Andes Race enables competitors to experience reminders of the Incas
Organizers of Peru’s gruelling Andes Race are inviting Canadians to follow in the fleet footsteps of some legendary and energetic Inca figures.
Race organizer Claudio Castillo says the annual event – held in a region close to the storied Inca capital of Cusco – invites competitors to choose between 13, 30, 60 and 100K courses, with the latter beginning in the community of Huaran and and finishing in Ollantaytambo, the latter steeped in Inca history.
And, he cautions, the very lengthy 100K may initially even seem deceptively easy as an up-and-down course at one point reaches a lofty 4,700 meters, the type of altitude where the unadjusted may experience altitude sickness.
“It’s brutal,” expatriate Briton Charlie Good – a multi-time finisher of the 100 klicks – says of the course.
The Andes Race started in 2015 with 98 entrants and has grown steadily, with the 2025 edition seeing around 1,000 entrants, among them around 170 foreigners and 50 of those who opted for the full 100 kilometers.
The record for the full distance is 13 hours and 20 minutes for a course that has water stations.
Organizers of the 2026 run are hoping 1,500 runners will enter a competition backed by Peruvian tourist board PromPeru and sponsored in part by adidas.
Castillo – who suggests the Andes Race is probably “one of the most difficult in the world” – says it serves as both a physical challenge and a mobile Peruvian history lesson, with around 40% of the 100 kms following trail used by members of the Inca Civilization, including the Chaskis, those selected to deliver messages between mountain communities by running between them.
The Chaskis disappeared with the collapse of the Inca Civilization following the Spanish conquest.
“They were the first trail runners in Peru,” Castillo says of the Chaskis, adding those living in the region where the Andes Race takes place are the very descendants of those high-altitude runners.
“It’s part of our history,” he adds of extreme trail running.
Race organizers have been holding running camps for children wanting to enter the Andes Race and Castillo notes that his own two daughters have completed the 13K segment. Children in the Andes are frequently energetic, sometimes walking 10 kms to school, he notes.
Organizers were proud when Julian Quispe – a porter for tourists wanting to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu – finished sixth among 100K competitors in 2024. Quispe wore what organizers describe as non-traditional shoes for a running race and chewed coca leaves en route, with the leaves being a mild stimulant that are popular in the Andes.
“We’re bringing the Chaskis back after 500 years,” Castillo says of local entrants.
Castillo says he and his race colleagues are eager to see “more international runners, including Canadians” sign up for the 2026 version of the Andes Race. “They will understand our culture and history through the sport they love.”
Huntington Beach, California travel agent Sue Rudolph – an ultra-marathoner who has completed a 100-mile race — says she was impressed after hearing a presentation on the Andes Race while in Peru.
“I think it’s going to be a big hit,” she declares, adding she would recommend it to running clients. “It’s extreme but ultra-runners are looking for extreme.”
Meanwhile, Good – who oversees northern Peru’s lofty Cordillera Blanca Lodge and says Peruvians began practicing extreme sports during the Inca era – has a very sensible suggestion for those who want to adjust to the thinner air found in the Andes before lacing up their shoes and setting off in the Andean Race.
“Come and stay at the Cordillera Blanca Lodge to acclimatize,” he’s quick to recommend.
More information can be found at andesrace.pe.
