Trail Alsace by UTMB, live.

A line of castles to the ramparts of Obernai

Trail Alsace runs along the eastern edge of the Vosges, where a ruined castle stands on almost every wooded spur above the vineyards.

The 2027 edition runs from 13 to 16 May, and its long races are point to point, all finishing on the ramparts of Obernai. The Ultra-Trail des Chevaliers, 158 km and 5,100 m of climbing, starts at 17:00 on Friday 14 May from the Lac Blanc ski station, above 1,100 m, with a 40-hour limit. The Ultra-Trail des Païens, 108 km and 3,900 m, leaves Orschwiller at 07:00 the same Friday with 24 hours. From Barr come the Trail des Pèlerins (29 km, Saturday 13:00) and the Trail des Celtes (47 km, Sunday 07:00). The Ronde des Pages is an 18 km evening loop from Obernai on Saturday at 20:00, and the Trail des Ecuyers a 10.5 km loop from Châtenois at 16:45.

The organiser counts more than fifteen castles on the longest course. The names on the aid-station tables tell the story: Haut-Koenigsbourg, Kintzheim, Andlau, Spesbourg, Landsberg and Birkenfels, then Mont Sainte-Odile and its pagan wall, the Heidenkopf and Rosheim before Obernai. It is wooded hill country rather than high mountain: the organiser’s profile never goes above about 1,175 m.

On Livebib the runner shares a link, and family and friends open it in a browser with no account and no app. They see the position on the course line, the distance covered and a finish estimate for Obernai that updates as the race goes. Under the forest canopy, where a phone can lose signal, the position is carried forward along the course and marked as estimated instead of freezing. The runner decides who gets the link.