Trail de la Montagne de Reims Long

The Trail de la Montagne de Reims Long is a 52-kilometre trail race with 1,200 metres of elevation gain, starting from Épernay, the world capital of Champagne, in the Marne department. This substantial event takes runners through the Montagne de Reims, a forested and viticultural massif rising between the two great Champagne cities, Reims and Épernay, through a unique landscape where UNESCO World Heritage-listed vineyards alternate with the twisted beech trees of Verzy and panoramic views across the Champagne plain.

Épernay, nicknamed the "capital of Champagne," is the ideal starting point for this viticultural and woodland adventure. Beneath the Avenue de Champagne, a majestic row of Champagne houses with white stone facades, more than 100 kilometres of cellars carved into the chalk stretch out, sheltering millions of bottles aging in the cool darkness. Runners leave this urban elegance to quickly gain the hillsides of the Montagne de Reims, where immaculately aligned rows of vines climb the south- and east-facing slopes, producing the pinot noir, chardonnay, and pinot meunier grapes that make Champagne famous worldwide.

The Trail de la Montagne de Reims Long course offers a complete traverse of this singular massif. The trails follow wine-growers' paths between grand cru parcels — Bouzy, Ambonnay, Mailly-Champagne — before plunging into the Montagne de Reims forest, a dense and mysterious state forest covering the massif's summit. It is here that runners discover the famous Faux de Verzy, tortured dwarf beeches of unique forms found nowhere else in the world, whose twisted branches and gnarled trunks create an almost fairy-tale landscape. This forest harbours more than 800 of these remarkable trees, some over 300 years old, forming one of the most extraordinary botanical curiosities in Europe.

With 1,200 metres of elevation gain over 52 kilometres, the Trail de la Montagne de Reims Long offers sustained effort over a respectable distance. The Montagne de Reims, peaking at just 283 metres above sea level, compensates for its modest altitude with rolling terrain that endlessly chains climbs and descents between the vine-covered valleys and the forested summit plateau. Champagne chalk trails, white and sometimes slippery in rain, steep vineyard paths, and leaf-carpeted forest single tracks compose varied terrain that keeps runners engaged from start to finish.

The Montagne de Reims is an exceptional territory where nature and human craftsmanship have been intimately linked for centuries. The hillsides, houses, and cellars of Champagne, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2015, bear witness to this unique alliance between terroir and viticultural art. Runners pass through authentic wine-growing villages — Hautvillers, where Dom Pérignon perfected the art of blending, Aÿ, Cumières, Dizy — whose cellars and presses tell the living history of Champagne. The wildlife of the summit forest is rich: roe deer, wild boar, black woodpeckers, and woodcocks populate the undergrowth, while peregrine falcons nest in former chalk quarries. The Trail de la Montagne de Reims Long is a race that sparkles like its terroir: effervescent, elegant, and deeply rooted in one of the world's most prestigious vineyards.