The Peace and Integration race returns to Jaén in 2026

Plan your race pace

The Popular Race and Great Walk for Peace and Integration will return to Jaén on November 8, 2026. The date puts the event back on the city’s autumn sports calendar, although the available information does not yet specify the start time, route, registration details or categories for this edition. The event brings together two ways to take part — running and walking — around one idea: opening sport to people with different paces, ages and abilities.

Traditionally organised by IES Santa Catalina de Alejandría together with the Municipal Sports Board, the event has become a community gathering as well as a competition. The 2025 edition was its 25th and involved local and educational institutions. For 2026, the date and city are confirmed, but practical details must be kept separate from those published for previous years.

A confirmed date on Jaén’s calendar

The next edition is scheduled for Sunday, November 8, 2026, in Jaén. It is the clearest information available about the event and makes it possible to mark the date in the city’s sports calendar in advance. The information provided does not yet identify the start time or exact meeting point, so the schedule used in past editions should not be assumed to apply.

The event has traditionally taken place around November and has been linked to the feast of Saint Catherine, co-patron saint of Jaén and the namesake of the school involved in its organisation. That connection helps explain its local roots, but the 2026 date should not be confused with the date or programme for 2025. Each edition may update its timetable, course, logistics and participation conditions.

Details of the registration period, entry fee, bib collection and commemorative shirt for 2026 have also not been provided. In previous years, these details were announced separately and varied by edition. Older coverage may help explain the event’s format, but it does not confirm current arrangements. For now, the date is firm; the rest of the event information has yet to be published.

Two ways to take part in one event

The event’s distinctive feature is that it brings a popular race and a walk together. The race allows participants to compete or simply complete the course at their own pace; the walk offers an alternative without the demands of running. This broadens the range of participants and makes the day more than an event reserved for people who train regularly.

In the 2025 edition, the race and walk shared a course of approximately 4,600 metres. The race was scheduled to start at 11 a.m., with the walk beginning five minutes later. Those details describe that event, not the 2026 edition. Organisers may retain or change the format, so the distance and start times for the new edition should not be treated as confirmed.

The difference between running and walking also has a practical dimension: families, school groups and participants with different fitness levels can take part together without having to choose between staying on the sidelines and following a pace that does not suit them. In previous editions, both formats shared the spotlight and the course. The format conveys a simple idea: people can take part at different speeds and still share the experience.

An urban route that covered about 4.6 kilometres in 2025

The route published for 2025 started and finished at Plaza de los Perfumes and passed through several avenues and streets in Jaén. It included Avenida de Andalucía, Avenida Eduardo García Maroto, Calle Goya and Avenida de Barcelona, before continuing along nearby streets and returning to the finish. The approximate distance was 4.6 kilometres, an accessible length for a popular city event.

The route helps explain the race’s character: it does not take place on a closed circuit or in an isolated venue, but on city streets, where the event becomes part of everyday life in Jaén. However, there is no confirmation that the 2026 route will be the same. Traffic closures, course checkpoints and the start and finish locations depend on each year’s plans.

A previous edition’s distance can provide a rough sense of the event, but it is no substitute for the official announcement of the new course. It is also worth waiting for guidance on access, companions and any restrictions for younger participants. The route is part of the event’s identity, although it can change with municipal logistics: the final 2026 course map is not yet available.

Inclusion is part of the event’s design

Historically, organisers have presented the event as an opportunity to encourage participation across different groups and promote social inclusion through sport. That purpose is reflected in the combination of a race and a walk and in the inclusion, in previous editions, of categories for people with disabilities. This is not a decorative extra: it shapes who can take part and how the event is conceived.

In 2025, organisers announced men’s and women’s categories from under-12 through under-23, as well as veteran groups, an open category and a category for people with some form of disability. The exact list applied to that edition and does not, by itself, confirm the 2026 rules. Age groups, formats and requirements may change, so the new event information will need to set out the current categories.

Making a race accessible depends on more than including a category in the rules. Course design, advance information, the availability of assistance and coordination at the start and finish also matter. In 2025, separate start pens were planned for children under 14, who could be accompanied. These precedents illustrate organisational choices, but they are not confirmed measures for the 2026 edition.

The school and municipal bodies behind the event

IES Santa Catalina de Alejandría has traditionally been one of the race’s organisers, alongside the Municipal Sports Board. The school’s involvement helps explain the event’s community dimension: students, teachers and families can connect an open physical activity with a shared project. Municipal support, in turn, provides the coordination needed to hold an event on city streets.

