Claire Bannwarth and Luca Papi return to Gran Canaria to defend their reign in the 360º The Challenge, which will take place from the 15th to the 19th of November. In 2022, the French runner won her third victory in the race by completing the demanding course of 272 kilometres and 14,000 metres of elevation gain, breaking the 60-hour barrier and finishing in fourth place in the general classification. For his part, the Italian athlete won his fourth victory in the 360º The Challenge thanks to a spectacular comeback in the last 50 kilometres that allowed him to cross the finish line as the winner in just over 54 hours of running. The town of Tejeda will once again be the epicentre of one of the most extreme events in the world of trail running, bringing together the best athletes specialising in self-sufficiency events.
One of the great news for this eighth edition is the premiere of the relay race. The participants will have to divide the more than 250 kilometres and 12,000 metres of elevation gain into different sections in order to find the best strategy to reach the finish line. This new category allows runners to venture into self-sufficiency and unmarked races, where, in addition to a remarkable physical fitness, good orienteering skills are essential. The pairs, who will face the same course and will have the same time limit (101 hours) as the runners in the individual version, will have to decide which intervals each of them will do during the race, although they will always have to pass the baton inside the life bases located along the route. One of the participants will start with the rest of the participants from Tejeda and, in order to finish this adventure, both of them will have to cross the finish line together in the town of Tejeda.