (never in a year with a GTC). If the GTNS Grand Final isn’t held, the top three men and women from each national final will receive a Golden Ticket to the next Golden Trail Championship.

More on each GTNS: GTNS FR-BEL / GTNS SP-POR / GTNS IT / GTNS UK / GTNS CZE-SK-POL/ GTNS USA-CAN / GTNS FI-NO-SE-DK/ GTNS GER-AUS-CH/ GTNS MEXICO (soon)

Links

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube

Disclaimer: The information in this article was correct at the time of publishing. The organizers of the Golden Trail are very likely to change or add to the series at any time. Always check the Golden Trail website before taking any action.

Images: Golden Trail Series