Penedès Trailwalker 2027: 100 kilometres for a cause

Plan your race pace

Oxfam Intermón’s 100-kilometre trek through the Penedès will take place on April 10 and 11, 2027, with a maximum of 32 hours to complete the route along the Via Augusta. The challenge combines a long walk through rural paths and vineyards with a fundraising goal: each team must collect donations to contribute to the organisation’s work. This edition also introduces a relay option to distribute the effort more flexibly, although its use may be restricted on some sections.

The event is designed as a collective experience, not an individual speed contest. The core team consists of four walkers, accompanied by one or two support crew members who handle logistics. The route crosses the Penedès landscape and its Via Augusta, while checkpoints provide places to drink, eat and rest. The exact start and finish locations, start time and other operational details should be confirmed in the official information for this edition.

A 100-kilometre route along the Via Augusta

The long distance is the central challenge of the 2027 event: 100 kilometres within a maximum of 32 hours. The route follows the Via Augusta in the Penedès, a historic corridor crossing a rural landscape shaped by vineyards and paths. The challenge is not simply about accumulating kilometres; it requires staying in motion for many hours, managing the pace and coordinating the group’s decisions when fatigue, darkness or physical discomfort set in.

The available reference information does not specify the total elevation gain, the exact surface of every section or the precise start and finish points. Those details matter when assessing the real demands: one hundred kilometres on smooth tracks are not the same as a route with uneven ground or long climbs. Participants should therefore distinguish between the confirmed distance and route details that have yet to be published. The Via Augusta and the vineyards establish the setting, but they are no substitute for the official route profile.

The 32-hour limit gives a sense of the event’s character. To cover 100 kilometres within that window, the overall average needs to be around 3.1 kilometres per hour, including stops and rest breaks. That does not mean walking at exactly that pace all the time: relays, checkpoints and pauses change the calculation. It does show why teams need to manage their time carefully and avoid turning the opening kilometres into a race.

What changes in the team format

The basic setup remains a group of four walkers and a support crew of one or two people. The new feature announced for this edition is that support crew members may join the walk through relays, allowing the effort to be shared differently among team members. This option does not necessarily turn the event into a conventional relay race: the format remains collective and is subject to the conditions set by the organisers.

Relays may begin from kilometre 25. The organisers reserve the right to restrict or remove them on certain sections if they consider it necessary because of route conditions. This detail matters: the planned flexibility does not guarantee that a changeover can take place anywhere or at any time. Kilometre 25 is the announced reference point for starting relays, but teams will need to follow the final instructions and use only the authorised sections.

The group’s composition also affects the experience of walking together for so long. Four people may have different paces, levels of experience and tolerance for exertion; agreeing in advance on how to communicate, what to do if someone feels unwell and when to rest can keep a small difference from becoming a bigger problem. With or without relays, the shared commitment requires decisions that take the whole team into account, not just whoever feels strongest at a particular moment.

The support crew’s role during the walk

Support is not a decorative extra; it is an essential part of the logistics. One or two people will accompany the group by car and can provide food, drinks, a change of clothes and other items at planned points. They also help with coordination and morale when the accumulated hours begin to weigh heavily. In an event that may last through much of the day and night, knowing where the support crew will be helps organise breaks and prevents each walker from having to carry every item they might need.

The organisers allow one car per team in the official car parks, both because of limited space and for sustainability reasons. This means planning in advance what to transport and how to organise it, rather than relying on several vehicles meeting the group along the route. Support crew members should know where the checkpoints are, respect designated areas and follow any traffic guidance issued by the organisers.

The support crew’s work is not limited to event day. Logistics also involve planning meals, clothing changes, waiting times and how to respond if someone needs to stop. Checkpoints will provide places to drink, eat and rest, but the main meals must be supplied by the support crew. It is important to distinguish this role from the exact services available at each checkpoint, which remain subject to the detailed information for this edition.

Checkpoints, rest and food on a long-distance event

Checkpoints serve as reference stations on a route that, because of its duration, cannot be approached like an ordinary hike. Participants will be able to drink, eat and rest there. As well as meeting basic needs, each stop gives the group a chance to assess how everyone is doing and decide whether to continue, slow down or reorganise support. A checkpoint is most useful when the team has a realistic idea of what it needs, rather than assuming every station will provide any food or equipment.

The announced general arrangement makes the support crew responsible for providing the main meals. This makes organising the vehicle as important as preparing the walkers: supplies should be easy to reach, temperature changes should be anticipated and unnecessary items avoided. During a 32-hour trek, food and hydration are part of the effort, but individual needs vary and cannot be addressed with a universal formula.

It also makes sense to treat rest as a strategic decision, not wasted time. A short break can help restore energy, while stopping for too long may make it harder to meet the time limit. The team’s pace should account for breaks from the outset, since calculating walking time alone gives an incomplete picture. The 32 hours available include the reality of a walk with checkpoints and rest breaks, not continuous movement from start to finish.

