Sweden’s Tove Alexandersson (pre-race and post-race interviews) won the 2026 Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon and smashed the women’s course record with a time of 4:08:09, while Morocco’s Elhousine Elazzaoui (pre-race and post-race interviews) edged Italy’s Daniel Pattis (pre-race interview) to repeat as men’s winner in 3:45:07.
Sweden’s Tove Alexandersson on her way to winning the 2026 Zegama Marathon. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
The race around the Aizkorri Massif started at 9 a.m. local time on Sunday, May 17. Rain in the days leading up to the race and even snow up high made for muddy trails, but the skies were dry on race day. It was the race’s 25th year, the first race of this year’s Golden Trail World Series, and there was again an absolutely electric atmosphere with thousands of spectators lining the Basque Country course. There was a 3,000 Euro cash prize to the winners, with prize money paid 10 deep.
Alexandersson led all of the women’s race, and even with difficult conditions, broke Nienke Brinkman’s 4:16:43 course record, which had stood since 2022. Alexandersson finished over eight minutes better than history, and she was almost 16 minutes better than second-place Malen Osa from Spain. In a performance reminiscent of her fall 2025 Trail World Championships Short Trail win, Alexandersson truly looks to be racing at a level better than everyone else.
In the men’s race, Switzerland’s Rémi Bonnet (pre-race interview) blitzed the early climbs and went way up on course record pace, set by Kilian Jornet in 2022 at 3:36:40. Elazzaoui and Pattis chased him down near the halfway point, and Elazzaoui got away from Pattis on the final downhill to win by 20 seconds.
The start of the 2026 Zegama Marathon. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
The race was run on an historic loop that started and finished in the village of Zegama in northeastern Spain. The course climbed four of the highest peaks in the area — Aratz, Aizkorri, Aitxuri, and Andraitz — and then descended back to Zegama. The mountain course has 2,736 meters (8,976 feet) of climbing over 42 kilometers (26.2 miles). The first 16k was nearly all up as the race climbed up to Aratz before briefly dropping back down ahead of the Sancti Spiritu climb at 20k. This is the “wall of noise” the race has become known for, and spectators lined the steep 600-meter climb 10-deep on either side. The cycle repeated with another spectator-lined downhill and climb, and a final 12k descent back to Zegama, where thousands of fans awaited the runners.
Read on to see how it all played out.
2026 Zegama Marathon Women’s Race
Defending champion Sara Alonso (pre-race interview) of Spain and Tove Alexandersson (pre-race and post-race interviews) of Sweden stood side by side at the start, but that was the last time Alonso or anyone else would see Alexandersson, as she moved to a quick early lead that ballooned by the end of the race.
A multisport athlete and a multi-time world champion across trail running, orienteering, ski orienteering, and ski mountaineering, Alexandersson is, for the first time, prioritizing trail running in 2026. She was on course in Spain for more than a week ahead of race day, and her skill and fitness appear without parallel.
Tove Alexandersson ascends through the famous crowds of Sancti Spiritu during the 2026 Zegama Marathon. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Racing on muddy trails and at Zegama for the first time, Alexandersson was wearing full-length tights, similar to the 2025 Trail World Championships race, when she won by 34 minutes against a world-class field.
Alexandersson already had a two-minute lead on Alonso at the 8.5-kilometer checkpoint, and Norway’s Ida Amelie Robsahm was in third ahead of fourth-place Judith Wyder (pre-race interview) of Switzerland.
Despite the course conditions, originally thought to have taken away any chance of a course record, Alexandersson was only 14 seconds behind Nienke Brinkman’s 2022 record split at the 13.5k mark. Her lead over Alonso was now nearly four minutes. Robsahm was still third, but María Fuentes from Spain had moved to fourth as Wyder started to fall further back.
Malen Osa of Spain begins the final descent of the 2026 Zegama Marathon, where she’d take second. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
At 16k, after the race’s first big climb, Alexandersson was now 15 seconds ahead of Brinkman’s record. She’d continue to put more time into the record for the rest of the race. Alonso was still second here, and 45 seconds behind her winning pace from last year. After a patient start, Malen Osa (Spain) moved into fifth for the first time on the day, and she’d move up the rest of the way.
Near the halfway point at 23k, Alexandersson’s runaway lead had grown to 11 minutes, and she was now over three minutes faster than course record pace. Alonso was still second, but Osa lurked only 38 seconds back and would overtake Alonso within the next 5k.
The podium positions — Alexandersson, Osa, and Alonso — were thus locked in the rest of the way.
Sara Alonso of Spain took third at the 2026 Zegama Marathon. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Tove Alexandersson would continue to gain time on the record through the race’s second half and win in 4:08:09.
Local runner Malen Osa finished in 4:23:56 for second. Osa’s time was a big improvement on her 4:35 from 2024 and 4:31 from 2025, and the race’s third-fastest finish ever, trailing only Alexandersson and Brinkman. It was her third straight podium finish here, too.
The defending champion from 2025, Sara Alonso, also a local runner, was third in 4:25:51.
Ida Amelie Robsahm was never any worse than fourth and finished there in 4:28:19. Similarly, María Fuentes was never any worse than fifth and finished there in 4:33:10.
