The Christmas Rush 2026

"Forget the gold rush!"

In Auchy-les-Mines, the only treasure that shines is waiting behind the finish arch 🏅. This town in Pas-de-Calais, set between Béthune and Lens in Hauts-de-France, long lived to the rhythm of coal before swapping mine carts for running shoes for the Christmas Rush. See you in late November, right when the fairy lights come on and the Advent calendar starts to peek out. As for the sky, the North keeps its habits: teasing drizzle, dry cold, or a shy winter sun—the lottery is still open ☔. Snow? No guarantees—Santa still doesn’t run the weather ❄️.

The start and finish take place at the Paul Barrois sports complex, rue de Douai, for a road race that will wind through the town’s streets 🛣️. Right in the heart of the mining basin, the elevation is modest—expect a fast, flowing profile, ideal for sharpening your stride 😎.

The Christmas Rush offers three distances. You can choose a 5 km to warm up the legs, a 10 km for asphalt lovers who want to grab one last time before the holidays, and finally a kids’ 500 m race 🧒. Dress code? Red hat, blinking sweater, or full reindeer costume—anything goes, and the pack quickly turns into a Christmas parade 🦌. And to celebrate early, every finisher heads home with a medal around their neck 🎖️.

Auchy-les-Mines is part of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2012 ⛏️. Headframes, workers’ housing estates, and slag heaps still tell the epic story of the miners 👷. To extend the weekend, head to the twin slag heaps of the 11/19 site in Loos-en-Gohelle, the highest in Europe, which will double as a bonus hill session ⛰️. At the table, the North doesn’t lie: a Flemish carbonnade is worth your energy gel 🍲.

Pierre Bachelet sang about the corons; you’ll run through them in a red hat, with one mission: strike your seam before Santa comes down the chimney 🎄.