European titles brought runners to Oybin, where forest trails, familiar faces and good company made a challenging day in the mountains one to enjoy together.
The 2026 XTERRA European Trail Run Championship took place on Saturday, October 17, in Kurort Oybin, Germany. Antonia Horn and Tomáš Hudec won the Trail Marathon, while Lada Štalzerová and Patrik Juhász claimed the Trail Half Marathon titles.
The championship brought visiting runners into a region whose connection with XTERRA reaches back more than two decades. Old border paths wound between sandstone formations and through autumn forests before returning runners to the village beneath Oybin’s castle and monastery ruins.
The climbs gave everyone plenty to work through, and the finish offered time to catch up with the people they had met along the way. For the new champions, their first reflections included respect for their competitors, the pleasure of running somewhere new and honest accounts of the difficult moments.
Trail Marathon
Germany’s Antonia Horn recovered from a difficult start to win the women’s Trail Marathon, finishing just ahead of Elizabeth Ungermanová of the Czech Republic. Ann-Kathrin Deubner completed the podium for Germany.
“I had a really hard start of the race,” Horn said. Rather than letting that opening decide her day, she brought her attention back to what she enjoys about running and gradually worked her way forward. “I came closer and closer, and in the end it worked.”
Tomáš Hudec led a Czech one-two in the men’s race ahead of Robert Heczko, with Germany’s Iven Hickmann third. The Trail Marathon course kept runners climbing and descending through the mountains, leaving few opportunities to settle into an easy section.
“It was very demanding because it was all the time up and down, up and down,” Hudec said. “It was hard, but happy to make it to the finish.”
Trail Half Marathon
Lada Štalzerová led another Czech one-two in the women’s Trail Half Marathon, finishing ahead of her Czech Skyrunning Team teammate Alexandra Frankova. Germany’s Anna-Maria Dietze took third.
Štalzerová’s route back to Oybin included some unexpected extra distance after she lost her way on the course. She spoke openly about the additional climbing and descending, then smiled when reminded that she had still managed to win.
Hungary’s Patrik Juhász won the men’s title ahead of Germany’s Daniel Claus and the Czech Republic’s Dominik Chlupáč. He was still taking in the result when he spoke afterward.
“I can’t even believe it now. The course was very good,” he said. “The people who I ran with were very strong, so it was a good race, so I enjoyed it very much.”
His appreciation for the runners around him captured something familiar about a day on the Trail Half Marathon course. Strong competition and the enjoyment of being out there together remained in harmony alongside one another.
Back in Oybin
The finish line stayed active as age-group runners returned from the trails. Some arrived side by side, others with both arms raised. One woman threw her head back laughing as she came through.
Switzerland’s Julia Martin and Germany’s Florian Uhlig won the under-20 Trail Half Marathon titles, while the Czech Republic’s Zdeněk Pavlíček became champion among the men in their seventies. Trail Marathon age-group champions included Austria’s Christina Herbst, Poland’s Piotr Cibart and Germany’s Kerstin Hommel and Gunther Hörichs.
Their finishes gave friends and supporters plenty to celebrate after hours spent out in the mountains. Around the village, runners could put down their poles, collect their medals and enjoy being back among the people who had come with them.
The XTERRA Trail Run World Series offers more opportunities to explore new trails in good company. Both championship races in Oybin offered qualifying places for the 2027 XTERRA Trail Run World Championship in Gozo, Malta, where coastal paths and clifftop trails await.
Visit the event page for full results. Hear from the champions in the Trail Marathon interviews and Trail Half Marathon interviews, and follow the race-day highlights.