The presentation of the 2025 edition brought together representatives from Jaén’s sports, education and cultural sectors. That institutional support showed that the race is seen as more than a sporting contest. Its continuation over 25 editions also reflects sustained collaboration between public bodies and the school community, although the exact organisational team for 2026 is not detailed in the information available.

Schools and clubs have also been a recognisable feature of the event. In 2025, awards were planned for the schools and clubs with the most participants at the finish, subject to a minimum number. A group award shifts the focus: not everything is decided by the leading finishers, because a group’s ability to get people involved also counts. The race has therefore retained a school and social element alongside individual competition.

Awards and categories: past details, not 2026 terms

The 2025 edition awarded trophies to the top three overall finishers in the men’s and women’s categories, along with sports-equipment vouchers worth €120, €80 and €60 for the first three places, respectively. Trophies were also planned for the leading finishers in each category and for the schools and clubs with the highest participation. These amounts and awards describe one edition, not a commitment for the following year.

In that event, the top 10 finishers in the men’s and women’s overall standings received olive oil. The locally associated product gave the awards a regional touch, while the sports vouchers recognised competitive performance. The combination of individual and group prizes offered different reasons to take part, although the 2026 awards structure has not yet been announced.

Differences between years make it important to check the rules for each edition before registering. Previous events have published different amounts, categories and conditions, so carrying a detail over from another year can be misleading. No entry fees, prizes or bib numbers have been provided for 2026. The confirmed information is limited to the date and city, and does not yet establish the cost or the rewards.

Twenty-five editions of a local tradition

The 2025 edition reached its 25th year, a milestone that reflects the continuity of an initiative that began in an educational setting and grew into a popular event in Jaén. The 2023 event drew more than 1,000 participants, according to coverage at the time. Those figures relate to different years and cannot be used to predict participation in 2026, but they do show the reach the event has achieved in some editions.

Across its different stages, the event has combined physical activity, community and public messages about equality and inclusion. That combination sets it apart from a race whose appeal depends only on times or course difficulty. The event can bring together people chasing a place, those who want to cover a few kilometres and those who come to support a family member or school. The shared experience is central to its continuity.

The passage of time also requires organisers to update their plans. Participants’ needs, safety requirements and street coordination change, as does the way accessibility and categories are communicated. Reaching 25 editions demonstrates a history, but it does not make past arrangements permanent rules. The 2026 edition will need to define its format and scope anew, preserving its participatory spirit without assuming the programme cannot change.

What is known and what remains unclear for 2026

The 2026 event has two essential confirmed details: it will take place on November 8 in Jaén. The available information does not specify a start time, exact venue, course, distance, entry fee, registration process or categories. It also gives no details about bib collection, prizes or a race pack. Keeping that distinction clear prevents older details from accidentally being presented as new announcements.

The 4.6-kilometre course, the 11 a.m. and 11:05 a.m. start times and the participation arrangements cited in earlier coverage belong to the 2025 edition. They help explain how the race and walk were organised then, but should not be used to plan for 2026. The new event information will need to confirm each detail separately, from registration to services and rules on race day.

The advance date makes it possible to reserve the day, but full information will be needed before participants can plan their involvement. The course length, suitable pace and logistics will depend on the conditions set by the organisers. For an event open to different audiences, clear information about accessibility, categories and timings matters as much as the route map. For now, the main news is the event’s return to Jaén: the date is set, while the programme still needs to be confirmed.

An event whose value is also measured by participation

The race and walk offer two ways into the same sporting day. That breadth can be especially valuable in a city where schools, clubs and families take part in shared activities. Competition has its place, but it shares the streets with walkers and people who come to support participants. The result is an event whose meaning is not limited to the stopwatch: participation and community are also part of the finish line.

For 2026, the firm detail is that the event will take place in Jaén on November 8. Its 25-edition history, the longstanding collaboration between the school and the Municipal Sports Board, and the race-and-walk format provide context for the event. Even so, the specific announcement for the new edition will determine its rules, route and access conditions; details from previous years should not be taken for granted.

The continuity of a popular event depends on more than repeating a course. It also requires clear information for runners, walkers, schools and people with accessibility needs. The next event already has a date on the calendar; its identity will take shape once organisational details are known. For a race built around shared participation, inclusion is reflected both in its purpose and in how each edition is organised.