“Golden Trail” has been associated with trail running at its finest – bringing together the best athletes on the planet racing head to head in the world’s most iconic and competitive marathon-distance races – the response of “shorter and faster” to the Ultra-trail World Tour – and then some.

Two successful seasons of the Golden Trail World Series promised a third, incorporating leading races in Europe and the USA with a Grand Finale in Argentina. But the COVID pandemic changed all that. Innovative and bold thinking by the GTWS team, however, transformed trail gloom into golden light, likely to change the face of trail running.  A once-off Golden Trail Championship was announced, to be run as a four-day stage race over challenging routes in the middle of the North Atlantic.

Mid-year golden segments in various parts of the world yielded golden tickets to the Azores Islands championship. By early October, seventy-four “goldies” had been issued to athletes to join those who had already gained access through top 2019 performances in the Golden Trail World and National Series. Everything was ready to go.

SPNAfrica News provided comprehensive coverage of the build-up via the South African Golden Segment and the Championship itself. This page carries a comprehensive portfolio of the action before, during and after the “fun in the mud” on the Azores Island of Faial.