The study has been prepared by the Ecology Department of the Autonomous University of Madrid, whose members will also be present at the Presentation Act. 

The organization has announced that the registrations for the 2021 Edition will start on Monday, July 19 at 7:00 p.m.

 

Diputació de Castelló has presented the Environmental Assessment Report of Penyagolosa Trails, which analyzed the environmental impact caused by the Ultra Trail CSP (110 kilometers) and the MIM (60 kilometers), considered exemplary mountain races in the national sports calendar. Both races start in Castelló de la Plana and culminate in the Sanctuary of Sant Joan de Penyagolosa. After having been postponed due to the global health situation caused by the COVID-19, this year the races will be extraordinarily held from October 15 to 17.

Attending the presentation act, which took place at the Province’s Cultural Center Las Aulas de Castelló, were the Sports Deputy Tania Baños; Penyagolosa Trails’ Director Tico Cervera; Professor of Ecology and Doctor Javier Benayas, from the Autonomous University of Madrid, and the Environmental Consultant Miguel Faucha, creators of the report. This reflects the commitment from Diputació de Castelló, the main sponsor of the event, and the Organization of Penyagolosa Trails, to adopt measures that help minimize the impacts on fauna, flora and goods of cultural interest that may be caused by the sports competition, since it takes place in a protected natural space. In addition, the mayors of the municipalities through which the MIM and the CSP pass by have also been present, as well as collaborating clubs.

Tania Baños, head of the Sports Area of the Diputación, highlights the importance of this study, “which emphasizes what we have been defending for a long time: that it is necessary to respect and preserve in good condition our natural heritage while making a rational use of it, so that it can be enjoyed by lovers of sports in nature; and through this generate development opportunities in our countryside villages”. In her opinion, “to preserve our landscape is a completely different thing from removing humans from it”. She explained that “when people are banned from the natural environment, it becomes unsustainable”.

Tico Cervera, director of Penyagolosa Trails, has underscored the strong will of the Organization for voluntarily allocating resources and worrying about understanding the possible environmental impacts they could be causing. They did so by looking for external teams of professionals that could assess what they were doing well and in which aspects they could improve, by taking appropriate measures by experts outside of the organization.

It should be noted that there is an evident concern with guaranteeing the sustainability of this type of races in the proceedings of the organization. In fact, in 2017 Penyagolosa Trails was certified by the UNE-EN ISO 20121:2013 standard, regarding the management systems of sustainable events. With this, it became the first international trail event to hold such recognition, thus joining the few sports events around the world that hold this certification standard, such as the London Olympic Games, the Barcelona World Race, and Roland Garros. This made it possible to adopt a series of measures and good practices that are extremely important.

For its part, the Department of Ecology of the Autonomous University of Madrid has highlighted that “the key to making this type of sports event compatible with the preservation of the locations where it takes place is a solid and real collaboration between government institutions’ researchers and scientists; the promoters of these events; and of course, the local population that lives in that specific location and make a living out of it”. Likewise, in the words of Benayas: “The Trail world must assume its role in the preservation of the same nature from which it finds its sustenance and continue working towards a sport that is increasingly sustainable to the environment. Without nature and culture, without the landscapes and the richness of each environment in which this sport is practiced, the races themselves lose much of their value”. The authors of the report have publicly applauded the attitude of Penyagolosa Trails when it comes to betting on scientific studies on how their races affect the natural environment of Castellón, putting its conservation first and showing openness to improve certain aspects to respect nature.

To close the event, the organization of Penyagolosa Trails has revealed that the opening of the registrations for the present edition of 2021 will be on Monday, July 19 at 7:00 pm.

 

About the Penyagolosa Trails environmental assessment report

In general, the report shows that the activity analyzed in this study does not generate serious or irreversible environmental impacts on the environment, as they can be limited and controlled. It is an initiative based in the territory that works towards sustainability and respect for the natural, social, and economic environment of the region.

