2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail Women’s Preview

The 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships will convene in Canfranc, Spain from Thursday, September 25 through Sunday, September 28, bringing together some of the best mountain runners in the world.

Running under the leadership of World Athletics, the World Mountain Running Association, the International Trail Running Association, and the International Association of Ultrarunners, the four main races will bring together some of the best trail and mountain runners in the world to represent their respective countries. The Up and Down and Uphill races are held as the World Mountain Running Championships, and the Short Trail and Long Trail races are the two Trail World Championships (TWC). The World Mountain and Trail Running Championships are held every two years, and the last edition took place in Innsbruck-Stubai, Austria, in 2023.

Thanks so much to The North Face for sponsoring iRunFar’s coverage of the 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships!

The Long Trail event will take place on Saturday, September 27 at 7 a.m. CEST, otherwise known as Friday, September 26 at 11 p.m. MDT in the U.S.

Situated in the Spanish Pyrenees, Canfranc is surrounded by steep mountains, and the 81-kilometer (50.3 miles) route takes runners over 5,078 meters (16,660 feet) of climbing. The course promises all of the steepness and ruggedness that the Pyrenees are known for, and the route traces an aesthetically pleasing counterclockwise loop starting and ending at the historic Canfranc International Railway Station, now converted to a hotel. Once called the “Titanic of the Pyrenees,” the huge, nearly 100-year-old building has a rich history and will provide a stunning backdrop to the start and finish of the event. To gain the more than 5,000 meters of elevation, the route has a massive 1,500-meter climb up to the high point at the summit of La Moleta at 2,572 meters (8,438 feet) over the first 16 kilometers (10 miles), and there are several other significant climbs, including up to the summit of Pico Royo at 2,372 meters (7,782 feet) and La Tuca at 2,278 meters (7,473 feet). Based on the profile, it seems there’s not a single flat kilometer on the route.

While there is no definitive data on which to base estimated finishing times, we expect that the top women might finish in about 10 hours, while the top men could complete the circuit in about 8.5 hours.

iRunFar will be there to bring you live coverage of the Long Trail, both liveblogging here on the website and on our various social media channels. You can also count on us to bring you coverage of the other three big races throughout the week.

This preview looks at the top women we expect to see contending for the win in the Long Trail race, the countries we expect to vie for the team prize, and other women to watch as the race progresses.

Currently, 135 women from 49 countries are on the Long Trail start list — scroll down for the women’s list. They all qualified nationally to represent their countries at the event.

Check out our 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail men’s preview as well.

Favorites for the Individual Win

Marion Delespierre – France

Marion Delespierre, the defending world champion from 2023, comes to Spain for another run at the title. Delespierre doesn’t seem to race quite as prolifically as many of the other women on this list, but a third place at the 2025 Lavaredo 80k, which was surprisingly competitive, would indicate that she’s on form. Delespierre also placed seventh at the 2022 TWC Long Trail. Looking a bit further back, she won the 2021 Madeira Island Ultra-Trail (MIUT) 85k and was fourth at the 2021 UTMB.

Katie Schide – U.S.

If there’s someone in women’s trail running right now riding a wave of success, it has to be Katie Schide. Most recently, and perhaps most impressively, Schide just finished second at the 2025 Sierre-Zinal, a much shorter race than the 100 milers that she’s better known for. Earlier this year, Schide ran to impressive wins at the 2025 Hardrock 100 and MIUT. These two big results come after a 2024 that saw Schide win both UTMB and the Western States 100. She also won the 2024 Canyons 100k for good measure. Given the speed that Schide showed at Sierre-Zinal and the endurance she clearly has, it’ll be fun to see how she does on the technical and steep trails of Canfranc.

Anne-Lise Rousset Séguret – France

As part of an always-strong French team, Anne-Lise Rousset Séguret has shown good form thus far this year with a win at the 2025 Transvulcania. The Frenchwoman has been racing ultras since 2011 and is still regularly seen at the front of fields. She placed second at the 2024 MIUT, second at the 2023 Hardrock 100, and won the 2023 Wildstrubel 70k. Rousset Séguret has been a member of Team France for the TWC in the past and placed fourth in 2015, but DNFed in 2017. She has previously said this is her last year of professional running, so we imagine this race means a lot to her.

Martyna Młynarczyk – Poland

Coming off a win at CCC just a few weeks ago, Martyna Młynarczyk seems primed to run fast as long as she’s recovered well from the 100k event, where she also placed second in 2024. The CCC win this year came after a DNF at the 2025 Western States 100. Młynarczyk had a consistent and strong 2024, with wins at the Tenerife Bluetrail 73k and the Pieniny Ultra Trail, which was last year’s Polish Trail Running Championships.

