THE RACE AT THE END OF THE WORLD: A HISTORY OF THE PATAGONIA RUN

On April 10, 2022, Pau Capell and Sergio Pereyra crossed the finish line of the Patagonia Run 100 Miles together. After 19 hours and 26 minutes across 160 kilometers of Andean terrain, after an all-day contest through Lanín National Park, they held hands at the tape and shared first place. The race had no winner. It had two.

That moment — a UTMB champion and a bricklayer from Neuquén, completing South America's defining ultra together — tells you more about Patagonia Run than any course description could.

The Race and the Town

The Patagonia Run began in 2010, born from the trail community of San Martín de los Andes, a small city in Neuquén Province in the Argentine Lake District. The town sits on the shore of Lake Lácar, inside the shadow of Lanín Volcano, and the trails spreading out from it into Lanín National Park are what made the race possible. The organizers describe it as a race "born and raised in the city, with heart and soul on every trail." In a region where the distances are enormous and the terrain is extraordinary, the challenge was building a race that matched the landscape.

The 100 miles became the flagship event. It starts at the lakeside, climbs through ancient Araucaria forests and lenga beech forests, crosses high-altitude Andean steppe, and loops back to finish at the Civic Center in the center of San Martín de los Andes. The course accumulates roughly 9,230 meters of elevation gain across 160 to 164 kilometers, with a 42-hour time limit. Runners pass Cerro Quilanlahue, Cerro Colorado, Cerro Centinela, and the ski resort summit at Chapelco (1,959 meters), with Lanín Volcano — a symmetrical, ice-capped stratovolcano rising to 3,776 meters — visible as a constant backdrop.

The race runs in April, which is austral autumn in Patagonia. The lenga beeches turn gold and red. Temperatures average around 15 degrees Celsius but can drop rapidly at elevation. The course environment — Andean forest, volcanic landscape, glacial lakes, an ancient myrtle forest called the Arrayanes that exists almost nowhere else in the world — is unlike anything on the calendar in the Northern Hemisphere. This is, in part, what draws runners from 30 or more countries each year.

A Decade of Growth

For its first decade the race grew steadily from a regional event into the largest trail festival in Latin America. By the time of the 10th edition in 2019, it was drawing international elites and delivering performances worth measuring against the best in the world.

At that 10th anniversary edition, Pau Capell — who had won UTMB the previous September — ran the 100 miles in 19:08:57. It lowered the course record by roughly 90 minutes. He finished three hours ahead of second place. It remains the fastest 100-mile performance in the race's history.

COVID-19 cancelled the 2020 edition. In 2021, Patagonia Run was one of the first major trail races in South America to return, operating under safety protocols and limited to domestic athletes. The restricted field produced a local winner: Sergio Pereyra, a bricklayer from Neuquén, who crossed the line in 21:30:45. The Argentine running public took notice.

The Bricklayer and the Champion

Pereyra's story is the race's best recurring thread. He is not a professional athlete in the standard sense — he works in construction, trains around his job, and has beaten some of the best ultra trail runners in the world while representing a city of 40,000 people at the edge of the Andes. In 2021 he won against a domestic field. In 2022 he raced Capell across 160 kilometers, and they crossed together. In 2023, he won outright.

The 2023 edition drew roughly 6,000 participants across all distances — the largest field in the race's history. The 100-mile podium featured Claudia Tremps of Spain setting the women's course record of 22:50:43, and Pereyra beating Capell by 12 minutes to take first place. The headline across Argentine trail media was a variation on the same idea: the bricklayer beat the world champion.

Standing in the Trail World

The Patagonia Run 100 miles holds UTMB Index status and awards ITRA points across all distances. Entry requires a minimum of 12 ITRA points across up to three races, including at least one finish of 110 kilometers or longer. Finishers of the 100 miles qualify for the Western States 100 lottery and the Hardrock 100.

The race is not part of the Golden Trail Series, which focuses on shorter sub-marathon distances, but it was a stop on the inaugural Spartan Trail World Championship in 2021, alongside Transgrancanaria, Lavaredo Ultra Trail, and Ultra Pirineu. In terms of pure prestige in the long-distance trail world, Patagonia Run ranks as the defining race of the South American calendar — described consistently as the most prestigious trail ultra festival in Latin America and the winner of "Best Trail Run in South America" across multiple consecutive years.

Six Distances, Five Days

The festival format is part of what distinguishes it. The event runs Wednesday through Sunday across six distances: a 10K, 21K, 42K marathon, 70K, 110K, and the 100 miles. The 100 miles starts on a Friday and the shorter distances are spread across the week, making the event a multi-day destination rather than a single-race weekend. Runners who finish the 100 miles often spend the remaining days watching others compete or exploring the park.

The shorter races are not afterthoughts. The 42K, with 2,700 meters of elevation gain and course views of the Andes, is a serious mountain marathon. The 110K at 6,020 meters of gain is a full qualifier for some of the most demanding ultra trail races in the world. The breadth of the offering reflects what the region has to work with: more terrain than one race can cover.

The 16th Edition

The 2026 Patagonia Run runs April 8 through 12, marking the 16th edition of a race that started with a community trail run and became the standard-bearer for trail running on an entire continent. Lanín Volcano will be visible from Chapelco. The beeches will be turning. Capell and Pereyra may or may not be there. The course record of 19:08:57 has stood since 2019.

Someone will eventually break it. The terrain does not care who.

The 2026 edition returns to Lanin National Park with expanded distances. See the Patagonia Run 2026 preview.