Among the measures that are proposed, always in a coordinated manner and in collaboration with the competent bodies, are: the restoration of sections deteriorated due to their natural and cultural value, the installation of obstacles and intensive signaling during the course of the races, warnings to the runners on the existence of sections of greater sensitivity through posters and volunteer work, or the attempt to reduce the number of attendees in the finish area, together with an assessment of certain logistical changes.

In this way, the organization of Penyagolosa Trails will continue working to guarantee the balance between minimizing the impacts on the surroundings of the Sanctuary and its maintenance as an emblematic point of this sporting competition; betting on awareness and dissemination around issues of good environmental conduct by all the agents involved.

About the opening of registrations

For reasons of safety, respect for the environment and quality, it is necessary to limit the number of participants. Registrations will be exclusively made by filling in the online form (www.localhost/penyagolosa). In this edition, the majority of participants will come from the registrants of the previous editions postponed due to the pandemic. Vacancies will be filled as follows:

Penyagolosa Trails MiM: only those pre-registered in the last draw who could not opt for a race number will have the option of confirming their number in a direct registration system, until the available vacancies are completed.

Penyagolosa Trails CSP: since all those pre-registered in the last draw have already had the option of a number, a direct registration system is established, until the available vacancies are completed.

The registration confirmation period will go from 7:00pm on 07/19/2021 until 7:00pm on 07/31/2021, or until the available vacancies are completed.

The organization of Penyagolosa Trails decides to move the event to October to celebrate this edition with the greatest guarantees

Penyagolosa Trails has been forced to postpone the event to be held in April due to the health situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, the MiM and the CSP will take place from the 15th to 17th of October.  The director, Tico Cervera, regrets having to assume this new postponement, but is confident and optimistic that next autumn it will be celebrated.

In recent months, the organization of Penyagolosa Trails has worked on the adaptation of security protocols to celebrate the event and the processing of all the necessary permits, in order to be able to hold the event in April.  Despite the improvement of the situation over the past two weeks, contagion data still shows much fragility and uncertainty about the restrictions that will be adopted in the coming weeks and that directly affects the holding of an international event such as Penyagolosa Trails. Tico Cervera explains that “It is hard to be forced to postpone the race again, but we know that our first priority is to ensure the safety of everybody: runners, volunteers, staff, the public and the local population in general”. In addition, he added that “although the evolution of the pandemic keeps being positive as these last two weeks, there are restrictions that would make it difficult to organize and hold two races like the MiM and the CSP and, with this uncertainty we think that the most responsible action is to move the event to October”.

Tico Cervera also wanted to thank again the support of the Council of Castellón and all the sponsors who have understood the decision and supported it. Finally, the director of the race pointed out that “the pandemic is preventing us from holding Penyagolosa Trails in April, but it will take place sooner than later we will enjoy again this world reference trail race and a key event to position the Valencian Community”.

 

Registration process

Those runners who had a bib for the 2021 edition will have the option of choosing to switch their bibs to the October 2021 edition or change it to the 2022 edition. In the case that a runner decides not to dispute any of these editions, its payment will be totally reimbursed.

In the coming weeks, an email will be sent to all runners who already have a bib to inform them of the deadlines in which they will have to decide which option they choose.

We are in an extremely serious health situation, especially in the Valencian Community. Currently, according to the indicators, we are at alert level 4, extreme risk. Therefore, the Generalitat Valenciana has adopted very restrictive measures, which are intended to slow down the number of contagions, hospital admissions and deaths of this third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. We hope that these measures will have an effect and that in the upcoming weeks we will see a clear improvement in the health situation.
From the organization we are working  to obtain the necessary permits to hold the races, as well as carrying out the protocols to ensure the safe celebration of the event. Our desire is to be able to organize a new edition of Penyagolosa Trails on schedule, but it will depend on how the pandemic evolves. Therefore, a final decision on the holding of the event will be communicated by mid February.

