Whether participants chose the 14 km route or the longer 20 km option, the final 3 kilometres of the course always led through the Walert mine. And even before that, the roughly 650 registered runners faced a spectacular route. Paul Zimmermann from the Escher Kulturlaf association, which organised the Trail des Mines for the third time, explained the course in more detail:
“The trails start at the National Mining Museum, like last year, heading toward the quarry of the cement works, where it goes through a part of the quarry. Then, it continues over Esch and into the Ellergronn, through the old Cockerill mine and past the old cableway, towards Laangegronn, and then the highlight: the 2.9 kilometer mine tunnel. Inside, it’s a constant 12°C, and while normally you’d only get there by train, this time you get to run through it.”
Inside the mines, it is mandatory to wear a safety helmet with a lamp attached to it. Over the 14km distance, Kevin Steffen of Celtic Diekirch came out on top with a time of 59:37 minutes, ahead of Eric Meyers and Sacha Rohmann. The first woman, in 15th place overall, was Camila Chavez, followed by Anouk Geraets in 18th and Laura Grober in 27th place. 353 out of 413 participants completed the 14km course.
At 1:19:06, Max Lallemang was the fastest over the 20km, ahead of Kevin Thill and Toni Veigas. Among the women, Stana Bosic and Shefi Xhaferaj finished as joint winners, in the 24th position overall. 210 out of 237 participants finished the longer trail. The top three in each category received miner’s helmets in gold, silver, and bronze, according to their position.
As the Labour and Mines Inspectorate (ITM) only allows a certain amount of people in the mines, the number of participants was limited. And since the Trail des Mines is anything but an ordinary event – which also promotes the National Mining Museum – the maximum of 650 spots sold out quickly.
Paul Zimmermann, encouraged by much positive feedback, expressed his satisfaction with this third edition, and confirmed there will definitely be another Trail des Mines next year. Registrations will open at the beginning of 2026.
