Kierat 2026

KIERAT is the International Extreme Walking Marathon, a 100 km non-stop mountain march based in Słopnice in Poland’s Beskid Wyspowy region. The route starts and finishes in Słopnice, Limanowski district, and gives participants 30 hours to reach 14 checkpoints while climbing about 3,700 meters. It is built for seasoned hikers and experienced runners rather than casual walkers, with the hardest parts coming from the long distance, night travel, cold, fatigue, and injuries. The event base is the Educational Institutions Complex in Słopnice, with free participant parking and meals available at the school canteen. KIERAT is part of the Mountain Orienteering Marathon Cup, so navigation and mountain judgement matter as much as fitness. The name comes from a kierat, an old animal-powered gear device once used in rural Poland to drive farm machines; horses or oxen walked in a circle to turn the mechanism, which fits the race’s feeling of steady effort over many hours.