We understand the uncertainty felt by many runners who want to be on the starting line of the MiM or the CSP and who are doing all the preparation. We share the same feeling, but the first priority of the organization of Penyagolosa Trails HG has always been to ensure the safety of everyone: runners, volunteers, organizational staff, public and local population in general. And this is going to remain our priority when it comes to making a final decision.
Now is the time to take care and act with individual responsibility. If we do it, we will begin to bend the curve of this third wave of the pandemic.

Best wishes and much health!

We thought it would be possible! With the new normality we wanted to come with an edition of Penyagolosa Trails HG special for everyone, which had also aroused the interest of some of the best runners in the world. We knew it wasn’t going to be as usual, but we were confident we could get it. We counted on the effort and enthusiasm of everyone, with your spirit of overcoming and the incessant support of the Provincial Council and our sponsors. We kept the same illusion of always, the one that we put in every race and the same that helps us to do, every year, the best possible edition.

But, unfortunately, today we announced the news we didn’t want to give you. The celebration of Penyagolosa Trails HG is postponed to the 2021 edition, which will take place between the 23rd and 25th of April, 2021.

The first priority of the organization of Penyagolosa Trails HG has always been to ensure the safety of all the people: runners, volunteers, organizational staff, public and local population in general. Our hope was that the overall situation and sanitary conditions would be good enough to hold the races in October. Unfortunately, circumstances are far from adequate to ensure the necessary security conditions.

It’s a very hard time for everyone. During this confinement and in recent months we have worked in coordination with the health and territorial authorities, to develop a safe action guide for the organization of the event. We have also stocked all the hygienic and sanitary materials to meet all the guidelines of that contingency plan that made the celebration safe. But the evolution of the pandemic in the world and in our country is hopeless and the prospects do not offer the necessary security guarantees.

We make this decision from the responsibility and thinking that we do the most reasonable in this difficult situation that we live. We would have liked to have enjoyed this historic edition with everyone again, but now we think there is a different priority. The priority is the health and responsibility we have towards our people and our province.

We don’t want to say goodbye without telling you we’ll be back. This will go away and we will feel the nerves of the start line, the laughts with our friends, the suffering in Les Useres, the emotion of arriving at Sant Joan de Penyagolosa, in the heart of the Natural Park, the hugs of our people, the tears to overcome our goals… Penyagolosa Trails will return in 2021 and it will continue to be a world reference and a key event to position the Valencian Community as the Comunitat de l’Esport.

All this will come back and Penyagolosa Trails HG will be waiting for you to feel these emotions altogether.

Stay safe,

Penyagolosa Trails organization

FAQ

1. What about my 2020 race number?

All registrants of Penyagolosa Trails HG will automatically be registered in the 2021 edition without any management.

Runners who prefer to request the refund of the full amount of the October 2020 registration can do so through the following link until September 11:

GO TO THE ENTRY LIST

2. Will there be a draw for Penyagolosa Trails HG 2021?

No, there will be no draw for the 2021 edition as, by default, all current entries will remain for 2021.

This section will be updated regularly on the website as we have news.

3. I have even more doubts

On the other hand, remember that you can ask us and/or send us your suggestions to info@localhost/penyagolosa. We are at your disposal, COVID-19 will go away!

These are days when we have to be at home, with the family. We have done some activities dedicated to families, to better pass this confinement. Today we show you these sheets in pdf, prepared to print and paint. We will be doing more, so that you can spend time with children

CLICK ON THE NAME AND THE SHEET IN PDF WILL OPEN AND PREPARE TO PRINT

• Santuario de Sant Joan
• We are the Champions
• Arroz
• Medalla CSP
• Medalla MiM
• Nutrinovex y Anitin

Tico Cervera regrets this postponement, even more “after all the work and effort we have all been doing for months, both the organization and the runners, but the priority is the health and safety of all and the current circumstances oblige to postpone the event”