Sylvia Nordskar – Norway

Just a few weeks ago, Sylvia Nordskar placed second at CCC, just 18 seconds behind Martyna Młynarczyk, who will also be racing the Long Trail event. It was the third in a streak of second-place finishes in 2025, including at the Val d’Aran 50k and Transgrancanaria 50k. She was also second at the 2024 Les Templiers 80k, but won the 2024 Zegama Marathon, where she’d placed fourth in 2023. Nordskar is no stranger to world championships events. She placed 13th in the Short Trail event in 2023 and 12th in the Long Trail in 2022.

Hillary Gerardi – France

As someone who places much of their focus on skyrunning, Hillary Gerardi should be primed for the steep and technical trails around Canfranc. While born in the U.S., Gerardi became a naturalized French citizen in 2024 and will be representing France at these TWC. She won the French Long Trail National Championships in July, overtaking Anne-Lise Rousset Séguret in the second half of the race. While much of her racing is over shorter distances, Gerardi has shown that she has plenty of endurance, too, by placing fourth at the 2025 MaXi-Race 60k. In 2023, she also set the fastest known time for the roundtrip run up and down the slopes of Mont Blanc. More recently, she won the 2024 Trofeo Kima 50k, a race she also won in 2018, and the 2024 Hochkönigman Skyrace 35k. Going a little further back, Gerardi won the 2021 Mont Blanc 90k.

Katharina Hartmuth – Germany

Katharina Hartmuth has had a huge summer thus far with a pair of third-place finishes at UTMB and the Hardrock 100. It’s a pair of races she knows well, having placed third at Hardrock in 2024 and second at UTMB in 2023. Hartmuth was second at her last visit to the TWC Long Trail in 2023, the same year that she placed fourth at Transgrancanaria. Hartmuth, who generally takes a bit to warm up in races and prefers more technical terrain to runnable routes, should thrive in the Pyrenees if she’s recovered from her efforts earlier this summer.

Ida Nilsson – Sweden

The ever-consistent Ida Nilsson comes back to the TWC after finishing second at the Long Trail event in 2022. Lately, Nilsson is perhaps better known for her dedication to the Western States 100, an event where she placed fourth in 2025, sixth in 2024, and seventh in 2023. Historically, Nilsson has excelled in distances in the 80k range, so this event should play to her strengths. In addition to Western States this year, she’s also won the Transgrancanaria 80k, an event that saw several other Long Trail entrants, including Katarzyna Dombrowska and Gemma Arenas, who placed third and fourth. In 2024, Nilsson finished second at Transvulcania.

Martina Valmassoi – Italy

It seems that Martina Valmassoi has been battling a hamstring injury as of late, but she seems to be well enough to be on the start list for the event. She finished fourth at the 2023 TWC Long Trail and won the 2022 TDS. After finishing third at Transvulcania earlier this year, an event she won in 2023, she DNFed at Lavaredo. In 2024, she finished ninth at UTMB and won the MIUT, showing that when she’s on form, she can race with the best.

More Top Contenders

Jennifer Lichter – U.S.

Placing fourth at the 2023 TWC Short Trail, Jennifer Lichter is no stranger to these types of events. Unlike many of the other women lining up for the Long Trail, Lichter is better known over short distances, having won the 2025 Speedgoat 50k, an event where she placed second in 2022. Earlier this year, she won the Broken Arrow Skyrace 46k and the Transgrancanaria 47k, an event she also won in 2024. She placed fifth at the 2024 Les Templiers 80k and won the speedy JFK 50 Mile in 2023.

Rosanna Buchauer – Germany

Like several other women on the Long Trail start list, Rosanna Buchauer raced OCC just a few weeks ago, where she placed 11th, in an event admittedly under her best distances. It was a solid run after a DNF at the Western States 100 earlier this year. Buchauer is no stranger to TWC events, as she placed fifth in the Long Trail in both 2023 and 2022. Consistent in her racing and results, Buchauer was second at the 2025 Chianti Ultra Trail 70k, third and fifth at the 2024 and 2022 CCC, respectively. She also won the 2024 Lavaredo Ultra Trail and 2021 MIUT.

Allison Baca – U.S.

Allison Baca placed a strong sixth at the 2023 TWC Long Trail. She showed good form in finishing 10th at CCC a few weeks ago, and if she can recover efficiently, she should bring that fitness to the event in Spain. Earlier this year, she won the Black Canyon 50k and was 11th at the 2024 Les Templiers 80k. Going a couple more years back, she was 13th at the 2022 Western States 100.

