Barcelona Trail Races: guide to the Collserola race

Plan your race pace

Barcelona Trail Races is one of the most distinctive events in trail running in Spain: a mountain circuit that starts and finishes just a step away from the city, over the rolling terrain of the Collserola natural park. Its identity does not depend on great peaks or alpine toughness, but on something rarer and more valuable for many runners: a fast, continuous race very close to urban asphalt, but already deep in the Mediterranean forest.

Since its debut in 2013, the race has evolved from the old Ultratrail Collserola format to establish itself as a major endurance loop around Barcelona. In the most recent editions, the main course has been around 76.9 kilometers and some 2,955 meters of positive elevation gain, with start and finish at the Horta Velodrome. That balance between accessibility and demand has made it a reference for anyone looking for an entry-level ultra, although the pace it imposes can empty your legs much sooner than its elevation profile suggests.

A race born to showcase Collserola

The origin of the race is tied to the desire to show Barcelona’s green lung. Collserola, the huge metropolitan park between the city and the coastal range, offers a geography of gentle hills, wide trails, long climbs and track sections that allow you to run for a long time without major interruptions. That was always the essence of the event: not to separate the mountain from the city, but to bring them into conversation along the same route.

The evolution of the name also tells its story. In the early years it appeared as Ultratrail Collserola, then went through different commercial formulas and eventually settled as Barcelona Trail Races. Beyond the label, the spirit remained the same: a great circular route that explores the most recognizable corners of the park and that, unlike other more technical ultras, favors those who know how to sustain a steady effort for hours.

That urban-mountain character has a special value. There are not many events where a runner can start from a metropolitan setting and, in a matter of minutes, enter a race where navigation, patience and heart-rate control take over. The result is an experience that feels close and, at the same time, deeply trail: pine trees, night humidity, punishing descents, strategic aid stations and that Barcelona light that seems to stay in the background, as a reminder that the adventure happens without going too far from the city.

The course and its way of punishing without seeming brutal

The toughness of Barcelona Trail Races does not come from impossible ramps, but from the repetition of effort. The route has been described as a true leg-breaker because it alternates false flats, not-too-aggressive descents and gentle climbs that do not allow you to relax. The gradient never shoots up for too long, but it never really gives you a break either. The body runs, brakes, runs again and enters a kind of uncomfortable metronome that wears down the muscles quietly.

In performance analyses, the winners of the long distance have posted approximate paces of between 5 and 6 minutes per kilometer, a figure that explains very well what kind of race this is. It is not about surviving extreme terrain, but about sustaining speed on ground that does not let you breathe. That is precisely Collserola’s trap: it looks friendly from afar, almost domestic, but it demands constant concentration, good management of aid station stops and a fine reading of effort.

The organization has been adapting the design to comply with park regulations and improve the flow of the route. In 2021, the course changed direction and went on to total 76.9 kilometers with 2,955 meters of positive elevation gain. That adjustment did not just alter the map; it also changed the runner’s sensations, with stretches between aid stations more balanced and a full loop around the park even more complete from a sporting point of view.

The start from the Horta Velodrome adds a very recognizable nuance. It is not just any starting line: the place brings together that mix of urban infrastructure and immediate access to the mountain that defines the race. Starting from Barcelona and, almost without transition, stepping into the forest gives the event a personality that is very hard to imitate in other Spanish ultras.

Distances, formats and the weight of the relays

Barcelona Trail Races was not always a single distance. In its first editions it offered several options, from 74, 80 or 85-kilometer formats to shorter races of 43, 45, 46, 38, 23 or 21 kilometers, as well as the addition of a relay race. That diversity helped the brand grow quickly and allowed different runner profiles to find their place in Collserola.

Over time, the race was simplified and consolidated a long-distance route as its central core. The relay, introduced in 2017, became one of the event’s most striking formats. At first it was contested by teams of two runners and a single fixed exchange point; later, from 2018 on, the format expanded to teams of two to five members, with the option of deciding the handoff at one of the aid stations. That flexibility added an interesting tactical component and opened the door to another way of experiencing the mountain, more shared and less solitary.

The logic of those relays matters because it explains part of the race’s social appeal. Collserola, unlike many high-mountain ultras, does not need the runner to isolate themselves in a remote landscape to be memorable. The collaboration between teammates, the management of turns and the choice of the relay point turn the event into a sporting challenge, yes, but also into a team strategy experience. In a sport so associated with individual effort, that variation freshens the story.

A fast ultra for those coming from the city

One of the reasons this race often appears in recommendations for urban trail running is its relative accessibility. Not because it is easy, which it is not, but because it combines a serious distance with a mountain that is not very technical. There are trails, bends, pace changes and accumulated fatigue, but complicated passages or disproportionate slopes rarely appear. For the runner coming from road running or asphalt, that reduces part of the initial fear.

