Ten thousand runners fill the Dragão on Saturday, three days before the Champions League

The 7th Corrida do Dragão starts on Saturday, October 17, at 10:00 AM, from the Estádio do Dragão, with all 10,000 places sold out, three days before FC Porto host the Champions League there.

It was that UEFA Champions League match, scheduled for October 20, that forced the organizers to bring the event forward from Sunday to Saturday. UEFA requires the Stadium and its surroundings to be clear in the days before the match, and Global Sport chose to run a day earlier rather than postpone. The change did not slow demand. The 6,000 places in the 10 km race and the 4,000 in the 5 km walk are all taken.

It is the second consecutive edition to sell out. In 2025 the event brought together 10,000 participants, more than 300 volunteers and 70 athletes with disabilities from the Impar Running and Sexto Sentido groups, and it was the first public initiative of the FC Porto Foundation. In 2026 the Foundation returns as the reference partner for all communication, and FC Porto is involved in the event as never before.

“This edition is organized by Global Sport with the full support and involvement of Futebol Clube do Porto and the FC Porto Foundation, in a partnership that symbolizes the perfect union between Porto the Club and Porto the City,” says Paulo Costa, CEO of Global Sport. Porto City Council and Ágora, Cultura e Desporto do Porto, maintain their institutional support.

New Balance makes its debut as Gold Sponsor and signs the official T-shirt, mandatory in both events. A week before the race, the brand brought the Ellipse model to the outer ring of the Stadium for a test session with limited registration. On Saturday, the top three men and the top three women overall receive a pair of Ellipse at the prize-giving ceremony, at 11:30 AM.

Participants’ health gets its own space. Hospital de Santa Maria, Bronze Sponsor, offers free health screenings at the venue during the morning, with blood pressure, heart rate, blood glucose and oxygen saturation, and Clínicas Espregueira set up a Therapy Point for recovery at the end of the race.

The registration desk is open today, October 16, from 2:00 PM to 11:00 PM, and on Saturday from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM, at Gate 17 of the Stadium. Traffic restrictions apply in the surrounding area between 8:30 AM and 12:30 PM, and the organizers recommend the Metro, Blue Line, Estádio do Dragão station.