Weekly Trail Running Recap 18-25th May

Zegama records, Mozart 100 chaos and the ultra season fully heating up

The past week in trail running felt like a full reset of the season narrative.

Between record-breaking performances at Zegama-Aizkorri and a stacked weekend at mozart 100 by UTMB, the sport suddenly feels deep into peak European mountain racing season.

Tove destroys the Zegama record

The biggest performance of the week came from Tove Alexandersson.

In brutal mud and rain, she won Zegama in 4:08:09 — smashing the previous women’s course record despite conditions that should have made fast times impossible.

On the men’s side, Elhousine Elazzaoui defended his title and became the first man since Kilian Jornet to win back-to-back editions of the race. Meanwhile, Jornet himself struggled physically and finished far down the field in a rare off-day at the race most associated with his legacy.

Mozart 100 brings deep international fields

Over in Austria, mozart 100 by UTMB delivered strong depth across all distances.

In the main 119 km event, Alessandro Affolati took the win ahead of French runners Jérémie Marin and Sébastien Leday.

The women’s race was won by Jana Dobrovolná, with Magdalena Kraszpulska and Kimino Miyazaki rounding out the podium.

The race also saw heavy attrition, with 215 DNFs from 545 starters — another reminder how demanding the longer UTMB World Series races have become.

Scandinavian names shine in the Ultra race

The 72 km Mozart Ultra brought one of the strongest Scandinavian performances of the weekend.

Mari Wetterhus finished second in the women’s race behind Germany’s Severine Petersen, while Poland’s Miłosz Szczęśniewski won the men’s race ahead of Spain’s Andreu Simon Aymerich.

Marathon and Half Marathon races stay competitive

The shorter Mozart distances also drew deep international competition.

In the marathon, Italy’s Tobias Geiser claimed victory, while Austria’s Isabell Speer won the women’s race.

Meanwhile, the Half Marathon saw Austria’s Daniel Peer and Germany’s Nadine Hubel take the wins — with Norway represented on the podium through Åsmund Kjøllmoen Steien in third.

What the week showed

If there’s one theme emerging right now, it’s depth.

The front of trail running feels more international than ever, women continue rewriting expectations at the top level, and races increasingly seem decided by who manages fatigue best rather than who attacks hardest early.

And with Western States, Broken Arrow and the heart of the UTMB season still ahead, the biggest weekends of 2026 may only be starting.