The fundraising target and minimum amount

Participation is tied to a minimum fundraising target of 1,500 euros per team. This is a solidarity commitment separate from the physical preparation: completing the route does not remove the fundraising requirement, and reaching the target does not make the walk less demanding. The campaign aims to give the team effort an economic dimension too, contributing to Oxfam Intermón’s work on poverty, inequality and access to clean water.

The amount can be shared among team members and the wider network of people who choose to support the group. Dividing it among six members comes to 250 euros per person, although team size may vary because the support crew can consist of one or two people. Fundraising can also involve team-led initiatives and sharing the project with family, friends or work colleagues. The minimum applies to the team as a whole, not as a mandatory individual fee.

The reference information announces a 300-euro bonus for 100-kilometre teams registering before October 30. If that promotion applies to this edition and its conditions are met, the remaining amount to reach the 1,500-euro target would be 1,200 euros. The material also mentions a 50-euro contribution for the 10-kilometre distance, but does not provide the full conditions or specify the year to which the promotional deadline applies. Those details should be checked before making calculations or assuming the incentive has been granted.

Preparing the body for many hours on the move

A 100-kilometre walk is not like a single long outing. The body needs to adapt gradually to the duration, repeated foot strikes and fatigue that builds over many hours. Preparation commonly combines progressively longer walks with recovery days and general strength work, but the training load should reflect each participant’s experience, health and available time. Consistency and a measured increase in volume matter more than one heroic workout.

Team training adds a practical dimension: it lets the group see how it moves when someone slows down or needs to stop. Not every session has to be done together, but a few shared walks can help establish communication and reveal differences in pace. If the relay option is being considered, it is also worth understanding how it could affect the continuity of the effort, without assuming every member can join at any point on the route.

Footwear and clothing should be tested during training, not worn for the first time on event day. Friction, blisters or a garment that traps too much heat can become significant problems after many hours. Participants should also observe how their bodies respond in different conditions and carry the equipment allowed by the organisers. The available information does not specify an official mandatory equipment list, so any final packing plan should wait for the rules published for this edition.

Vilafranca del Penedès and the event setting

The event is based in Vilafranca del Penedès, in Barcelona province, and follows paths in the region associated with the Via Augusta. The vineyards give the setting a distinctive identity: rows of vines, rural tracks and a scale different from that of an urban race. However, the available information does not identify the exact start and finish locations or confirm which towns each section will pass through, so specific points should not be attributed to the route before they are detailed.

April can bring changing conditions between day and night. Given the expected duration, the walk may cross several periods of daylight, although the exact start time is not included in the information available. This contrast can affect temperature, visibility and clothing needs. The final route will allow these factors to be assessed more precisely; until then, it is best not to confuse the appeal of the landscape with a complete technical description of the terrain.

Information about accommodation and restaurants in the area should be checked when the organisers publish their guidance for the event weekend. No hotel or restaurant names or specific arrangements have been provided, so any particular recommendation would be speculative. For teams travelling from elsewhere, the start location and timetable will be especially useful when deciding where to stay and how to coordinate arrival. Local planning depends on operational details that still need confirmation.

What is known and what remains to be confirmed

The main details of the event are established: it will take place on April 10 and 11, 2027, the principal challenge will cover 100 kilometres and the announced time limit is 32 hours. The four-walker team, support from one or two people, 1,500-euro fundraising minimum and the possibility of relays from kilometre 25—with restrictions the organisers may apply—have also been outlined. These points are enough to understand the overall structure, but not to plan every detail of the route.

The available information does not yet include the start time, exact address, elevation profile, complete route, checkpoint locations or entry fee for this distance. The final relay rules and full conditions of the fundraising promotion are also not detailed here. The distinction between confirmed and pending information matters: it affects transport, accommodation, walking strategy and budget. The organisers’ official event information should be the reference for settling those details.

This care with information helps prevent a forecast from being mistaken for a promise. In an ultradistance event, details that seem minor—a timetable, a checkpoint or an access restriction—can change a team’s logistics. The official rules and communications will determine what is allowed and which services are available. Until those details are published, participants can work with the general conditions announced while leaving room to adjust their plans once the complete regulations are known.

A challenge where the finish is built as a team

The difficulty of 100 kilometres is often measured in fatigue, hours and the distance still to go, but the Trailwalker format adds another measure: the ability to sustain a shared purpose. Walking together, coordinating relays and organising assistance turn every section into a collective task. Fundraising extends that logic beyond the route, bringing in people who may not be at the start but will contribute to the team’s solidarity goal.

The Penedès landscape and the Via Augusta provide the setting; the day itself will depend on pace, breaks and the decisions made by participants. With a confirmed date and new support options, the April 2027 edition presents a demanding trek, although some operational details are still to come. The finish is not decided only at the final kilometre: it begins much earlier, in shared preparation and in how the team looks after one another.