North–South Marathon 2026

The North–South Marathon (MPP) is the true Holy Grail of Polish ultra cycling and a legendary, eagerly anticipated finale to the road season. This epic event challenges participants to the equivalent of riding across the entire country: the route is about 1,000 kilometers long, with elevation gain reaching 8,000 meters 🚴‍♂️. Riders start at the very tip of the Hel Peninsula, beneath the lighthouse in Hel, and finish at the foot of the Tatras. The competition is held in a self-supported format, which means riding non-stop without outside support—cyclists must organize their own food and drink and cope with mounting sleep deprivation and psychophysical crises 😴.

The marathon route is a fascinating, hour-by-hour changing panorama of Poland, leading along less-traveled, picturesque asphalt roads 🌊. The beginning is a flat, fast ride through Kashubia and Pomerania, which over time turns into the rolling terrain of central Poland, Mazovia or the Kielce region. The real cycling “salt,” however, begins after about 700 kilometers, when riders head into the mountains. There, they face murderous Bieszczady and Gorce walls with gradients exceeding a dozen percent, which after dozens of hours in the saddle and in the dark feel practically vertical 🏔️.

The longed-for finish line is located at the iconic Głodówka Mountain Shelter near Bukowina Tatrzańska, from where the most magnificent panorama of the Tatras unfolds against the backdrop of the setting sun 🌄. Exhausted but filled with pride, cyclists can finally get off their bikes and give themselves over to well-deserved celebrations among other tough guys. A deficit of several thousand calories is best replenished with hot, traditional sauerkraut soup or a hearty goulash with oscypek, and a toast to riding across all of Poland from the sea to the Tatra peaks is best raised with a mug of hot tea with a shot or a cold, regional beer 🍲🍻!