Bärenfels Heiligabend Marathon 2026

The Bärenfels Heiligabend Marathon is a Christmas Eve running event in Hoppstädten-Weiersbach, Rhineland-Palatinate. It offers dedicated runners a race option on that day, featuring an 8.5 km run, a short children’s race, and a marathon consisting of five laps of the same loop. The marathon is listed at approximately 42.5 km with 1,100 meters of climbing. The 8.5 km run has about 220 meters of climbing, indicating that even the single-lap option is not flat or casual. The loop runs primarily through the Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park on wide, paved forest paths, with a short asphalt section repeated each lap. It climbs toward the Bärenfels, incorporates part of the Bärenpfad premium hiking trail, and then returns to the finish. In December, rougher trail sections are omitted due to weather. The Bärenfels-Team, largely the Feller family from Birkenfeld, organizes the event in a straightforward manner with robust aid-station support. The event is described as family-friendly, with early starts, fog, cold air, and drizzle contributing to its practical Christmas Eve character rather than a polished big-city marathon atmosphere.