TrailRegions

How is trail running like in Croatia?

28 Feb, 2013 (Thu)

I know that you all love to travel and discover new races and new places. Would you be interrested in learning a little more about Croatia and more specifically about trail running in Croatia.

I exchanged a few emails with Vanja Suhina a passionate traveler and trail runner from Croatia. Vanja and a few friends have recently created a new website to promote trail running in their country. It is a great source of information. I asked him a few questions to learn a little more about trail running in Croatia.

Credit : Trail Running in Croatia

Is trail running popular in Croatia?

Trail running is becoming more and more popular in Croatia. In the last 10 years, most of the races were adventure runs (the course between the checkpoints is not marked and you are not obliged to stay on trail so it involves some orienteering skills), but we are seeing more and more classic trail and ultra trail races organized here. Also, every year people would go to international trail races, mostly UTMB and some others.

What are the main races one should not miss?

It’s difficult to tell :) If you are looking for a big race, then I would recommend two: Velebit Ultra Trail – a 100km trail race over our biggest mountain range Velebit. The entire race is run inside the National park Paklenica and Nature Park Velebit and you have these beautiful views on the Adriatic sea, islands and coast. It’s a very technical and hard race, but it’s really worth it.

The other is 100 Miles of Istria, it is the 1st edition this year, but since we had races all over Istria, I know the surroundings pretty well, and I can say that it will be very beautiful and that the organizers will show you the best Istria can offer.

Credit : Trail Running in Croatia

What kind of terrain can we expect in Croatia when we enter a trail? Is there a typical kind of terrain or is it very diverse?

You can expect all kind of terrain, it really depends on the race that you choose. You can even have extremely diverse terrain in a single race, everything from sandy beaches to karst ridges. Some trails are easy and runnable, but some trails, especially on islands and high in the mountains can be very technical and demanding.

What is the best period for trail running if any?

The best periods are spring and autumn, and also early or late summer. April and May are packed with races and it is the same is in September and October. But if these dates do not suit you, we have races throughout the year. If you like running on snow or during night, we can also offer that :)

What key factors should encourage a foreign runner to come to Croatia?

I think the first reason is the beautiful and diverse nature. Croatia has more then 600 islands and islets. Our biggest mountain ranges are just next to the sea, overlooking it, and the races are organized just there. Race organizers are usually locals, who know every bit of terrain and know how to set a course that will show you the best of their region.

The other reason could be that each race has multiple categories, varying in distance (10km – 25km – 50km), so if you arrive with your family or friends, there will be a race for each of them. People are also friendly, so if you want local company for the race, you’ll probably find it.

Credit : Trail Running in Croatia

What race do you prefer among all the ones listed on your website?

Another hard question :) Well, I really like Ucka Trail, it was my first race and I am always happy to run on Ucka (mountain). Back then, it was in another format (adventure run), but strating this year it will be a pure trail. I saw the course last year and it’s really beautiful: the views on Istria on one side, the views on Kvarner bay and islands on the other, going through small (and abandoned) villages and perfect single tracks. Besides that, Velebit, is our hardest race so far (and it will probably stay that way), is in a wild and stunning nature. There are always interesting races in Istria…

What was your motivation when you started your website? What is your goal?

My first goal for starting Trail Running Croatia was to answer a question that I often got while racing outside my country: “Cool, that sounds interesting, where can we find some information about races in Croatia?”. We have a lot of running communities that have websites, but they are all in Croatian. These days, you can find more and more information about races available in English, but I wanted to summarize it in one place and offer information to everyone.

The second thing that I want to share is information for runners that come here for holiday, for foreign runners that live or work in Croatia: we would like to show them where we go running, what our favorite trails are and where they can go running (The ‘Trails’ section of website is still being written, but we hope we’ll have many more trail descriptions before the holiday season starts).

Credit : Trail Running in Croatia

The third and my favorite reason is connecting people, taking some foreigner runner to our training or race, meeting fellow runners from other countries and continents, providing a contact to a local runner in your whereabouts. We currently provide these functions through our e-mail and through our Facebook page but we will also provide all these contact information on the website soon.

Do you hava a last message for our running community?

I would like to invite all interested runners to try racing or just trail running in Croatia. I would also like to invite all the trail race organizers to use our Facebook page to promote their races with Croatian trail running community. Drop us a message, link, video or just post to our wall. See you somewhere…

If you need information about trail running in Croatia, http://www.trailrunningcroatia.org/ is the website to go to.

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