Etappe 1: Elztal Trail

Stage 1 of the Black Forest Trailrun Masters starts at 08:00 on Saturday 3 October 2026 at the Schulzentrum Oberes Elztal in Elzach, after a briefing at 07:40.

Schulzentrum Oberes Elztal, Elzach

Distance: 55.8 km
Ascent: +2,720 m
Time limit: ≤ 9.5 h
Start: 08:00 AMSat, Oct 3

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Course & challenge

Etappe 1: Elztal Trail

The Elztal Trail is the long day of the weekend: 55.8 km and 2,720 metres of ascent on trails and forest tracks through the Zweitälerland, following the Elztal and the Simonswäldertal with constant climbing and descending, and over the lookout summits Tafelbühl and Hörnleberg. The organiser calls it demanding. Aid stations stand at Café Bodenhäusle in Reichenbach (6.2 km), the sports ground car park in Yach (13.2 km), Hesshackenweg in Simonswald (27.5 km), Steinmattensee in Oberwinden (44.0 km) and the school grounds in Elzach (54.7 km), where the finish is.

The limit is 9 h 30, and there is one cutoff: runners must pass V4 at Steinmattensee by 15:45 or are taken out of the race as DNF. The only mandatory item is a switched-on smartphone with the emergency number saved; there is no gear check. The race is Stage 1 of the Masters ranking but can be entered on its own, and it carries 3 ITRA points.

This page is about the 2026 Elztal Trail. The gap between Simonswald and Oberwinden is 16.5 km, the longest of the day, and it is where the cutoff sits. On Livebib family and friends open the runner’s shared link in a browser — no account, no app — and see position on the course line, distance covered and a finish estimate for Elzach that updates as the day goes. When the phone loses signal in a valley, the position is carried forward along the course and marked as estimated instead of freezing.