One of the World’s Best Ultra Trail Runs Gets Better

With new distances and the chance to compete in the Canadian Trail Running Championships, Québec Mega Trail gives runners more ways than ever to experience the Québec outdoors in 2025What makes a world-class trail running event? Amazing scenery, a challenging course, a supportive community, and opportunities for runners of all levels. Québec Mega Trail checks all the boxes.

You have the intensely green landscape near the St. Lawrence River, the epic singletrack through the Laurentian Mountains, and the beautiful region of Charlevoix. You have the cheers and smiles of spectators at the base of Mont-Sainte-Anne. And you have a wide variety of distances at the QMT race series, making it possible for runners of all levels to be pushed by the terrain and supported by the local community, culminating in an unforgettable experience. Here’s what’s new for 2025.First, the iconic Québec Mega Trail 100-miler—historically the longest event offered at QMT—will be replaced by a 135-kilometer race, which is approximately 84 miles. The new course will have a higher distance-to-elevation ratio, with 6,000 meters of cumulative altitude gain. The additional climbing will take runners from the starting point in the quaint town of Baie-Saint-Paul, on the northern shore of the St. Lawrence River, to Mont-Sainte-Anne, a ski mountain situated within the Laurentian Mountains.

“The idea is to get the most out of our trails,” says Jean Fortier, general director and founder of Québec Mega Trail. “Taking into account the opinions of athletes and after consulting our large community, we decided to shorten the legendary 100-miler to make it even more competitive. Ultimately, it is the runners who will tell us if we made the right choice.” This change will help increase participation, as the 135K distance is attainable for a larger group of skilled runners.Since its debut in 2012, QMT has attracted accomplished trail runners from around the world. It is recognized as one of the most beautiful—and most difficult—trail races in Canada, crossing through the Charlevoix and Côte-de-Beaupré regions of Québec to Mont-Sainte-Anne. The terrain is extremely technical, with many exposed mountain passages and singletrack winding through dense forests.

In addition to the new 135K race, the 2025 QMT will host 50K and 80K events of the Canadian Trail Running Championships, which include classic up-and-down races and trail ultramarathons, providing opportunities for runners to measure themselves against trail running’s best athletes. Additional distances ranging from a 1K kids’ run to a 110K will continue to be offered.In 2024, Québec Mega Trail joined the World Trail Majors (WTM), a ten-race global running series. Despite joining an international stage, Fortier says the weekend of trail running continues to be rooted in the richness of Québec’s mountains, forests, and community.

“With our presence within the WTM, we are of course noticing more and more international athletes interested in QMT,” Fortier says. “We will have a very good elite lineup on our trails in 2025, and there will certainly be fierce battles to watch closely.”In the final QMT 100-mile race, Anne Champagne broke the women’s course record with her finish in 24:28:27, and Jean-François Cauchon took the men’s course record by 25 minutes, crossing the finish line in 19:01:28.

Québec Mega Trail’s 2025 races are set for June 3–6. Early-bird pricing is offered in limited quantities with rates discounted up to 25 percent. Learn more, sign up to volunteer, and register here.

QMT is a legendary ultra trail race, renowned as one of the most beautiful and one of the hardest in Canada. More than 3,500 racers meet there every year. Founded in 2012, Québec Mega Trail actively promotes trail running while being a reference in terms of safety, sustainable development, and constant innovations.

posted Saturday August 3rd