UTMB Adds Wildstrubel and Canyons to Its World Series Majors for 2027

UTMB will have six World Series Majors in 2027, two more than this year, after adding Wildstrubel in Switzerland and the Canyons Endurance Runs in Auburn, Calif., to the list. The organization announced the change on Nov. 4. The other four are Ultra-Trail Australia in the Blue Mountains, Val d’Aran in the Spanish Pyrenees, Kodiak in Big Bear Lake, Calif., and Chiang Mai in Thailand.

Canyons was the first Major held in the United States, in 2023, and UTMB listed its April 2024 edition as the series’ Americas Major before giving that role to Kodiak from 2025. Kodiak stays on, so the U.S. will have two of the six Majors, both in California, and no other country has more than one.

The Canyons weekend runs April 22 to 25 at four distances: 100 miles, 100K, 50K and 25K. Its 100K, on April 24, is also the last of six Golden Ticket races for the 2027 Western States 100, with entries going to the first three women and first three men, according to Western States.

Wildstrubel has been held only five times. Its routes start in five Swiss mountain towns (Crans-Montana, Leukerbad, Adelboden, Lenk and Kandersteg), cross between the cantons of Valais and Bern, and all finish in Crans-Montana. The 2027 edition is Sept. 9 to 12, and entries open Nov. 17 for runners with a UTMB Index and Nov. 19 for everyone else.

How the Majors Feed the Chamonix Finals

Running Stones decide the lottery for the three Finals in Chamonix, the OCC, CCC and UTMB, and a Major pays double the usual number. At Canyons that comes to eight for the 100-miler, six for the 100K, four for the 50K and two for the 25K.

Anyone finishing in the top 10 of their gender over 50K, 100K or 100 miles gets a guaranteed Finals place at that distance. Prize money at each Major distance is the same for women and men, with €5,000 ($5,560) to the winner, according to UTMB’s published purse. Winning UTMB itself at the Finals pays €20,000 ($22,250).

Fewer Direct Places Overall

The two new Majors come two months after UTMB said it was ending direct age-group places at its Majors. Each Major used to send 210 runners straight to Chamonix. Under the new rule it sends 60, the top 10 men and women at each of the three qualifying distances.

Once the change is fully in place, six Majors will produce 360 direct entries a year, against 840 from four Majors under the old allocation. Without Wildstrubel and Canyons, the figure would have been 240. UTMB said in September that a separate qualification route for age-group runners would follow, and its Nov. 4 announcement did not add any detail. Ultra-Trail Australia keeps its 210 places for its May 2027 edition. The Canyons race page lists only the top-10 places, which would make Auburn in April the first Major held under the new system.