The North Face Endurance Trail Returns to Chile with the 160 km Challenge Back On

There are races you run and races you survive. On October 17, in Lo Barnechea, one of the latter makes its comeback: The North Face Endurance Trail recovers its flagship distance of 160 kilometers, a route that crosses the mountain trails of Santiago and tests not only runners' legs, but their minds, stomachs, and patience. Among those who have already confirmed their spot at the start is Daniela Navarrete, one of Chile's leading ultra trail runners, with more than ten previous participations in this demanding distance. If you love trail running—or if you're just getting into it—this news is a perfect excuse to understand what it takes to run 160 kilometers through the mountains.

The Context

The North Face Endurance Trail has been, for several years, one of the most important trail running events in Chile and the region. It takes place in Lo Barnechea, a town that serves as a gateway to Santiago's foothills, with technical trails, steep elevation changes, and terrain that demands both the skill to run on irregular ground and deep aerobic capacity.

The 160 km distance is the event's "ultra of ultras" category: we're talking about races that typically last between 24 and 36 hours, depending on the runner and conditions. It's not a marathon with more kilometers; it's a different discipline entirely, where energy management, sleep, hydration, and mental state matter as much as physical training. The return of this distance to the calendar is significant news for the trail community because it reinstates one of the few tests of this caliber in South America, comparable in difficulty to iconic international ultra trail events worldwide.

The case of Daniela Navarrete illustrates well what this race means: it's not a one-time challenge, but a long-term relationship with the distance. Coming back again and again to 160K speaks to a type of resilience built over years, not a single season.

What Science Says

Running for so many consecutive hours completely changes physiological priorities compared to a short race. Nutrition, for example, stops being a detail and becomes the factor that decides whether you finish or drop out: evidence on carbohydrate supplementation in long-duration endurance events shows that well-planned intake strategies—adjusted to the intensity and duration of effort—are decisive for sustaining performance in the final hours of competition (Cao et al., 2025). This is combined with the importance of a personalized hydration and electrolyte plan, as losses from sweat and individual needs vary enormously from one runner to another, especially in efforts lasting more than 24 hours (Shirreffs & Sawka, 2011).

Fatigue also comes into play: in self-regulated and prolonged efforts like an ultra, the perception of effort and the way the body "decides" to slow down are complex processes, where the brain protects the organism by anticipating damage, not just reacting to muscle exhaustion (Azevedo et al., 2021). Understanding this helps explain why experienced ultrarunners, like those who repeat this distance year after year, manage those mental "crashes" better than newcomers who get pulled out of the race.

Finally, strength work also has its place: recent studies show that strength training improves running economy even in a state of fatigue, something crucial when there are still hours of mountains ahead and the legs no longer respond the same way (Zanini et al., 2025).

What This Means for You

You don't need to run 160K to apply these lessons. If you're building your own trail running foundation, there are three ideas you can steal from this type of race:

• Train your nutrition, not just your legs. Test different carbohydrate and hydration strategies on your long runs before using them in competition.
• Add strength to your weekly plan. Two sessions per week of general strength help sustain running technique when fatigue sets in, something useful even on 20 or 30 km trails.
• Train your mind as much as your body. Fatigue in ultra distance is as much mental as physical; progressively exposing yourself to longer efforts teaches you to manage discomfort without panic.

The return of the 160K to Lo Barnechea is an invitation to look further ahead on your own path as a runner, even if your current goal is much shorter.

References

• Cao W, He Y, Fu R. "A Review of Carbohydrate Supplementation Approaches and Strategies for Optimizing Performance in Elite Long-Distance Endurance." Nutrients, 2025. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40077786/
• Shirreffs SM, Sawka MN. "Fluid and electrolyte needs for training, competition, and recovery." Journal of Sports Sciences, 2011. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22150427/
• Azevedo RA, Silva-Cavalcante MD, Lima-Silva AE. "Fatigue development and perceived response during self-paced endurance exercise: state-of-the-art review." European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2021. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33389141/
• Zanini M, Folland JP, Wu H. "Strength Training Improves Running Economy Durability and Fatigued High-Intensity Performance in Well-Trained Male Runners: A Randomized Control Trial." Medicine & Science