Vertical is the 3.7km vertical kilometre at European Masters Off-Road Running Championships 2026 (Poiana Brașov (bottom of Lupului Slope), Romania). The race starts on September 11, 2026 at 10:00 AM. It starts in Poiana Brașov (bottom of Lupului Slope). The time limit is 2 h.
Short race: go all out.
The course climbs 800m+. With 216m/km of climbing, the course is exceptionally steep, with long hiking-grade sections. By gradient, 90% of the distance is uphill, 0% downhill and 10% flat. The longest climb runs 3.6km at an average 22.1% grade (797m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 39.3% over 0.5km. Flat-equivalent effort: 9.4 FlatKM.
Trekking poles are strongly recommended: about 2.7km of the course is steep enough for them to pay off.
There is too little runnable descent to damage the quads: plan the race around climbing and fuelling.
On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 10°C to 21°C, with around 13°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 26%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 3% of days around this date.
226 finishers completed the 2026 edition. Men's winner: Starzynski Andrzej (Poland) in 33:18. Women's winner: Marion Rouvier (France) in 41:26.
This page has the full results and splits, a pacing and nutrition planner, a gradient matrix, an interactive elevation profile and historical weather for Vertical.
Other distances of European Masters Off-Road Running Championships 2026Long (40.0km)·Classic Up&Down (12.0km)
Official websitewww.runtransylvania.com/european-masters-off-road-champhionships
