Carrera Popular San Rafael

Event information

About the event

The Carrera Popular San Rafael is run in Teguise as part of the October patron saint festival and is organised by Chimia Trail, which is how Cronoline Canarias publishes it: «Organizador CHIMIA TRAIL». The platform files it under athletics, discipline «Carrera de montaña», mountain running. There are official rules, an 11-page PDF you can download from the entry platform itself, and almost everything below comes from them. Neither page publishes the date those rules went up, checked on 3 October 2026: the only dated things are the file itself, whose metadata says 20 August 2026, and the entry window the platform announces, «Del 24 ago. 2026 a las 08:00 (GMT+01:00) al 21 oct. 2026 a las 12:00 (GMT+01:00)», from 08:00 on 24 August to 12:00 on 21 October 2026.

The series is short: the second edition was held on 26 October 2024 and the third on 25 October 2025, both in the old town.

We do not number the 2026 edition, and the reason is that the rules do not agree with themselves: the cover page is headed «REGLAMENTO III CARRERA POPULAR SAN RAFAEL 2025 (24/10/2026)», the next page «REGLAMENTO II CARRERA POPULAR SAN RAFAEL 24/10/2026», Annex I points to the «Reglamento publicado de la IV Carrera Popular San Rafael 2026» and Annex II to the «IV CARRERA POPULAR SAN RAFAEL 2026». Three different ordinals in an 11-page document, checked on 3 October 2026. The date is clear; the edition number is not.

It is a village race with two routes, a long one across open country and a short one, set up so that trail regulars and weekend runners can both take part.

One warning if you dig up older material: a different race with the same name was run in Teguise in 2014, in the Barrio de los Molinos, organised by the town council and the fiestas association, over 5 and 10 km. That is an earlier and separate series, so none of those figures apply here.

Course and distances

The rules settle it in one sentence: «La prueba consta de dos distancias, una de 5km y otra de unos 14km. Ambas transcurren por el entorno de La Vega de San José y los altos de Chimida», two distances, 5 km and around 14 km, both through the area of La Vega de San José and the high ground of Chimida. Both routes are marked, with volunteers at the junctions, and leaving the marked tracks and paths means disqualification. The organisers do not close the roads at any point, so in villages and on public roads the traffic rules apply. No elevation figure has been published, no profile and no downloadable track, checked on 3 October 2026.

The Chimia Trail Chinijos races have three age brackets: 250 metres for ages 6 to 7, 350 for 8 to 9 and 500 for 10 to 11.

The event location given by Cronoline is «Calle Gadifer de la Salle 17, 35530 Teguise (Las Palmas), España». That is the only address published: neither of the two sources marks out the start arch or the finish separately, checked on 3 October 2026. Teguise sits inland and its surroundings are dirt tracks and loose stone, which is why the longer distance is framed as a trail race.

Start times and cut-offs

The two races do not start at the same time. Article 6 of the rules says so: «El horario de Salida será a las 10.00h para la prueba de 14km y a las 10.30h para la prueba de 5km», 10:00 for the 14 km and 10:30 for the 5 km. Watch out for this, because the entry platform announces a single time, «INICIO DEL EVENTO: sábado, 24 de octubre de 2026, 10:00 hora de Europa occidental (Canarias)», and that time belongs to the 14 km, not to both races. Anyone running the 5 km starts half an hour later. The clock starts at the set time whether the runners are on the line or not, and anyone not at the start is disqualified.

The Chinijos races have no start time published in either source, checked on 3 October 2026: the rules give only their distances and age brackets.

The cut-offs are published too, and they are generous but real: «El tiempo cómputo total para la realización de la carrera será de 3:30 h para la carrera de 14km, comenzando a las 10.00h y finalizando a las 13.30h y de 2h para la prueba de 5km, comenzando a las 10.30h y finalizando a las 12.30h», 3:30 for the 14 km from 10:00 to 13:30 and 2 hours for the 5 km from 10:30 to 12:30. Past that time you are automatically out of the race, and carrying on is at your own risk.

Bib collection: Friday the 23rd, and only Friday

«La entrega de dorsales se realizará el viernes 23 de octubre, en horario de 16:30 a 18:30 en la Carpa instalada junto al Pabellón Deportivo de Teguise»: bibs are handed out on Friday 23 October from 16:30 to 18:30, in the marquee next to the Teguise sports hall. Two hours, the afternoon before, and the rules open no other window and no handout on race day, checked on 3 October 2026.

