In 2026, China's trail running landscape could see a new shift.

Today, the 2026 Emei Mountain Trail Challenge was officially announced as a new member of The North Face 100 series. This is not only a collaboration between a top international outdoor brand and Asia's first course that is both a World Cultural and Natural Heritage site, it will also introduce a pioneering "two-week race format," creating an outdoor festival for trail running fans.

What else does this partnership mean?

2026The North Face 100 Emei Mountain Trail Challengeintroduces a groundbreaking innovation — the inaugural “double-weekend race + outdoor carnival”format. The event will be held over two weekends, April 18–19 and 25–26, 2026, creating a ten-day mountain festival.

Week One “Quest Week”: aimed at recreational and intermediate runners, with four categories — 8KM, 18KM, 28KM, and 42KM. The courses are mainly concentrated in the Emei Mountain scenic area and the Nanshan sector, with cumulative elevation gains ranging from 252 meters to 2,237 meters, designed to let more people immerse themselves in the joys of trail running and Emei Mountain's cultural and natural landscapes.

Week Two “Summit Week”: a racing arena for elite runners, featuring four long-distance categories — 27KM, 50KM, 75KM, and 102KM. The 102 km category has a total elevation gain of up to 6,093 meters, traversing the scenic area, the back-mountain Longchi secret path, tea plantations, and ancient villages, making it one of Asia's top courses in terms of both technical challenge and aesthetic appeal.

2026 The North Face 100 Emei Mountain Trail Challenge,seamlessly links an "introductory trail running carnival" with an "Asia summit showdown".

This year, in the Cloud-top Golden Summit Speed Ascent category — a 28.2 km course with 3,390 m of cumulative ascent — Shenzhen's Liu Zhisen made the course best with a time of 3:37:34. In 2026, will a new record be set?

What new challenges and innovations could the biweekly race format spawn?

In 2026, the event not only expanded its course offerings and prize purse, but also provided more participation benefits and protections for elite athletes.

With the course system expanded, the biggest highlight in 2026 is the newly unveiled Back Mountain Secret Tea Garden course. Especially in the 75KM and 102KM categories, runners will weave between primeval forest and ecological tea gardens, experiencing the unique charm of an "Oriental Aesthetic Course".

Prize money increased: the event has established a prize pool and special reward mechanisms. This is not only a major incentive for elite athletes but also a meaningful tribute to every finisher.

1. Finisher rewards: Finishers in each category will receive a finisher medal and an event completion memento.

2. Placement prizes: The top six men and women in each category (gun time will be used). Week 1 the Wen Dao category will award winners' prizes; Week 2 the Pinnacle category will award cash prizes. The cash prizes are worth looking forward to.

3. "Break Through the Clouds" award: For the Pinnacle 27KM, the top 10% of registrants (net time, allocated by gender proportion) will be awarded a "Break Through the Clouds" commemorative trophy.

4. Gaochu Jitian awards: For the "Starting Point: Famous Mountains of the World - CP6 Summit" segment in the Peak 27K, Peak 50K and Peak 102K categories, the best historical results for this segment from 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 will be combined. The top 100 men and top 100 women, 200 athletes in total, will be selected; athletes who enter the segment with the best historical results in 2026 (previous recipients will not be awarded again) will be granted the Gaochu Jitian commemorative lecture.

Elite athlete registration policy:

Athletes who meet the following ITRA individual performance score criteria can apply for elite athlete slots. After approval, they will be designated as elite athletes for this event and may enjoy the following benefits:

1. Free entry: Men 800 and above, Women 670 and above.

2. Free entry + 3 nights standard double room accommodation: Men 830 and above, Women 700 and above.

The elite athlete registration channel will open on February 25, 2026.

As outdoor and trail running continue to evolve,The North Face 100 this classic event, which has been part of the sport for 16 years, has reached a point where it needs to refresh how it presents itself. From its early focus on participation and scale, to now placing greater emphasis on competitive intensity, course experience, and its spiritual core,The North Face 100's transformation, to some extent, mirrors the maturation of China's trail running market. 

This edition of the event has been relaunched around the core concept of 'Pinnacle', not only an update to the event format, but also The North Face's professional-line value.

As the core driver of the brand's professional line,Summit Series has received sustained, high-intensity investment in recent years, and trail running is precisely one of the most strategically significant segments for The North Face within its three professional sports matrices of mountaineering & climbing, skiing, and trail running. ThroughThe North Face 100 upgrades, the brand is turning 'Summit' from product language into a race language that runners can genuinely experience.

From an event standpoint, choosing to focus efforts in the Southwest — a core outdoor destination — signifies The North Face's long-term commitment to the experience of Chinese trail runners: more challenging course design, clearer competitive stratification, and a more comprehensive event service system are becoming the basic components of a new generation of benchmark races.

And the collaboration with the organizer Shenxing Outdoor fills an important gap in this upgrade. Shenxing Outdoor's long-term experience in extreme course design and race operations—specializes in designing high-difficulty, high-experience courses, has a mature race operation system, and possesses systematic, in-depth insights into mountain environments, climatic conditions, and technical sections—which means they understand the limits of competition while also being deeply attuned to the logic of the mountains themselves.

This respect for and insight into the mountains aligns closely with The North Face’s "born from the mountains" brand DNA, and ensures the race upgrade goes beyond mere concept.

Overall, this collaboration means more than a single event refresh; it sends a signal at the industry level: trail running is moving from "participation-driven growth" to a new phase that equally values experience and competition, with leading brands and races taking the first step in making that leap.

2026 The North Face 100 Emei Mountain Trail ChallengeRegistration opens on December 19 (today). A new mountain legend of exploration, extremes and Eastern aesthetics awaits runners from around the world to write together.

According to reports,the event will be broadcast live in full,Finally, let's look forward to the live broadcast and the elite lineup.

Back-to-back — shall we go for one?

What kind of elite showdown would you like to see in this race?