Spain’s María Fuentes was a crowd favorite on the Sancti Spiritu climb of the 2026 Zegama Marathon. She would eventually finish fifth. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2026 Zegama Marathon Women’s Results
- Tove Alexandersson (Sweden) – 4:08:09 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- Malen Osa (Spain) – 4:23:56
- Sara Alonso (Spain) – 4:25:51 (pre-race interview)
- Ida Amelie Robsahm (Norway) – 4:28:19
- María Fuentes (Spain) – 4:33:10
- Judith Wyder (Switzerland) – 4:38:31 (pre-race interview)
- Barbora Bukovjan (Czech Republic) – 4:39:22
- Lucille Germain (France) – 4:40:15
- Julie Lelong (France) – 4:43:36
- Estel Roig (Spain) – 4:45:28
The top five women of the 2026 Zegama Marathon (left to right): 5. María Fuentes, 2. Malen Osa, 1. Tove Alexandersson, 3. Sara Alonso, 4. Ida Amelie Robsahm. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2026 Zegama Marathon Men’s Race
After an 800-meter run through town at the start, the course started climbing, and Switzerland’s Rémi Bonnet (pre-race interview) jumped to an early lead. A climbing powerhouse, Bonnet was strategically working his favored uphill terrain ahead of the race’s pivotal, late-race downhill. Fellow Swiss runner Adrien Briffod and Spain’s 11-time Zegama champion Kilian Jornet were out quickly, too.
Bonnet stayed on the gas and fully opened a gap on his chasers 30 minutes into the race. Behind the frontrunner, defending champion Elhousine Elazzaoui (pre-race and post-race interviews) of Morocco was now lining up alongside Jornet and Briffod. Italy’s Daniel Pattis (pre-race interview) and Taylor Stack from the U.S. soon joined to make it a five-man chase pack 45 minutes into the race, but Bonnet was now over a minute in front. At the 13.5k checkpoint, Elazzaoui was running over two minutes faster than he did in 2025, but Bonnet was even faster and was 47 seconds better than Jornet’s 2022 course record split.
Elhousine Elazzaoui, 2026 Zegama Marathon champion, for a second year in a row. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
The first high point came at 16k, and Bonnet was still in the lead, but Pattis and company had already started to close the gap, and Bonnet’s lead on the course record was starting to shrink too. Elazzaoui was now third and a few seconds behind second-place Pattis, and fourth-place Jornet was now 40 seconds behind Pattis. Briffod was gone entirely from the front group and would finish outside the top 10.
Bonnet briefly turned to acknowledge the fans at the bottom of the crowded, spectator-lined Sancti Spiritu 600-meter climb 20k into the race. Trouble was coming, though. At the top, Bonnet had fallen behind course record pace for the first time on the day, and more critically, Pattis was now just nine seconds behind. Elazzaoui was closing in third, six seconds behind Pattis, and Stack was in fourth just ahead of Jornet. The 11-time champion, Jornet, would fall down the leaderboard the rest of the way and finish outside the top 10, reportedly with a leg issue.
Elhousine Elazzaoui chases Daniel Pattis at the top of the final descent of the 2026 Zegama Marathon, where the two would take first and second. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
By 23k, Pattis and Elazzaoui had both swallowed up Bonnet, and it was a profound leap. Bonnet was immediately gone from the lead. Pattis led Elazzaoui by 11 seconds, and both were nearly two minutes ahead of the now third-place Bonnet. The course record watch, however, was over. Race leader Pattis was four minutes back of Jornet’s 2022 split.
After stalking him through the middle of the race, Elazzaoui finally pulled even with Pattis at 28k, and the two wouldn’t separate until the final kilometers, albeit in a very predictable manner.
Elhousine Elazzaoui, as he has so many times before, went on to blast the final downhill and won in 3:45:07. The two-time Golden Trail World Series overall winner again looks primed for a run at the series win.
The U.S.’s Taylor Stack made moves late to move into third place at the 2026 Zegama Marathon. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Daniel Pattis improved on last year’s third-place finish with a second-place run in 3:45:27, only 20 seconds behind Elazzaoui.
The 2023 race winner and downhill ace, Manuel Merillas from Spain, briefly passed Bonnet early in the final downhill, but Taylor Stack jumped over both to finish third in 3:52:17, a rare occurrence of an American podiuming at this race.
Manuel Merillas was fourth in 3:53:14, and Robert Pkemoi of Kenya moved into fifth late with a 3:53:28 finish time. Rémi Bonnet ultimately got around the loop in 3:53:57 for sixth place.
The next Golden Trail World Series race is the Ledro Sky Trentino race in Italy on May 24 — just next weekend.
Kilian Jornet in the crowds of Sancti Spiritu during the 2026 Zegama Marathon. While he ran with the leaders early, he moved back later with a reported leg issue. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2026 Zegama Marathon Men’s Results
- Elhousine Elazzaoui (Morocco) – 3:45:07 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- Daniel Pattis (Italy) – 3:45:27 (pre-race interview)
- Taylor Stack (U.S.) – 3:52:17
- Manuel Merillas (Spain) – 3:53:14
- Robert Pkemoi (Kenya) – 3:53:28
- Rémi Bonnet (Switzerland) – 3:53:57 (pre-race interview)
- Maximilien Drion (Belgium) – 3:55:05
- Benjamin Roubiol (France) – 3:55:21
- Aitor Ajuria (Spain) – 3:57:56
- Antonio Martínez (Spain) – 3:58:20
The top five men of the 2026 Zegama Marathon (left to right): 5. Manuel Merillas, 2. Daniel Pattis, 1. Elhousine Elazzaoui, 3. Taylor Stack, 5. Robert Pkemoi. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
