The Hawaii of Europe

There aren’t many places in the world where the mountains meet the ocean. A place where you can start your morning running across mountain tops and end your day swimming in the deep blue Atlantic ocean. That is just one aspect that makes the island so alluring, and a Mecca for trail running.

Situated about 900km southwest of mainland Portugal in the north Atlantic ocean is the volcanic island of Madeira. The volcanic activity one of the contributing factors of the islands diverse landscape. Boasting a mild year round climate, over 3000 km of levadas, ragged coastal cliﬀs overlooking the Atlantic waters, and the UNESCO world heritage Laurissilva forest, Madeira is a trail runners paradise.

With over 100km in trail running distance it’s no surprise, that Madeira is home to MIUT –Madeira Island Ultra Trail – a challenging ~118km trail run across the island that is held every year in April. Trail running on the island originated in 2004 by a group of members of the Clube de Montanha do Funchal that had the habit of attempting to cross the island in less than 24 hours.

The first oﬃcial trail running event was held in 2008 where 141 adventurers embarked on the challenge of crossing the island from the lighthouse of Ponta do Pargo in the west to the city of Machico in the east. These events would eventually give rise to MIUT, which in 2019 welcomed 2,724 participants from 57 diﬀerent nationalities from around the world.