Emily Schmitz – U.S.

The last time Emily Schmitz raced the TWC Long Trail in 2023, she placed seventh. That was the same year she placed fifth at CCC. Her most recent 20th-place finish at CCC just a few weeks ago isn’t generally indicative of where she ends up in competitive fields, as she was third at the 2025 Chianti Ultra Trail 70k and 12th at the 2024 Western States 100.

Gemma Arenas – Spain

With more than a decade of high-level racing experience to her name, Gemma Arenas continues to mix it up at the front of competitive fields. She was third at the 2022 TWC Long Trail, seventh at the 2019 TWC 44k, and had an off-year when she placed 22nd at the 2023 event most recently. While many years back now, she was fourth at the 2018 TWC and fifth in 2016. She seems to prefer returning to the same races year after year and was second in 2025 and 2022 and first in 2024 and 2023 at the Penyagolosa MiM 60k. She also placed third at the 2025 Tenerife Bluetrail 50k, an event where she placed second in 2024 and 2021. Arenas has also found success as the Les Templiers 80k, placing third in 2023 and second in 2021.

Rosa Lara – Spain

Rosa Lara is another woman who is doubling up on the TWC after OCC just a few weeks ago. Lara finished sixth at OCC, an improvement from her ninth-place finish in 2024. She was 11th at her last TWC Long Trail in 2023 and was fourth at both the 2024 and 2023 Spanish Trail Running National Championships. She’s had a strong 2025, with a fourth place at the Marathon du Mont-Blanc, where she placed fifth in 2024. She’s also had success at the fast and technical Zegama Marathon, placing fourth in 2025 and eighth in 2024. Lara is no stranger to skyrunning either, as she won the 2024 Barbudo Skyrace ahead of Gemma Arenas, who is also racing the Long Trail.

Yngvild Kaspersen – Norway

While Yngvild Kaspersen may have DNFed at CCC a few weeks ago, an event she won in 2023, it doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s not ready for the TWC. Her 2025 has been highlighted with a second-place finish at Lavaredo, and in 2024, she placed fifth at the Western States 100. Going a bit further back, Kaspersen was second at the 2022 Transvulcania and 2021 MIUT 80k, and she’s been first and sixth at the Zegama Marathon in 2016 and 2019, respectively.

Eszter Csillag – Hungary

After a string of strong results starting around 2021 that put Eszter Csillag on the radar, she’s struggled with some inconsistency and injury in the past couple of years. Still, she placed fourth at the 2022 TWC Long Trail, so it’s never a good idea to count her out. Csillag has taken some time off since her DNF due to injury in the Western States 100 earlier this year. She was also originally slated to race UTMB, but she withdrew ahead of the start to focus on rehab. With two third-place finishes at Western States in 2024 and 2023 to her name, as well as fifth-place finishes at the 2022 UTMB and 2022 Transgrancanaria, it’s clear to see that an on-form Csillag can mix it up at the front of big fields.

Fabiola Conti – Italy

This is Fabiola Conti’s first time lining up for the Long Trail event at the TWC, after two runs of the Short Trail in 2023 and 2022, where she placed 18th and sixth, respectively. Conti focuses much more on skyraces and shorter events and finished fifth and seventh at the 2025 and 2022 Marathon du Mont-Blanc. She was also fifth at the 2022 Zegama Marathon.

Lotti Brinks – Germany

Lotti Brinks has had a strong 2025 with a sixth-place finish at CCC just a few weeks ago, an event where she placed ninth in 2024. She was also seventh at the 2025 Tarawera 100k. Brinks seems to really like the 100k distance, and she won the 2024 Gorge Waterfalls 100k and placed second there in 2023. She’s also proved her speed on shorter and more technical courses, placing eighth at the 2023 Broken Arrow Skyrace 46k.

Honoka Akiyama (Japan)

The last time Honoka Akiyama raced at the TWC in 2023, she placed ninth in the Long Trail. A year earlier, at the 2022 TWC Long Trail, she was 14th. While she doesn’t seem to race much outside of Japan, she has several top results, including a win at the 2025 Kaga Spa 100k and a fifth-place finish at the Mt. Fuji 70k.

