Kepler Challenge 2026

Set your course for Te Anau, on the South Island of New Zealand 🇳🇿. This race invites you to take on an Oceania trail-running legend: the mythical Kepler Challenge. Whether you set off on the flagship 60 km event (the full loop of the "Great Walk") or on the Luxmore Grunt (27 km out-and-back), leave your flat-race illusions in the changing room. The profile is a brutal climb toward the sky followed by a breathtakingly technical descent! ⏱️

The dirt track and stair steps launch you into a setting of absolute beauty, a World Heritage site. Your effort begins in the dim light of cathedral beech forests, before breaking above the treeline to reach the Luxmore Hut. The immersion becomes vertiginous as you run along ridgelines as far as the eye can see, overlooking the dark waters of Lake Te Anau and the jagged peaks of the Southern Alps. You’ll feel like you’re floating above the world, often accompanied by the mocking cry of the Kea, the world’s only alpine parrot 🦜.

Here, the soul of the race is carried by the whole community of Te Anau. The volunteers take great care of you and the atmosphere is electric, despite the route’s total isolation. Solidarity is the order of the day in the face of the whims of the weather, which can shift from blazing sunshine to a snowstorm in a matter of minutes. An epic victory vibe welcomes you on the triumphant return beneath the canopy of giant ferns, where crossing the line makes you a member of the Kepler family 🏅.

Keep one last survival instinct to honor the local culture once you’ve kicked off your mud-filled shoes. Haul your exhausted body to a Te Anau pub to devour an authentic New Zealand Meat Pie (a hearty meat pie) or a huge local burger, all washed down with a Southern craft beer or a Central Otago wine.