KV Tagoja 2027: date, location and the 2026 route

Plan your race pace

KV Tagoja 2027 will take place on Saturday, 20 March in Santa Cruz de La Palma in the Canary Islands. It will be the opening race of the FEDME Spanish Vertical Cup, bringing mountain runners together for a competition focused on climbing.

The date, location and place in the Spanish Cup are confirmed. The distance, elevation gain, timetable and registration details for 2027 remain to be announced. The 2026 figures provide a guide to the previous edition, but the new race rules may change them.

Race date and location in 2027

The race will be held on 20 March 2027 in Santa Cruz de La Palma, a municipality on the island of La Palma in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Its position as the first stop in the FEDME Spanish Vertical Cup gives it a prominent place in the national mountain running calendar.

The race date alone does not establish the full weekend schedule. For those travelling from outside the island, the time and place for bib collection, as well as the start location and return options from the finish, are important details before booking transport and accommodation.

The 2026 route as a guide

At the edition held on 18 April 2026, the vertical kilometre covered 4.9 kilometres with 1,000 metres of elevation gain, finishing at Montaña Tagoja. Elevation gain measures the total metres climbed, not the length of the route: a relatively short distance can still involve a substantial effort.

Those figures describe a course far steeper than a typical road race. In this format, a runner cannot directly apply their pace per kilometre from a flat race: the gradient and terrain affect the time needed to complete the climb.

For 2026, Fecamon announced routes adapted to several age categories: approximately 3 kilometres with 500 metres of climbing for cadets, and 4 kilometres with around 700 metres of climbing for youth and junior runners. The under-23, open and veteran categories were assigned the full course, described approximately as 5 kilometres with 1,000 metres of elevation gain.

That year, the distance changes also affected the Canary Islands Club Championship standings: youth and junior runners were excluded from the team scoring formula. The age groups, category distances and scoring conditions for 2027 will need to be set out in its own rules.

The previous edition’s double vertical kilometre

In 2026, the KV was held alongside the 2KV Pico de la Nieve, a 13-kilometre race with more than 2,200 metres of elevation gain, finishing at Pico de la Nieve. The combined programme therefore offered two challenges with different distances and amounts of climbing.

The return of the 2KV has not been confirmed for 2027. Its inclusion in the previous edition does not mean it will necessarily be held again, and its figures should not be used to plan for the next event.

Registration and participation

The 2026 edition brought together around 200 participants and counted towards the Spanish Cup, while also hosting the Canary Islands vertical kilometre and double vertical kilometre championships. Runners from different Spanish regions and islands gave the event a reach beyond the local calendar.

The 2027 entry fee, registration process and participation conditions remain to be announced. Before paying, the rules will also establish whether an entry can be transferred or cancelled and what happens to the fee if an injury prevents a runner from attending; conditions from another race should not be assumed to apply.

A runner’s category can affect both the course and the standings. Those hoping to score individually or with a club will need to know the federation requirements and the rules for the relevant edition.

Climbing at the heart of the race

In a vertical kilometre, the competitive challenge centres on gaining height. The 2026 figures show the scale of the effort: 1,000 metres of climbing over 4.9 kilometres represents an approximate average gradient of 20%, although the gradient varies along the route and does not by itself describe the difficulty of the terrain.

Walking on the steepest sections can be part of the strategy even for experienced runners. The effort of climbing, the surface and weather conditions also influence footwear and equipment choices. If the organisers set a mandatory kit list for 2027, runners will need to comply with it before starting.