You have to bring «el Documento Nacional de Identidad o cualquier otro que acredite fehacientemente la identidad de la persona», your national ID card or any other document that reliably proves who you are. If you cannot go, someone else can collect it with a completed and signed authorisation plus a copy of the ID of both the runner and the person collecting. And if the runner is under 18, Annex II of the rules, the parent or guardian consent form, is handed in at exactly that moment, when the bib is picked up.

Entry

Entries go through Cronoline Canarias and close at midday, not at midnight. The platform writes it out word for word: «FIN DE INSCRIPCIONES: miércoles, 21 de octubre de 2026, 12:00 hora de Europa occidental (Canarias)», with a countdown running beside it. In the event table it repeats the same time in another format: «Plazo de inscripción: Del 24 ago. 2026 a las 08:00 (GMT+01:00) al 21 oct. 2026 a las 12:00 (GMT+01:00)». That is three days before the race and halfway through the morning, so the last genuinely usable day to enter is Tuesday the 20th.

Prices checked on 3 October 2026 on the platform, which lists them as «14 KM: 22,00 €», «5 KM: 15,00 €» and «Chinijos: 0,00 €». The rules say the same in article 3.1: «La inscripción será de 15€ para la prueba de 5km y de 22€ para la prueba de 14km». One single price from the opening of entries to the close: neither source publishes date tiers or discounts, checked on 3 October 2026.

The fee includes the bib, a timing chip, the race shirt and a meal at the end, after the prize ceremony, and on top of that accident insurance for race day, which article 15 treats as included in the price.

Places are limited and the rules put a number on them: «El período de inscripción se mantendrá hasta el fin de plazas, estableciéndose un total de 150 corredores para cada distancia, siendo el total de plazas 300», 150 runners per distance and 300 places in total. How many are left is another matter: the entry platform publishes no counter of free places and no sold-out notice, checked on 3 October 2026, so the only sign that it is still open is that the window has not closed.

Conditions worth reading before you pay:

• No refunds and no name changes. It comes from article 3.1 of the rules, and it still said so on 3 October 2026: «En caso de anulación de la inscripción, la organización no devolverá el importe de la misma, ni podrá cambiar el nombre por otro corredor, dejando abierto este criterio a la organización por causas especiales». If the race is called off for reasons beyond anyone’s control, the same holds: article 10 warns that entries are not refunded and no costs are covered.
• Under-18s, only on the 5 km. They take part «únicamente con autorización del padre/madre/tutor legal y únicamente en la prueba de 5km», only with the consent of a parent or legal guardian and only in the 5 km race, with Annex II of the rules signed and handed in when the bib is collected.
• No medical certificate and no licence. Article 14 is explicit: «No es necesaria la presentación de certificado médico para la realización de prueba», no medical certificate is needed to take part. And neither the rules nor the platform ask for a federation licence or a club, checked on 3 October 2026. What you do sign is the disclaimer in Annex I, accepted when you enter.
• Minimum age, no figure. Neither of the two sources publishes a minimum age for the 5 km or the 14 km, checked on 3 October 2026. The closest thing is the prize categories, which start at junior, 16 to 23 on the 5 km and 18 to 23 on the 14 km, but that is the prize table, not a condition of entry.

The last two editions were timed by my.raceresult.com, and that is where the third edition results were posted, under event number 359696, although the classifications do not load without a browser.

Kit: the cup is not optional

The rules are misleading here, and two articles have to be read together. Article 9 says the mandatory kit is only «Dorsal y chip de la competición», the bib and the timing chip, and puts the water container in the recommended list. But article 7, the one on aid stations, warns that «NO SE DISPONDRÁ DE VASOS DE PLÁSTICO, utilizando únicamente los envases portados por cada participante, en ningún caso se podrá beber agua directamente del surtidor»: there will be no plastic cups, only the containers each runner carries, and drinking straight from the tap is never allowed.

So: recommended on paper, essential in practice. And on the 14 km there is a single aid station, halfway round, with liquid. Anyone arriving without a cup or a container does not drink. Also recommended are a mobile phone, a cap, sun protection, mountain shoes and clothing suited to the day, and photo ID. Mandatory kit is shown at the start and can be checked at any control point. Poles are allowed, though the organisers reserve the right to limit their use in some sections.

Planning your race

Teguise is the island’s former capital and the race moves through its surroundings, so the fiesta sets the atmosphere. Leave time to arrive, though not because of road closures: the rules are clear that the organisers do not close the roads at any point, so you run with the streets and the roads open and the traffic rules applying. What does make parking harder is the fiesta crowd. With a 10:00 start and a 13:30 cut-off, the 14 km is run in the middle of the day, which inland in October still bites: cap and water with you from the start.

Complaints go in writing with a 30 EUR deposit, returned only if the complaint is upheld, up to 15 minutes after the finish closes.