The organization will not apply Article 19 of the Regulation and will save the place for October or April 2021 to the runners who were going to run the MiM or the CSP

Maximum expectation for Penyagolosa Trails HG 2020 with runners of 46 nationalities. The lottery for the 2100 race bibs will take place next Friday at 7 pm

Maximum expectation for Penyagolosa Trails HG 2020. The pre-registration deadline closed yesterday and the number of pre-gistration for the Mim and the CSP is spectacular, reaching 5024 of 46 different nationalities and 47 Spanish provinces. It is the second highest in history, increasing last year’s records by 6.2% and very close to the numbers of 2018 edition, the year in which the Trail World Championship was hosted. The draw for the 2100 race bibs will be on Friday, 13^thof December at 19h (Spanish time) at the Diputació Castelló and will be presented by the comedian Eugeni Alemany.

According to the two races, on one hand,  again the historical MiM, with 22 years of history, is the one that registered  the majority of the  pre-registrations, with more than 4100.  On the other hand,  the CSP will hold its ninth edition and 883 people applied for its participation. These numbers represent an increase of 300 pre-registration compared to last year, 1000 compared to 3 years ago or 1200 compared to 4 years ago, it shows theupward trend lived in Penyagolosa Trails HG.

The increasing internationalization of Penyagolosa Trails HG is evident with these amazing data. Requests for bibs were received from runners from Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bolivia, Brazil, Belarus, Switzerland, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Lithuania, Latvia, Morocco, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Paraguay, Romania, Spain, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, United States and Venezuela.

The lottery will be on December 13^th  at the Diputació de Castelló. The proceedment will be the same as lasts years, with 1500 numbers distributed for the pre-registrations of the MiM and 600 for those who want to run CSP.

The director of Penyagolosa Trails HG, Tico Cervera, points out that year after year we are surprised by the figures, and it is impressive that more than 5000 people have pre-registered. From here, I would like to thank all those who have pre-registered. He added that a few years ago it was unthinkable to reach these figures and that Penyagolosa Trails HG was known all over the world. Undoubtedly, the work being done in internationalizing the test, The organization of the World Championship or being in the main national and international trail circuits have served to make us known all over the world.

Lottery and promotions

Next Friday, December 13, at 7 pm in the Diputació de Castelló will take place the draw of the 1500 bibs for the MiM and the 600 for the CSP. The conductor of the event will be the Valencian comedian Eugeni Alemany.

One of the surprises of this edition will be the lottery of 3 golden passes for the races. One will be drawn in an Instagram contest of @penyagolosatrails that will start today, another will be drawn among all the people who attend the event next Friday and the last, among all the people who will be following the streaming.

Pre-registration period to Penyagolosa Trils HG is open. Runners who want to live this experience on April 18 have time to pre-register until December 8th. Here we explain what makes this race different, and provide 10 reasons  to participate in the MiM or the CSP:

• Volunteers and clubs: Penyagolosa Trails HG is an event organized by mountain clubs and has more than 800 volunteers who make the race  possible. Undoubtedly, they are the ones that make  the Mim and the CSP possible.

• History: the history of Penyagolosa Trails dates back to the 50s of last century, when a group of mountaineers and hikers decided to reproduce the tradition of reaching Sant Joan de Penyagolosa from Castellón. In 1996 it was changed from an initial march of two days to a single day. From here the first Marató i Mitja emerged in 1999. When mountain races weren’t very popular in our country, the MiM was already organized and in 2020 will reach its 22nd edition.

Vídeo 20 years of the MiM

• Pilgrimage Trails: The Penyagolosa Trails HG is a historic route. These paths have been pilgrimage and  communication channels between people for centuries.

• The supporters:  one thing hard to forget for those who have participated in Penyagolosa Trails HG is the atmosphere during the race, especially running through the villages. The province of Castellón supports the runners, to give them all the energy on their way to Sant Joan.