The location itself feeds that sense of closeness. The fact that the mountain is so close to Barcelona makes the race feel like both an escape route and an urban mirror. The runner moves from the city to the forest with an almost cinematic naturalness. That contrast, between traffic noise and the silence of the pines, is part of the race’s story and also of its appeal for those looking for a first long trail experience without jumping straight into an alpine ultra.

Even so, caution remains essential. The average speed of the best should not fool anyone: a fast mountain race is still a mountain race. The quads suffer, the calves tighten up and nutrition during the race plays a decisive role. When the course does not break the rhythm so much, the runner tends to push harder than they should, and that is where the accumulated wear appears later in the form of a slump.

The key is to understand its hybrid nature. It is not a postcard alpine race or a simple outing on metropolitan belt trails. It is a race designed to be run for real, with pace changes and a continuity that demands concentration. That is why so many different profiles have used it as a bridge between asphalt and long mountain distances.

The roll of honor and the sporting level it has reached

The list of winners helps place the race’s competitive prestige. Through Collserola have passed names of great weight in trail running and mountain races, such as Roberto Heras, Pau Capell, Gerard Morales, Laia Díez, Eva Mesado, Iván Camps or Anders Aagaard Hansen, among others. That presence of runners with international experience confirms that the event, despite its accessible profile, demands a lot to win.

In the 2013 edition, the victories in the main distances went to Toti Bes and Judit Franch in the long race, while later other notable winners appeared who consolidated the race’s prestige. Gerard Morales dominated in 2014, Roberto Heras shone in 2015 in the 38-kilometer distance, and years later solid marks emerged such as those of Sergio Masip, Carlos Merlos or Aran de Mingo. In the women’s category, Laia Díez, Eva Mesado, Carme Tort and Julia Fatton were repeatedly among the protagonists.

That roll of honor is not just statistical decoration. It shows that the race combines a very attractive setting with a demanding sporting level and a fine tactical reading. Winning in Collserola does not depend only on climbing well or descending bravely; it also depends on the ability to sustain speed on terrain where the ground seems to help, but in reality does not forgive pacing mistakes. That is why the winning times are usually so revealing: they speak of endurance, precision and a race built on continuous drive.

What changed with park regulations and the passing of time

The relationship with the Collserola Natural Park has shaped the evolution of Barcelona Trail Races. Capacity restrictions and other limitations stemming from the natural area’s regulations have forced adjustments to formats, routes and logistics. Far from weakening the race, these adaptations have given it a more defined, more focused and more coherent identity with the environment that hosts it.

That kind of change is common in mountain races that cross protected spaces, but here it takes on special significance because the park is, at the same time, a sporting resource and a very sensitive environmental heritage. The runner is not only competing against elevation gain or the clock; they are also running within an ecological boundary that demands respect. The organization, therefore, has to move between sporting ambition and the care of an environment under pressure from the proximity of the metropolis.

The cancellation of 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions was another reminder of how much a race’s continuity depends on external factors. The later return reinforced the idea that Barcelona Trail Races was not a passing fad, but an established date on the Catalan trail calendar. And that, in an increasingly crowded calendar, matters a lot.

Why it remains a reference in Catalan trail running

Barcelona Trail Races occupies a rare and valuable place among Spanish mountain races. It does not compete with the giants of high mountain racing nor does it try to imitate the most technical formats of the Pyrenees or the Alps. Its merit lies elsewhere: in showing that a great city can generate a serious, tough trail experience with its own personality without needing to seek remote landscapes or extreme elevation gain.

For the runner, that means several things at once. It means logistical proximity, of course, but also a very recognizable kind of effort: one that is cooked slowly, with a steady pace and legs always under tension. It also means a landscape that changes its face throughout the day and a route that is not exhausted by a single spectacular image, but by a sum of small visual and physical blows. Sometimes a race does not need an epic summit to stay etched in memory; it is enough to have a sequence of forests, tracks, aid stations and sunrises or sunsets that keep sticking to the recollection.

Its journalistic value lies precisely there: in the coexistence of city and nature, of accessibility and endurance, of recent tradition and adaptability. Barcelona Trail Races is not just another mountain race on the calendar; it is a way of understanding trail running from the immediate outskirts of a major capital, with a recognizable identity and a history that has managed to grow without losing its link to Collserola.

Its strength lies in that balance. Seen from the outside, it looks like a nearby ultra; run it, and you discover that that closeness does not soften anything. On the contrary, it makes it more visible. Every climb, every runnable stretch and every pace change remind you that the terrain may seem friendly and yet still demand a full price. That, in the end, is what has kept the race’s reputation alive: the feeling that, in Barcelona, the mountain is not far away, but it does not give anything away either.