WE'RE INTRODUCING PRIZE MONEY FOR SAT26

Yep, that’s the headline. Nope, that’s not really the point.

The point lives somewhere between an alarm that goes off too early and a climb you’ve done so often you know the exact rock where your brain starts negotiating. The one where it gently suggests, “We could turn around. Honestly. No one’s checking.”

Trailrunning isn't convincing in the hashtag sense. It's convincing in real life. It gets you out and about. It clears your head. You can do it with friends. Or disappear into it alone. Both are perfectly valid choices. You run when it makes sense; you hike when it doesn't. And you do it more often than people with a penchant for reason can understand.

From the outside, it can look repetitive. From the inside, it’s precise. You do the same work again and again until, almost without noticing, it turns you back into someone you recognise.

We are trailrunners ourselves—that's not just a side note. SAT isn't created from a distance. Not from behind a desk. We're right in the thick of it. Almost every decision at SALTY ends with the same question: Would we be at the starting line ourselves?

Asking that keeps us honest. Because this sport asks for a lot in return. Not dramatic-hard. Just constant. Early mornings. Sessions that don’t negotiate. Long runs where your mind delivers Oscar-worthy excuses. It takes years to build a body that holds up to this. Longer to build a head that stays calm when things get loud. You’ll get injured. You’ll doubt everything. You’ll keep going anyway. And one day you notice life doesn’t rattle you the same way anymore. That’s the good part.

We think that kind of work deserves respect. And yes, sometimes respect looks like money.

Not because performance is the whole story. It isn’t. But pretending it doesn’t matter is also a bit dishonest. Effort has value. Excellence has value. Acknowledging that is good for trailrunning. It respects the work required.

So SAT26 will offer €19,000 in prize money, paid out equally across women and men, split across ULTRA, SKY, and VERTICAL – the races where preparation, performance, and competition sit right at the centre.

PRIZE MONEY SAT 2026

ULTRA

1st place: €3,000
2nd place: €1,500
3rd place: €800

SKY

1st place: €1,500
2nd place: €1,000
3rd place: €500

VERTICAL

1st place: €600
2nd place: €400
3rd place: €200

SPEED is different. SPEED is The First Step. It’s the entry point. No pressure. No medical certificate. No classic race energy. Just a shared effort with a lot of like-minded people, many doing their first version of this thing. Same mountains. Same atmosphere. Different intention.

And that intention matters to us. Because SAT isn’t about building a gated experience. It’s not about polishing things until only a few people feel welcome. This isn’t us turning the race into a luxury product. We’re not funding prize money by quietly pricing people out. The money comes from us, and from partners who support this version of trailrunning without trying to steer it. The race stays ours. No influence on course, rules, or vibe. Access still matters. If you think you can do SAT, you should be able to try – whether that’s the ULTRA or your very first start line.

Our vision for SAT is clear. Hard. Loud. Exposed. Real. A race that attracts elite athletes because it earns them. And welcomes everyone who’s up for the task, because effort still counts.

Prize money isn’t the goal.

It’s just one way of backing the kind of trailrunning we actually want to be part of ourselves.