Presentation: “500 Kilometres In”
Climbing, ultramarathons and the road to the podium at the Ticino Wildlands 500
Pirin Galov is a Bulgarian ultramarathon runner and mountaineer for whom the mountains have always been an essential part of life. Away from major mountain challenges, he works in the family business, which he runs together with his wife, and is a father of two daughters.
His achievements include back-to-back victories at Terra de Gigantes in Portugal, covering 304 kilometres with 10,815 metres of elevation gain, as well as victory at UTTGN in Spain, covering 334 kilometres with 7,700 metres of elevation gain. In 2023, he finished fourth at the Cursa di Ciclopi in Sicily, Italy—a 510-kilometre race with 20,500 metres of elevation gain.
Galov has also won both of Greece’s largest mountain ultramarathons. In 2019, he won Frozen Peaks, covering approximately 250 kilometres with 11,640 metres of elevation gain. In 2024, he won the Tihio Race, completing the 250-kilometre course with 14,000 metres of elevation gain in 53 hours and 18 minutes. To date, he is the only athlete to have won both events.
He has completed the SwissPeaks 360 in Switzerland four times—a race of approximately 360 kilometres with around 25,000 metres of elevation gain—finishing 13th on two occasions. In 2024, he finished 20th at the SwissPeaks 660, also in Switzerland, covering 660 kilometres with 49,000 metres of elevation gain. He completed the course together with well-known ultrarunner and close friend Luca Papi.
In 2023, Galov completed the legendary Tor des Géants in Italy—330 kilometres with 24,000 metres of elevation gain—in 96 hours and 42 minutes. This remains the best Bulgarian performance in the history of the race and the only Bulgarian finish in under 100 hours.
His greatest achievement to date is his second-place finish at the 2026 Ticino Wildlands 500 in Switzerland, where he covered 500 kilometres and 40,000 metres of elevation gain in 181 hours and 33 minutes. The event combines extreme distance and elevation gain with exceptionally demanding and technical high-mountain terrain, with most of the route situated above 2,000 metres. Participants face the challenge in near-total self-sufficiency, with only minimal external support available along the route.
