TOVE ALEXANDERSSON SMASHES ZEGAMA COURSE RECORD; ELHOUSINE ELAZZAOUI REPEATS

Tove Alexandersson of Sweden won the 2026 Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon on May 17 in 4:08:09, lowering Nienke Brinkman's women's course record by more than eight minutes. Morocco's Elhousine Elazzaoui edged Italy's Daniel Pattis by 20 seconds for his second straight men's win, finishing in 3:45:07.

The 25th edition of the Basque mountain marathon ran on muddy ground after several days of rain and high-elevation snow. Conditions were dry on race morning, with thousands of fans packing the 600-meter Sancti Spiritu climb at 20 kilometers.

Alexandersson took the lead within the first kilometer and never gave it back. She held a two-minute gap over defending champion Sara Alonso at the 8.5-kilometer mark and ran 14 seconds behind Brinkman's record split at 13.5 kilometers. The lead grew to 11 minutes by halfway.

The course record, set by Brinkman in 2022 at 4:16:43, fell with three kilometers still to run.

Spain's Malen Osa moved through the field steadily to take second in 4:23:56, her third straight podium at Zegama and the third-fastest women's time in race history. Sara Alonso, the 2025 champion, finished third in 4:25:51.

The men's race followed a different pattern. Switzerland's Rémi Bonnet pushed the early climbs and built more than a minute on the chase pack at 13.5 kilometers, running 47 seconds ahead of Kilian Jornet's 2022 course record split. The pace did not hold.

Pattis and Elazzaoui caught Bonnet on the descent before the Sancti Spiritu climb and dropped him by halfway. Bonnet faded to sixth in 3:53:57. The two leaders ran together from 28 kilometers until the final descent, where Elazzaoui put 20 seconds into Pattis. Jornet, an 11-time Zegama champion, ran with the lead group early but reportedly dealt with a leg issue and finished outside the top 10.

Pattis took second in 3:45:27, an improvement on his third-place finish in 2025. American Taylor Stack moved up late on the descent to claim third in 3:52:17, a rare podium for a U.S. runner at Zegama. Spain's Manuel Merillas, the 2023 winner, was fourth in 3:53:14.

The win came in Alexandersson's first start at Zegama. The Swede had been targeting the race since shifting her racing focus to trail in 2026, having won the 2025 Trail World Championships Short Trail by 34 minutes the previous fall.

The 2026 Golden Trail World Series now moves to Ledro Sky Trentino in Italy on May 24.