Race rules

According to ITRA, it is a pedestrian race open to all, in a natural environment (mountain, forest, plains), with as little asphalt or paved road as possible, which should not exceed 20% of the course.

Terrain can vary (dirt roads, forest trails, single track) and the course must be properly marked. The race is ideally, but not necessarily, self-sufficient or semi-self-sufficient, and is run with sporting ethics, loyalty and solidarity with the environment.

Since 2015, through the ITRA – IAAF agreement, trail running has been recognized as part of athletics, within the ultra discipline, governed by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU).

By effort-kilometers: distance in kilometers plus one hundredth of the elevation gain in meters, rounded to the nearest whole number. Example: 65 km with 3,500 m of climbing = 65 + 35 = 100 effort-km.

The winning time is indicative, for an international-level winner (ITRA performance index of at least 830); it is not a required mark.

For World Championships, World Athletics uses two categories: short, 35 to 45 km with at least 1,500 m of elevation gain, and long, 75 to 85 km.

• Properly marked: runners receive enough information to complete the course without getting lost. This includes physical markings (flags, ribbons, markers, signs), permanent markings, the GPS track or map directions.
• Self-sufficiency or semi-self-sufficiency: runners must be autonomous between aid stations in terms of equipment, communications, food and drink.

ITRA members from five continents set out a charter describing the spirit of the sport: pushing yourself in beautiful, wild natural settings, sharing the passion with runners and volunteers, the pride of being a finisher and helping each other to the line.

• Authenticity: running in contact with nature, without artifice, in an environment that demands a lot from body and mind, with human relationships based on simplicity and respect for differences.
• Humility: acknowledging natural risks, however thorough the organization's measures, and knowing your own limits, to the point of being able to give up a race.
• Fair play: loyally accepting the written rules and their spirit, never cheating, rejecting all doping, and practicing mutual help and solidarity.
• Equity: the same conditions, rights and obligations for every athlete. Attention to the elite must never affect other runners.
• Respect: for others (local people, their culture and customs, and everyone you meet on the trail), for yourself (don't put your health at risk, no doping or self-medication abuse) and for the environment, which is fragile.
• Solidarity: always help anyone in danger or difficulty, in any circumstances.

No. Every athlete has the same conditions, whether elite, professional or amateur. Conditions in the assistance zones are the same for all runners: there is no special crew access for the elite.

• Register following the procedure published on the website. By registering you accept the race rules, manuals and policies.
• Spots go to the first athletes who complete the process, within the places opened by the organization.
• You provide your information and are responsible for checking that your name, ID, bib number, category, distance and division (men or women) are correct. Report any issue or change in person to the organization by 6:00 p.m. the day before the race. Changes made at kit pick-up or outside the deadlines do not change your bib or wristband.

• Participants must be over 18. Minors are accepted with the minor participation authorization signed by their legal guardian, which is also presented on paper at kit pick-up.
• Children under 12 always run with an adult; both must be registered. The organization may waive this if the child proves experience, requests it and meets all other requirements.
• The marathon requires a minimum age of 16. Distances over 50 km require runners to be over 18.
• The organization reserves the right to admit minors to long distances.
• Age is checked against your ID or passport. For categories, what counts is your age on December 31 of the race year.

Every runner uploads to the runner platform, before kit pick-up, a copy of their ID and the signed liability waiver.

• Medical certificate: issued by your doctor after a general check-up, dated no more than three months before, stating that you are in optimal physical condition for a high-performance event.
• Race certificate: training sessions proving the distance are also accepted; the record must show distance, time and date.
• If you cannot collect your kit in person, the authorized person presents the third-party authorization form and your mandatory gear.

Age-group awards are medals, for women and men. Your age is the one you will be on December 31 of the race year.

The women's 100-mile category is a single group, and the 80K has no women's 50+ category, because of the number of female runners in those distances. The 80K and 100 miles also have a single pairs category.

• It is one more format within the half marathon: the same course from Jordán to Barichara, starting with the half marathon group, with an 8 h 30 min time limit.
• The only difference is that the group is accompanied by two local guides. That does not replace good fitness: you need experience on hikes of more than 15 km, because the course climbs out of the canyon in hot weather.
• Each hiker carries their mandatory gear and their own food and water, and follows all the rules.
• If the guides consider that a participant cannot finish, they must stop at the nearest checkpoint; transport from there is at their own expense, or may carry an extra charge if provided by the organization.
• There are no positions: everyone who finishes gets a finisher medal and is ranked by age within the half marathon results.

• Two people, regardless of age or gender, in a single category per distance. Each partner meets the requirements of their distance and has the same rights and obligations as any runner, except for these specific rules.
• Starts and finishes: partners start together and stay together the whole way. The team's time is that of the last partner to cross the finish, a checkpoint or a cut-off.
• Help: partners may help each other (pulling, pushing, carrying gear). Mandatory gear is individual and each partner carries it at all times.
• Withdrawal: if one partner drops out, the other must accompany them to the next checkpoint or until the organization evacuates them in an emergency.
• Continuing alone: a partner who wants to continue alone must be authorized and recorded on the judge's sheet at the nearest checkpoint. They receive a finisher medal and all services, but no official time or ranking.
• Penalties and expulsion: any penalty to one partner applies to the team; if both are penalized for missing gear, the penalties add up. Expelling one partner applies to the team.
• Awards: medals for the top three pairs and in-kind prizes when available. No prize money, and partners are not ranked overall or by age.

