Ultra Trail des Coursières

The Ultra Trail des Coursières is a 112-kilometer race with 4,770 meters of elevation gain that crosses the Monts du Lyonnais and the foothills of the Pilat massif, a mid-mountain territory situated between Lyon and Saint-Étienne in the heart of the Loire department. Starting from Saint-Martin-en-Haut, a rural town perched at 750 meters on the ridgeline separating the Rhône basin from the Loire basin, runners embark on a traverse of wooded hills, agricultural valleys, and granite plateaus that reveal a little-known and deeply endearing rural France.

The Monts du Lyonnais are a range of crystalline hills, remnants of the Hercynian basement, whose rounded summits oscillate between 700 and 1,000 meters. The landscape is a harmonious patchwork of hedgerow meadows, fir and beech forests, granite hamlets with Roman tile roofs, and cherry orchards that burst into white blossoms in spring. The trails follow ancient "coursières" paths — a local term for the drove roads used to transport goods between the valleys — which give the race its name and bear witness to the rural history of this territory of passage between the Rhône and the Loire.

The race profile is characteristic of mid-mountain ultras: no spectacular passes or vertiginous summits, but a relentless accumulation of ascents and descents that grinds down legs and morale over the long haul. The 4,770 meters of elevation gain are distributed across dozens of bumps, none exceeding 300 meters of climbing, but whose unrelenting succession creates a deep muscular fatigue. The terrain is varied: smooth forest tracks through conifer stands, muddy singletrack in valley bottoms, grassy ridgeline paths, and technical passages over granite outcrops.

The Ultra Trail des Coursières crosses a living agricultural territory where cattle and goat farms, artisanal cheese dairies, and the vineyards of the Coteaux du Lyonnais compose a productive and inhabited landscape. Runners pass near farms producing rigotte de Condrieu, goat cheeses, and traditional charcuterie. The villages along the route — Larajasse, Sainte-Catherine, Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise — possess a discreet but authentic medieval heritage, with their Romanesque churches, market halls, and half-timbered houses.

For international runners, the Ultra Trail des Coursières offers a deeply French trail experience, rooted in rurality and conviviality. The race is renowned for the quality of its aid stations, veritable feasts of local produce, and for the warm welcome of its volunteers. Saint-Martin-en-Haut is 40 minutes from Lyon, France's second city and its gastronomic capital, and one hour from Saint-Étienne. It is an opportunity to discover a secret and rolling Lyonnais hinterland, to run through landscapes that recall the English or Irish countryside in their greenness and gentleness, and to experience a human-scale ultra in a festive and generous atmosphere.