Zagori Mountain Running 2027: race guide

What it is and where it takes place

Zagori Mountain Running is the annual mountain-running event held in Zagori, in the Pindus range in Epirus. Every distance starts and finishes at Tsepelovo High School, and the 2027 edition is scheduled for 16-18 July. The official site itself describes the event as "the biggest mountain running race," which "turns 16 this year... and returns renewed, with many surprises."

The site's own etymology for the event's name: "za" means "beyond" and "gora" means "mountain" — together, "the place beyond the mountain," a phrase the organiser uses as its own motto for what runners experience.

Zagori and the Vikos-Aoos Geopark

Zagori comprises 46 villages, inside the area of the Vikos-Aoos National Park. The event's own site explains that the area, "because of its significant geological and geomorphological value," was "recognized as 'Vikos-Aoos Geopark' and joined the UNESCO European Geoparks Network in October 2010." Beyond that designation — the only one the race's own site mentions — the Zagori villages were separately inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the "Zagori Cultural Landscape" on 19 September 2023, at the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee.

The Vikos Gorge, which the same page describes as "listed as the deepest-steepest in world," sits at the Geopark's southern edge; Mount Gamila (2,497 m) dominates the Tymfi range above it. Among the 46 villages, Megalo and Mikro Papigo, Monodendri and Vikos stand out, with six more around the Park (Aristi, St. Minas, Vitsa, Kapesovo, Vradeto, Vrisochori) — several of which the race routes pass directly through.

The 7 distances — dates, times, elevation

• Challenge 93 km (60+33 km over 2 days): 17/7 (TeRA) at 05:00 and 18/7 (Classic) at 06:30 — maximum 100 athletes
• TeRA 60 km: 17/7, 05:00 — roughly 4,000 m of elevation gain, 15-hour time limit, intermediate cut-off at Moni Stomiou (4h45), maximum 300 athletes, 3 iTRA points
• Zagori Classic Race 33 km: 18/7, 06:30 — 2,080 m of positive elevation per the official page's route description (the same page states 2,100 m in its intro paragraph — the two figures do not match on the same page), 9-hour time limit, maximum 400 athletes, 2 iTRA points
• Half Marathon 21 km: 17/7, 07:30 — through the Tymfi mountain complex, no time limit
• Forest 10 km: 18/7, 08:45 — +430 m elevation gain, no time limit
• Fun 5 km: 17/7, 21:00 — +240 m elevation gain, circular route around Tsepelovo, no time limit
• ZAGORAKI (kids' race) 1 km: 17/7, starts 19:00

The Challenge: the new two-day format

The Challenge combines two races — TeRA (60 km) on day one and the Zagori Classic Race (33 km) on day two — for 93 km total over two days, not one continuous outing. Per the official site, "the Challenge race was held for the first time in 2024" — making it the newest category in the event, created "for all those athletes who wish to face the challenge of running 2 races back-to-back, pushing their personal limits." Its field is officially capped at 100 athletes, far smaller than TeRA (300) or Classic (400); the official site does not explain whether that cap is a logistics or a course-related decision.

The route: a mountain lake, a gorge, stone bridges

The TeRA (60 km) route, as the official site lists it: "Tsepelovo – Avalos – Siadi Mygas – Davalista – Dragon Lake (Drakolimni) – Astraka Refuge – Robozis Lake – Avgerinos – Beloi – Vradeto – Tsepelovo (finish)." That means it passes Tymfi's Dragon Lake (Drakolimni, at 2,050 m per the region's own description) and Beloi, the well-known viewpoint over the Vikos Gorge.

The Classic (33 km) route runs a circular course through 7 villages: "Tsepelovo – Kipoi – Koukouli – Vitsa – Monodendri – Kapesovo – Vradeto – Tsepelovo," crossing 6 stone "steps" (skales) and, per the race's own page, the stone bridges Hatsios, Kovatseinas, Kontodimos, the double-arched Misios Bridge (built 1748, between Koukouli and Vitsa), the "Pera" bridge and the "Dothe" bridge. The Half Marathon (21 km) crosses the Hatsios Bridge, with the entrance to the Vikos Gorge visible alongside it, before reaching Kipoi at its 10th km (the Main Aid Station); about 700 m past Kipoi it crosses the Tritoxo (triple-arch) Bridge, and then, at its 12.5th km, the historic Noutsos Bridge, also known as the Kokkoros Bridge (1750) — which the official site does not list as part of the Classic route.

History: from 2011 to "the biggest mountain running race"

The official site publishes a results archive running from 2011 to the present, with the year 2020 missing from the list of years — the site gives no reason for the gap. In its own history narrative, the site states that "in 2014, registrations reached 1,700 participants" and that "2017 was a turning point for the ZMR": registrations passed 2,000, with athletes from 40 different countries.

For 2026, the same site announced on 22 June 2026 that "all available entries for Zagori Mountain Running 2026 have now been sold out, once again confirming the event's popularity and the continuously growing enthusiasm of the trail running community" — a demand signal, though it does not give an exact total field size. That announcement's own title ("SOLD OUT – Registration Extension") shows it was not final: the organiser released a limited number of additional entries the same day and extended registration again on 29 June 2026 (PLUS packages open until 1 July, BASIC packages open for a few more days) — worth knowing for anyone watching the same process for 2027.

Registration, cost, and what has not been published yet for 2027

As checked on 29/9/2026, the registration page stated only that "registrations for the ZMR26 races have now closed" — there was no mention yet of a 2027 registration opening date or entry fee. Bib2bib does not publish its own entry-fee figure when the official site has not announced one yet; the recent history (2026 sold out) is a reason to watch the official page early.

The organiser does not publish an official course record for any distance on these pages — the results archive links out to separate per-year pages or files, none of which were opened in this fact-check for a specific record time, so no record figure is stated here.

Why it draws foreign trail runners

Beyond the Geopark scenery, the event's international pull already showed up in 2017 (40 countries), and the official site itself talks about an event that "returns renewed" each year. Bib2bib's own trail-running guide already ranks Zagori Mountain Running among the catalog's 4 biggest trail events, alongside the Sfakia Sky Marathon (Crete), the Taygetos Challenge (Peloponnese) and the Corfu Mountain Trail (Ionian) — and as the one clear exception to an otherwise quiet Greek summer trail calendar.

For visitors from abroad, the organiser does not itself arrange accommodation ("does not collaborate with any accommodation providers and is not involved in the process of finding or booking rooms"), but it does offer free camping at an organised site next to the Tsepelovo Student Hostel, just 150 metres from the start line.