Pacific Coast, Costa Rica · 2027 & 2028
The Coastal Challenge
Run the wild coast
Six days. 249 kilometers. Jungle, ridgelines and Pacific surf between you and a finish line at the edge of Corcovado. Since 2005, the stage race runners cross oceans for.
2005
Running since
249 km
Across six stages
6
Days of racing
2
Ways to run it
The race
Much more than a race
By day, The Coastal Challenge is a duel with the tropics — heat, humidity, river crossings and relentless climbs along Costa Rica's Pacific coast, where the course leaves the shoreline only to carry you up into the Talamanca mountains.
By night, it becomes something rarer: a traveling base camp where world-class pros and first-time stage racers share the same meals, the same tents, the same stories.
“Everyone races alone. No one goes through it alone.”
On the final day the trail delivers you to the edge of Corcovado National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage area — and into a serene fishing village that, until recently, could only be reached by boat. That's where you'll understand why people come back.
The proving ground
Where the world's best came to be tested
Tom Evans. Hayden Hawks. Anna Frost. Timothy Olson. Ida Nilsson. Ragna Debats. The start list has carried some of the greatest names in trail running — Evans' 2018 run — the 14th edition — set the benchmark: the full course in 21 hours, 44 minutes.
They shared camp with first-timers. That's the point.
Champions →Expedition or Adventure
Two races. One journey.
Race week · 2027 & 2028
23rd edition — February 13–20, 2027. 24th edition — February 12–19, 2028. The day-by-day below follows the 2027 schedule; the 2028 edition runs the same sequence, one week earlier.
Sat · Feb 13
Runner registration and the mandatory briefing at the host hotel in San José.
Sponsors & providers
Sun · Feb 14
Gearboxes to Rex Cargo, then the Stage 1 start at Quepos and first camp at Rafiki Safari Lodge.
Sponsors & providers
Mon · Feb 15
Stage 2 from Rafiki Safari Lodge down to a beach camp at Playa Dominical.
Sponsors & providers
Tue · Feb 16
The Queen Stage — Nauyaca Waterfalls and the reefs of Marino Ballena, with Costa Rica Coral Restoration.
Sponsors & providers
Nauyaca Waterfalls (Access / Exit)Costa Rica Coral RestorationWed · Feb 17
Stage 4 from Coronado into the southern lowlands to the riverside camp at Sierpe.
Thu · Feb 18
A mangrove ferry opens Stage 5 into the wild Osa, safeguarded with the Corcovado Foundation, to camp at Playa Ganadito.
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Fri · Feb 19
The finisher's day to Drake Bay at the edge of Corcovado, then dinner and the awards ceremony.
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Sat · Feb 20
The return — water taxi to Sierpe and a premium coach back to San José.
Moments from the course
Be first to the start line
Join the priority list: we'll tell you before entries open and before the early-bird price rises — and you'll get first access to the limited field.
The start line is waiting
Slots are limited and sell out every year. A deposit secures yours — the rest is training.
Register now · #TCC2027Official sponsors