Giuditta Turini – Italy

Giuditta Turini has had strong finishes at TWC Long Trail events in the past, placing 13th in 2023 and ninth in 2022. Her 11th-place finish at CCC just a few weeks ago indicates that she’s on form, and she placed seventh at the Italian Short Trail National Championships earlier this summer. In addition to finishing second at Lavaredo in 2024, Turini had a successful 2021 where she placed second at TDS, third at the Skyrunning World Championships, and second at the Mont Blanc 90k.

Sunmaya Budha – Nepal

While Sunmaya Budha may have DNFed at the 2023 TWC Long Trail, she finished 10th at the event in 2022, the same year that she finished second at CCC. She was second at this year’s Hong Kong 100k. In 2024, she was third at Transvulcania.

Mari Klakegg Fenre – Norway

After placing eighth at the 2023 TWC Long Trail and 18th at the event in 2022, Mari Klakegg Fenre has the potential to finish even higher up. She won the 2025 Val d’Aran 100k and placed second at the Grand Raid Ventoux earlier in the summer. In 2024, she finished 14th at UTMB, and, in 2023, she took seventh at CCC.

Katarzyna Dombrowska – Poland

Many of the Long Trail women’s field tried their luck at UTMB Mont Blanc festival events a few weeks ago, and for Katarzyna Dombrowska, it resulted in a DNF at UTMB, an event where she placed sixth in 2023. This may actually be a good thing for her recovery before the TWC, where she DNFed in 2023 and placed 22nd in 2022. Dombrowska has found success at Lavaredo, placing fourth in the 80k in 2025 and second in the queen race in 2022. Earlier this year, she placed third at the Transgrancanaria 80k. She placed fifth at CCC in 2021.

Expected Top Teams

One of the unique features of the Trail World Championships is the team race. Each country can enter up to six racers into the Long Trail event, and the cumulative time of the top three finishers is used to determine the final team rankings. In 2023, France came out on top, with Germany and Italy placing second and third.

In addition to the usual strong teams, Team USA is bringing an excellent contingent of women and is expected to be in the mix.

Team France

• Marion Delespierre
• Anne-Lise Rousset Séguret
• Hillary Gerardi
• Jennifer Lemoine
• Anne-Cécile Thévenot
• Agathe Bes

Led by Delespierre, Rousset Séguret, and Gerardi, it seems like Team France, the defending champions, have once again put together a strong group to challenge for the team championships, even if the team doesn’t have a lot of world championships experience. The above three are profiled earlier and expected to be women mixing it up at the front of the race.

Jennifer Lemoine has seemingly exclusively raced in France, but she won the 2023 Endurance Trail des Templiers 100k and the 2023 Mont Blanc 90k and should be a strong teammate. Anne-Cécile Thévenot has a series of strong recent results, including seventh at the 2024 CCC and third at the 2024 MaXi-Race 93k. Agathe Bes seems to have only raced in France, but has a top-20 result at the 2024 Les Templiers 80k to her name and won the 2025 Ultra-Trail du Haut-Giffre 50k. At the French Long Trail National Championships earlier this summer, Lemoine, Thévenot, and Bes were second through fifth behind champ Gerardi.

Team USA 

• Katie Schide
• Jennifer Lichter
• Allison Baca
• Emily Schmitz
• Shea Aquilano
• Klaire Rhodes

Team USA seems to have a lineup that can potentially vie for the win. All of the women on the team have the potential for a high result, with Schide seemingly having a good chance to go for the win and Lichter, Baca, and Schmitz expected to run near the front of the field. These women are profiled above.

The other two, Shea Aquilano and Klaire Rhodes, both profiled below, on a good day, could also be in contention to contribute to the team result.

Germany

• Katharina Hartmuth
• Rosanna Buchauer 
• Lotti Brinks
• Ida-Sophie Hegemann
• Eva-Maria Sperger
• Juliane Rössler
• Lisa Wimmer

With a lot of TWC experience in the group, Team Germany should be able to put at least three women high in the rankings. With Hartmuth, Buchauer, and Brinks all expected to be in the mix, there’s a bit of wiggle room if one of them has a bad day. Explore their profiles above.

Hegemann, profiled below, has finished top 20 at the TWC Long Trail before, in 2023. Sperger, also profiled below, has the past results to indicate that she could run well at this event.

Rössler, who won the 2025 KAT 100 80k, the 2024 Grossglockner 85k, and placed 14th at the 2024 CCC, is also no stranger to the front of competitive fields. Wimmer just placed 26th at CCC a few weeks ago and was seventh at the 2024 Lavaredo 80k, showing that on a good day, she can also run at the front of the field.

Note that teams can race six folks, so one of these runners in an alternate, but we’re not sure who.