• Start lines: in just two years, the start of the CSP has already become a major event in Castellón. The city center is full of people who are constantly encouraging the runners. The MiM leaves from the UJI track stadium, leaving also iconic images.

• From the sea to the most emblematic mountain through breathtaking sceneries. The MiM and the CSP start in Castellón, at sea level, to go to the highest mountain in Castellón. The race ends at the Sanctuary of Sant Joan, an incredible place in the middle of the mountains. Before arriving, they pass through incredible landscapes, historical places, villages supporting the race…

• The finish line: precisely, in Sant Joan de Penyagolosa there is an explosion of emotions. The finishers always remember their arrival. A very special moment that is reflected in tears, angry gestures, hugs, kisses…

• Respect for nature and recovery of trails: the MiM and the CSP pass through Penyagolosa Natural Park, so participation is limited and lot of work is done to ensure that the races have the lower impact on nature. Environmental care is the main priority of the race organizers and participants. In addition, work is done to recover trails, and roads are cleaned to be used again.

• Logistics and services: the display of resources in Penyagolosa Trails is incredible. In addition to medical equipment, security, firefighters, masseurs, shuttle buses for runners, drop bag transfers… there are services that the runner appreciates a lot, such as the possibility of taking a shower in Sant Joan with hot water, having refreshments with numerous products or a runner’s bag so complete.

• A national and international reference: All these reasons have made Penyagolosa Trails HG better known nationally and internationally. In 2018 it hosted the Trail World Championship where the main runners of this sport were cited. Currently, Penyagolosa Trails HG is still in the main racing circuits such as Ultra-Trail World Tour and Spain Ultra Cup and is a scoring race for Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc and the Western States Endurance Run.

For all this, it is time to “Run with yours” and live with your friends, team mates, family… a race like Penyagolosa Trails HG.  Remember, pre-registrations are open until December 8th!

Penyagolosa Trails HG 2019 will be held from next Friday April 12 until Sunday 14. The first day we will have the Runner Fair from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., where we must collect the bib number and runner bag. Remember that if you can not take the number at that time, you can authorize someone to do so, by filling in this authorization. A novelty of this edition is the realization of the radio program “Hoy por Hoy Castellón de la Cadena Ser” focused on Penyagolosa Trails HG, from the Teatro del Raval Again, the start line of the CSP will be at 00:00 from the Plaza de las Aulas de Castellón and the MiM, at 6 hours from UJI. The first arrivals are expected around 11:20. As soon as the first classified arrive, the flower ceremony will be held. And in the afternoon, in Sant Joan, the general awards ceremony. Check here the acts of the Program:

Penyagolosa Trails HG will open the pre-registration period on November 23. The pre-registration period will close on December 10 and the draw will take place on December 14. The names of the 1500 participants in the twenty-first edition of the MiM and the 600 in the eighth CSP will know after this act. It should be remembered that the limitation of 2,100 places for races is due to environmental issues of respect and care for the Penyagolosa Natural Park. Precisely the care of the environment is something intrinsic to the approach of this competition, especially careful with the natural heritage of the area both in the layout of the race, the distribution of aid stations, as in the recycling of waste and cleaning, and so on. Last year 5571 applications were registered, from 48 different countries, being the edition with the most pre-registrations.

The director of Penyagolosa Trails HG, Tico Cervera, explains “with the pre-registrations and the lottery, we can say that the race starts towards a new edition of Penyagolosa Trails HG”. It also indicates that “there is a great expectation for the next edition, since the Trail World Championships that was held in 2018 has had an enormous impact on an international level and has contributed decisively to the internationalization of the event”.

In this sense, we must remember that Penyagolosa Trails HG has risen in level in the prestigious international circuit Ultra-Trail World Tour, situating itself in PRO level. Penyagolosa Trails will be with the best races in the world in the circuit and will give more points for the winners, which is a great incentive to attract international runners.

In addition, Penyagolosa Trails HG will again be a UTMB scoring race and will be part of the Spain Ultra Cup.