Europe

The whole continent is a playground for trail running, from rain-soaked Britain to the fjords of Scandinavia, from the still little-documented Balkans to sun-drenched southern Italy. European trails share one thing: a density of relief and cultures that changes every few hundred kilometres, with hardly any climate repeating itself from one range to the next.

The Lakeland 100 crosses England's Lake District, between glacial lakes and steep, rain-swept fells. The Lofoten Ultra-Trail runs along the sharp peaks of the Norwegian archipelago, under a sun that does not set in summer. The Julian Alps Trail Run explores Slovenia's Julian Alps, on the threshold of Balkans still rarely visited by Western European trail runners. Further south, the paths of Italy's Cinque Terre wind between terraced vineyards and cliffs plunging into the Mediterranean, down to the rocky coves of the Amalfi Coast.

Each of these very different landscapes keeps a recognisable topographic signature — the one Plotrek turns into a poster.