Team Italy

• Martina Valmassoi
• Fabiola Conti
• Giuditta Turini
• Martina Chialvo
• Irene Saggin

With a strong top three with Valmassoi, Conti, and Turini, Team Italy has a good chance of landing itself on the podium once again, even if they’re not fielding a full team of six. All three are profiled above as contenders for high finishes.

To back them up, Chialvo comes in with a series of strong results in Italy, as well as a 16th place at the 2025 Marathon du Mont-Blanc. She also placed 15th at the 2024 European Athletics Off-Road Running Championships. Irene Saggin has raced almost exclusively in Italy and has many top finishes in a range of distances from 20k to 100k.

Still More Women to Watch in the Individual Race

Here are some other women who have the potential to race well at the TWC Long Trail.

• Shea Aquilano (U.S.) – 33rd 2023 TWC Long Trail; 1st 2025 Gorge Waterfalls 100k; 6th 2025, 6th 2023, & 8th 2022 Black Canyon 100k; 3rd 2022 JFK 50 Mile; 11th 2022 Speedgoat 50k
• Inés Astrain (Spain) – 14th 2025 OCC; 1st 2025 Penyagolosa MiM 60k; 3rd 2025 Transvulcania 43k; 1st 2025 Tenerife Bluetrail 47k
• Geneviève Asselin-Demers (Canada) – 11th 2025 Transvulcania; 1st 2024 Québec Mega Trail 80k; 8th 2024 MIUT; 6th 2024 Black Canyon 100k
• Linda Boldane (Latvia) – 2nd 2025 Tenerife Bluetrail 110k; 11th 2021 UTMB; 12th 2019 CCC
• Jessica Tipán Gutierrez (Ecuador) – 10th 2025 Transvulcania; 5th 2024 Tenerife Bluetrail 70k; 8th 2023 Les Templiers 80k
• Ida-Sophie Hegemann (Germany) – 15th 2023 TWC Long Trail; 1st 2025 Pitz Alpine Glacier Trail 60k; 1st 2025 Grand Raid Ventoux 125k; 1st 2024 Istria 100 Mile
• Martina Klančnik Potrč (Slovenia) – 2nd 2025 MIUT; 3rd 2025 Transgrancanaria; 3rd 2024 Transgrancanaria 80k
• Veronika Leng (Slovakia) – 5th 2025 & 11th 2024 CCC; 1st 2024 TransLantau 50k; 3rd 2024 Hong Kong 100k
• Sara-Rebekka Færø Linde (Norway) – 14th 2023 TWC Long Trail; 4th 2025, 5th 2024, & 2nd 2023 Penyagolosa MiM 60k
• Jazmine Lowther (Canada) – 8th 2025 & 4th 2022 OCC; 4th 2025 & 1st 2024 Speedgoat 50k; 1st 2024 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k; 2nd 2023 Transgrancanaria;
• 1st 2022 Canyons 100k
• Helen Mino Faukner (U.S.) – 2nd 2025 & 1st 2023 Broken Arrow Skyrace 46k; 3rd 2023 & 13th 2022 CCC; 1st 2023 Speedgoat 50k
• Mercedes Pila (Ecuador) – 2nd 2025, 2nd 2024, & 1st 2023 Penyagolosa CSP 100k
• Robyn Midren (Canada) – 3rd 2025 Lake Sonoma 50 Mile; 2nd 2023 JFK 50 Mile; 1st 2023 Squamish 50k
• Klaire Rhodes (U.S.) – 21st 2023 TWC Short Trail; 3rd 2025 Gorge Waterfalls 100k; 1st 2024 & 3rd 2023 The Rut 50k; 2nd 2024 Broken Arrow Skyrace 46k; 1st 2022 Moab Trail Marathon
• Eva-Maria Sperger (Germany) – 20th 2023 TWC Long Trail; 2nd 2025 & 2024 Eiger Ultra Trail 100k (the 2025 edition was weather-shortened); 3rd 2024 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k; 1st 2024 Tenerife Bluetrail 110k; 4th 2023 Diagonale des Fous; 6th 2023 Transgrancanaria
• Ariane Wilhem (Switzerland) – 1st 2025 Swiss Canyon Trail 100k; 2nd 2024 TDS; 1st 2024 MIUT 80k
• Katarzyna Wilk (Poland) – 6th 2025 Lavaredo 80k; 8th 2024 CCC

Call for Comments

• Which women do you think will handle the vert and rugged trails the best and emerge at the front of the field?
• Are there any teams or runners who we haven’t included who you think will contend at the front of the field?