📌 Lori Region, near the village of Debed.
Route stats: 38 km, just under 2,000 m of elevation gain.
🍎3 aid stations along the route,
⏱️Overall time limit is 9 hours.
A quick note for those who ran last year: the route now runs in the opposite direction, and roughly one-third of it features new and very interesting trails. The full breakdown:
🏠We start at the COAF Concept Hotel. The first 2 km are a downhill stretch on asphalt, followed by another kilometer of climbing on a gravel road after crossing the river and highway. From there, the route follows trails and dirt roads incorporated into the Armenian National Trail project.
⛰After the village of Dzoragyugh, we begin a gentle descent into the Dzoraget River gorge (by the way, in Armenian, "Dzor" means canyon or gorge, and "get" means river) Most of the descent follows the switchbacks of an old road. On your left, you'll see a church and the Hnevank Monastery complex, whose oldest buildings date back to the 7th century (continuing our Armenian lesson: "Hin" means old, and "Vank" means monastery.)
🏛After the aid station near the bridge over the Dzoraget River, the route follows the river. This is one of the few genuinely flat sections of the YSF26 routes. The rock formation across the river is Tsitskar, known as "the most Instagrammable rock in Armenia." (Although, of course, it looks a little more epic in online photos than it does in real life.) If you look closely, you can spot traces of stone walls behind the rock. These were fortresses of the Tashir-Dzoraget Kingdom in the 10th–12th centuries. Similar ruins can also be found on our side of the river.
🏃🏽♂️➡️After the reservoir, a beautiful and technical climb begins, winding through volcanic rock formations up to the plateau. A short run across scenic meadows brings us to the outskirts of Tsater village, followed by another descent.
Last year, the route crossed the Debed River near the Dzoraget Hydroelectric Power Station. This year, it descends about one-third farther, then follows a rocky ledge halfway up the slope for almost 4 km. It's a highly technical and fascinating section, and only afterward does the trail descend to the river.
In rainy conditions, be extremely careful on the traverse trail. There are many sections with slippery grass above steep drops.
❗️After the descent, you'll need to run approximately 500 m along the highway shoulder, so stay alert. The road crossing is near Aid Station 2, after the bridge.
There is an intermediate cutoff at the aid station: 5 hours. If you haven't reached it within the cutoff, you'll have to stop racing for the day.
🌿After the aid station, the route begins a gradual climb along a forest trail beside the gorge of the Marz River. It may not look particularly impressive on the map, but the trail itself is narrow and scenic, with rocky sections and pristine beech forest. This trail was also recently cleared and marked by the Armenian National Trail project team.
At kilometer 26, we reach a flat plateau near the village of Dsegh, the birthplace of Armenian poet Hovhannes Tumanyan. The route doesn't enter the village itself, but you'll see it on the horizon for a while. There's another aid station here, after which the route heads toward the slopes of Mount Berdak, gradually curving around its left side.
⚡️Kilometer 30 marks the beginning of the descent from Chkalov village toward Debed. The route initially follows dirt roads, then enters a stream canyon just before the village. A short run along the outskirts of Debed, and that's it: the long-awaited finish!
🕺Time to recover and recharge before the next day's start.
📌 Route link
🇷🇺russian version in comments