The 2026 Trail Run World Championship: A Run to the Edge of the Mediterranean

This will be the fifth location to host the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship since the event was first held in 2008. What began as a Half Marathon championship in Hawaii has grown into the qualification-only finale of the XTERRA Trail Run World Series, with both Trail Marathon and Trail Half Marathon world titles now contested across age divisions.

In Gozo, the championship course will stretch far beyond a single climb or landmark. The Trail Marathon covers 50K, circling the island through coastal paths, clifftop trails, limestone tracks, valleys, villages, and open views across the Mediterranean. The Trail Half Marathon offers a 20K route in a shorter format, while open categories in both distances and a 12K Trail Run make the weekend accessible to runners who come for the experience as much as the title.

This is less about one result and more about a wider trail community meeting at the same event for different reasons. Some will arrive with the goal of becoming, or returning as, a World Champion. Some will be locals taking on familiar paths in a new way. Others will be visitors seeing Gozo for the first time from the edge of its cliffs, rather than through the window of a car or ferry.

For Joseph Portelli, that relationship with the island has been built across decades. A veteran marathon athlete, Gozo resident, 6-star major world marathons certificate holder, and long-time part of the trail community, he connects to the route deep down in his heart. “At 68 years old, trail running is still my greatest passion, and there’s nowhere I love running more than around Gozo. To me, age is just a number.”

The start list carries people who have built running into their lives. Some are testing themselves against age, distance, or doubt, but many take part because it’s become part of who they are.

The road to Gozo has been built through the XTERRA Trail Run World Series, a global pathway that connects runners across the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Launched in 2022, the series gives trail runners a structure with direction and goal setting while enticing us with the allure of each destination as a major reason to discover something new. 

No two courses in the series are asked to look the same. That is part of the point. Some runners earn their place through heat and dust. Others through rainforest, ridgelines, coastal wind, volcanic ground, or mountain climbs. The common thread goes beyond course boundaries, making the inner desires of each person the key to meeting each adventure head on and foot forward.

By the time athletes reach the World Championship, they bring the memory of the trails that got them here, the communities that hosted them, and the kilometers that turned an international series into a personal journey.

Mikaela Borg, a regular XTERRA Malta athlete and past XTERRA Trail Run European Championship Half Marathon winner, first discovered trail running through the XTERRA Gozo Trail Run before it was a championship venue. “XTERRA Gozo has a special place in my heart. In 2020, I took part in my first-ever trail run, and instantly fell in love with trail running.”

The world’s strongest age-group runners have arrived at the end of another pathway to a championship, but local athletes also get to have a first point of contact with the sport. A shorter distance 12K run also means a lot to anyone who dreams of moving through a magical place. But this little island is forever etched in history as the culmination of a global line that ran through countries like Borneo, Puerto Rico, Australia, Colombia, Germany, and back to the Mediterranean.

Sitting just north of Malta and reached by a short ferry across the Gozo Channel, it has the rare ability to feel both accessible and remote. Families, runners, and locals from Malta all cross the water together, leaving the main island behind before stepping into a friendly yet formidable frontier.

For many Maltese, that short crossing is part of the appeal. Gozo is close enough to reach with ease, yet far enough to feel like another world. The pace changes and the roads narrow. The sea stays close, but the island begins to feel like a place that asks to be explored slowly, even though the challenge to move quickly remains part of the objective. 

A full coastal circuit with cliffs that fall sharply into blue water, and open limestone paths. Through sheltered valleys, old villages, dotted with churches on the skyline. But above all, the collective response goes back to highlighting the sea views that keep returning when the route turns back toward the edge.

Jemima Farley resides in Malta, originally from the UK, and returning World Champion, speaks to the feeling that makes Gozo stand apart. “There really is just something special about the opportunity to race around an entire island. I can’t help it, the views are incredible and the rugged cliffs take my breath away every time I see them.”

Landry Benoit, XTERRA Trail Run Technical Director, sees that relationship between runner and land as central to the experience. “Trails carry a direct relationship with the earth beneath it, and Gozo expresses that through its ancient coastal paths.”

It is also a place that underlines the depths of ancient human history. Gozo is home to the Ġgantija temples, among the oldest freestanding stone structures in the world dating back to approximately 3600–2500 BC, alongside centuries old harbours, citadels, farm roads, and coastal settlements. For runners arriving from French Polynesia, Hong Kong, Brazil, Japan, Canada, and beyond, the weekend offers the chance to move through an island with its own significance in our planet's history. 

The global list of runners shows how far the series now reaches. Europe will be heavily represented, but the start line will also carry voices from North America, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Some athletes will arrive after years of attending XTERRA events. Others will be stepping into their first organized adventure weekend, drawn by the chance to run an island route that can be explained by those who know it well

Minister for Gozo and Planning, Clint Camilleri, placed the event within the island’s wider ambition to host international competition. “Events of this stature reflect our commitment to promoting the island as a destination capable of attracting and hosting high level world championship competitions, while further strengthening its international profile.”

The open categories add another layer. Gozo has its own loyal trail running community, and many local runners are entering because the event belongs to the island as much as it belongs to the series.

This is about championship ambitions, local pride and a warm welcome to anyone who wants to be part of it. Carlo Micallef, CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority, explains this well. “The Maltese Islands are the perfect stage for the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship, a place where the love of sport meets the raw beauty of our coastal landscapes, crystal-clear sea and an ideal climate for such events.”

The weekend includes a Community Coffee Run and Opening Ceremony on May 8, followed by championship and open races on May 9, then an Awards Ceremony and Lounge After Party in Għajnsielem. Around that are the carefully crafted spaces where the event surpasses that of a regular expo with food and music. It goes beyond words because the experience is immersive and even a child cheering for a parent or a grandmother supporting her kin will feel it. 

People come together through participation in nature. Families and supporters will make their own memories, and the host community will open its roads, trails, squares, and coastline to the world.

Nathan Farrugia, Race Director, put it simply. “Gozo is the perfect playground for nature-loving people aiming to mix athletic challenge with peace and harmony.”

The word “playground” fits because the island invites playful curiosity and rewards effort that often stays longer than results or awards.

The Trail Marathon and Trail Half Marathon remain the centre of the weekend, with age-division world titles awarded across both distances. The depth of the field is especially strong through the 30 to 49 age groups but youth and masters over 70 pursue the same path. Many runners often arrive with full lives outside the sport, and a clear understanding of what it takes to prepare for a course like Gozo.

This championship belongs to runners who have built the sport into their lives. Parents, professionals, lifelong competitors, late starters, returners, newcomers and those who have found trail running after years in other disciplines.

The open Trail Marathon, open Trail Half Marathon, and 12K Trail Run make space for that same idea in a different form. Not every runner needs a qualifying slot to be part of the weekend. Some are here for discovery, and others for the simple chance to say they ran around Gozo on World Championship weekend.

The nervous walk to the start, the heat that forces the field to slow, the village square at the finish that fuels the energy, and the stories traded during ceremonies and the afterparty connect us to a moment that will forever be cherished and difficult to replicate. 

For the full schedule, venue details, race information, and athlete instructions, runners and supporters can view the 2026 XTERRA Trail Run World Championship Athlete Guide. The full list of registered athletes is available through the official start list.

Highlights and updates will be shared through XTERRA Trail Run on Instagram, with more stories from the island following across XTERRA’s digital channels.

We’ve crossed continents together. On May 9, the trails reach the edge of the Mediterranean. This is where we meet for the 2026 XTERRA Trail Run World Championship.