Bucovina Ultra Rocks by UTMB, live.

Every course climbs Runc

Seven races out of one town in the Eastern Carpathians, from a 5 km hill climb to a 114 km night-and-day loop, and all of them meet the same hill.

Bucovina Ultra Rocks by UTMB runs from 23 to 25 July 2027 in Câmpulung Moldovenesc, in the UTMB World Series. Every race but one starts on the Platoul Central in town. On Friday the Runc Challenge (5 km, 550 m of ascent) goes at 10:00 and Ultra Rocks (114 km, 7,000 m) at 23:00. On Saturday Four Summits (72 km, 4,600 m) starts at 06:00, Lady’s Rocks (48 km, 3,200 m) at 07:00 and Rocky (33 km, 2,000 m) at 09:15. On Sunday come Radical (20 km, 1,100 m) at 08:00 and Rumble Rock (16.5 km) at 09:30 from the Alpin Rarău resort.

The ground is named in the organiser’s pages: the rock towers of Pietrele Doamnei, the Lady’s Rocks, where by legend the stones fell on Tatar raiders in 1541, the narrow Moara Dracului, the Devil’s Mill gorge, the Slătioara forest, with trees 300 to 400 years old, the summits of Rarău, Pietrosu Bistriței and Giumalău, the Transrarău road, haystacks, cowbells and sheepfolds on the pastures. And Runc, the steep hill above the town, which is the whole of the 5 km race, the start of Radical and the last climb of every other course.

With most races starting and finishing in Câmpulung, supporters stay in town while their runner is on a ridge they cannot see. A runner who shares a Livebib link gives them a browser page, without app or account, with the position on the course line, the distance covered and a finish estimate that updates. Where the phone loses signal in the gorge or the old forest, the position is carried forward along the course and marked as estimated, never shown as measured, so the family know when to walk up to the foot of Runc.