If you do not show up and someone else collects your kit, nobody may race in your name, with or without your bib. Anyone impersonating a registered runner will be disqualified and banned from future editions; if the registered runner authorized it, they receive the same sanction.

• Your race number goes on the front of your shirt or shorts, visible. If you wear a jacket, show your number to the judge at each checkpoint. It may not be altered (for example, cut) or covered with promotional items, and its advertising space must be respected.
• You may display your sponsors on your cap, gloves, pants, non-official shirt and shoes, never on the official shirt. The organization may reject advertising material from sponsored runners.
• The official shirt is not mandatory. If you wear it, keep it in its original condition, with no added advertising or cuts.
• The organization may place the race's and its sponsors' branding wherever it sees fit, including on participants and their gear.
• Image rights: images and comments captured during the race may be used by the organization and its sponsors to promote the event and other brands. Competitors waive any claim over that use. By signing the liability waiver you also authorize the processing of your personal data for institutional and marketing purposes.

Each participant is responsible for their own actions and for any breach of the rules by their crew. You decide whether to continue racing, unless the organization excludes you for health or disciplinary reasons. Get the medical check-ups you need to make sure you are fit to race.

The canyon is a fragile natural environment and all of us (runners, organizers, sponsors and supporters) commit to protecting its balance:

• Carry your personal cup: drinks are only served in it.
• Carry your waste to the organization's bins. Dropping or not picking up your litter costs a 1-hour penalty.
• Do not collect stones, plants, insects or other objects from the course: that also costs 1 hour.
• Choose public or shared transport.

Read the full environmental plan in Eco-responsibility.

• The list of mandatory and prohibited gear is published on the website and is part of these rules.
• You must show it whenever a course judge, checkpoint judge or authorized person asks, anywhere on the course, including the start and finish. Judges may refuse a runner for missing or substandard gear.
• Missing mandatory gear is penalized with time or by holding the runner at the checkpoint, depending on how serious it is.
• Presenting your complete gear is mandatory to receive your kit. Before that you must have completed the information form, uploaded your documents and signed liability waiver, and have a 100% confirmed entry.

The organization sets up aid points on the course, normally at the mandatory checkpoints. Each one is described before the race, with the products and services it offers. Drinks are served only in the runner's personal cup. All runners receive the same attention, depending on the staff available and the number of runners at that moment.

• These are clearly defined assistance points where family or friends may help their runner with food, drinks, massage, information and clothing. They are listed in each distance's technical information.
• For comfort and space, one supporter per runner may enter each PCAA, and only once the runner is arriving at the checkpoint.
• Supporters must follow the organization's rules on discipline, the environment and respect for runners, staff and the community. The runner is responsible for their behavior.

• Friends, family and members of the public may not run the course or enter competition areas. They may only accompany a runner from 100 meters before a PCAA or the finish to 100 meters after it. Any other pacing counts as unauthorized assistance and is penalized.
• Leaving objects on the course for a runner to pick up, or collecting items a runner leaves behind, is prohibited.
• Outside the PCAAs, runners may not accept food or drink from members of the public, except spontaneous offers from local residents. You may buy food at shops along the way.
• Runners may not be pushed or towed by other runners or outsiders.

A runner who is accompanied or helped on all or part of the course by unregistered athletes will be eliminated. Unregistered people using the organization's services (transport, food, drinks, medical or rescue services) will be reported and removed by the authorities, and any costs they generate are borne by the runner they were accompanying. The organization may pursue those costs through legal channels and make the case public.

• In the 80K you have one personal bag at one point on the course; in the 100 miles, two bags at strategic points. The locations are published in each distance's information.
• You may pack food, drinks, shoes, clothing, other race items or spare mandatory gear. Everything must go inside the bag, which only the runner opens and closes: loose items are not accepted.
• The organization transports the bags and returns them at the finish on showing your number. Since contents are not checked, the organization is not liable for total or partial loss or damage.

If a certified medical condition means you need different food or drinks from those provided, you must be 100% self-sufficient (except at PCAAs) or arrange with the organization, 24 hours before the start, to have your food taken to the aid stations. This is an exceptional case and has lower priority than the organization's own transport.

• The finish area is reserved for staff and arriving runners. Contact with the public and families takes place outside the marked zone.
• Families, friends and the public receive official information only at the start and finish; no participant information is given by phone. The organization posts general updates on social media and the website, and a live results page shows which checkpoints each runner has passed.

• The ceremony is open to the public, at the Plazoleta Guanentá of Centro Comercial El Puente, and streamed live.
• Prize money and sponsor prizes for the top three men and women in the overall ranking of each distance. Not for age groups.
• Medals for the top three in each age group, women and men.
• Raffles for every participant who takes the start.

See this edition's details in Awards.