S1 Borin 4 km
New for 2027! A very special finish!
The Borin becomes a real borin! A walk — or a short race — but with real bite. Departure from the beach together with all the competitors, the classic tour of the trenches, the climb towards Sistiana and then... no crossroads this year: Borin runners will be the only ones carrying on towards the Costa dei Barbari, with a steep descent that will have you thanking yourself for wearing good shoes. You return towards the finish line together with the Ultra and Borderless competitors. Short on distance, big on character.
📍 Logistics
🧳 Bag drop
🚧 Time barriers, refreshment points and checkpoints
- 🥤🍴 ⏱️ Arrival PortoPiccolo, km 4
🎒 Mandatory equipment
- Enough water for 4 km
- Your own cup or mug for drinking at the refreshment points
- Survival blanket (emergency foil blanket)
- Mobile phone
- Trail shoes with good grip (steep descent!)
🚌 Shuttles
💶 Entry fees
- € 5 until 1 June inclusive
- € 6 until 1 September inclusive
- € 8 until 1 November inclusive
- € 12 until 15 December inclusive
- € 15 until 10 January inclusive
- Free for children under 16
🏅 Awards
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The route, section by section
PortoPiccolo beach and the trenches of the Karst front. The S1 Borin trail starts from the beach of Bora Village in PortoPiccolo, with the sea behind you. The first section climbs through the Great War trenches of the Karst front: white stone, Mediterranean scrub, wild sage, on a well-marked path with a gradual incline – no sudden steep climbs, suitable for anyone discovering the Karst for the first time or accompanying a child. PortoPiccolo and Sistiana Bay, logistical heart of the Corsa della Bora.
Sistiana/Sesljan - new for 2027: a piece of the Karst all to yourself. Up until the previous edition, there was a fork in the road at Sistiana: the long distances continued inland, while the Borin immediately looped back towards the sea. In 2027, this will change – participants in the Borin will be the only ones, across all Corsa della Bora races, to reach Sistiana and then continue towards the coast instead of turning back immediately. This is a stretch of the Karst traversed solo, with no other competitors around, which no other distance in the event covers.
Costa dei Barbari (Botanjek): the stretch you don't expect From Sistiana the path descends towards the Costa dei Barbari, a wild Karst coastline between Sistiana and PortoPiccolo, with no beach clubs, with hidden coves and an open view of the Gulf of Trieste. The ground is classic Karst — bare rock and roots, so watch your footing – and the descent, though short, is steep: the most challenging point of the entire route, despite its minimal distance. For children, this section is suitable for those with a little experience on the trail, not for absolute beginners. To learn more about this stretch of wild coast, see Costa dei Barbari.
The finishing line at PortoPiccolo. From the coastline, the path leads back to the beach of PortoPiccolo, where the Borin concludes at the same finish line as the other distances of the day: same beach, same party, hot food for everyone. Anyone who runs the Borin takes home a stretch of coast – Sistiana and Costa dei Barbari in sequence – which in this edition no other competitor of the Corsa della Bora covers in the same way. Four kilometres, but well chosen.
Want to know more? Read the Roadbook →
Who is this route for
The S1 Borin is the gateway to the Corsa della Bora: a short, but not trivial distance – a true taste of the Karst, with a memorable finish. Suitable for those running the Karst for the first time, for those who want children to experience a real route without sacrificing the scenery, or for those simply looking for a manageable distance with an authentic character.
Without a medical certificate. No health requirements to enter: non-competitive race, no final classification.
Dogs allowed. On lead, as in the S1 Family Hike & Trail and the non-competitive S1 Half Trail.
Free for under 16s. Under 16s do not pay the fee, but registration is still mandatory to receive a bib and medal.
The right pace — even for those who walk. At a sustained walking pace (around 5 km/h) you'll cover the 4 km in about 48 minutes, well within the maximum time of 2 hours: no intermediate time barriers to worry about. The only real attention required is technical, not a matter of pace: the steep descent of Costa dei Barbari requires trail shoes with good grip, regardless of how fast you tackle it.
A step further, staying in the Corsa della Bora. For those seeking something slightly longer after the Borin, without changing events, the S1 Family Hike & Trail (14.5 km) is the next distance in the same event, starting at the same time (10:00) and finishing at the same finish line.
Sister races — band ≤14 km. For physical commitment, the S1 Borin belongs to the ≤14 km band of the group's events, alongside Sardonzin (7 km) on sardon.run, Grego (8 km) and Valbruna (10 km) from Alpe Adria Ultra Trail Winter edition, and Oitzinger (12 km) from Alpe Adria Ultra Trail Summer edition. No 1:1 pairings are proposed, but rather the entire band as equally-valued alternatives at another event within the group (no direct links: just the name of the reference event).
Would you like to explore the S1 Borin trails outside of the race weekend? The guide Trail Running in Trieste collects paths in the Karst region that are accessible all year round.
Can't find the GPS track?
Everything you need to plan your race is already on this page. The map carries the distance and total ascent certified by ITRA, and the checkpoint table sets out the course point by point: the distance, ascent and descent on each leg, the aid stations and, where they apply, the cut-off times. These are the official race figures, the ones the regulations and the ITRA points are based on. Between the map and the table you have what you need to work out your pacing, your splits, what to carry and where you can refill.
We hold the GPX back for two reasons, and neither is an oversight.
The first is safety. A track downloaded weeks ahead is rarely checked again, and in exceptional cases the course can change late on: a road closed, a path no longer passable, a section rerouted after bad weather. Set off with an old file on your watch and you are following a line that no longer exists — and that is how runners end up off route.
The second is access. Parts of the course cross private land, open to the race on race day under agreements made for that day alone. It isn't a route you can go out and run on any given weekend, and it isn't a file we can leave online all year.
Holding the GPX back until the last few days is how we make sure the course on your watch is the one you will actually run. It goes up here in the week before the race, in its final version, ready to load onto your watch. And on the day the course is fully marked: the markings are what you follow; the GPX is your back-up.
We do publish training loops on the sections that are open all year, so you can get to know the ground before race day.
In the meantime, we recommend:
- looking at previous years' tracks online — useful for getting to know the terrain, but the course changes from year to year and parts of it are only open on race day;
- consulting the interactive map to plan your recces;
- checking our Facebook page and the articles on the site for updates and recce loops.
Gallery
PortoPiccolo - Bora Village
Start and finish of almost all races. The Bora Village in PortoPiccolo is the base of the event: a completely covered and heated facility overlooking the Gulf of Trieste, where you will find everything you need before, during and after the race.
One place for bibs, expo, showers, catering and prize-giving - nothing to move between, nothing spread out. You arrive, you run, you celebrate.
Accommodation
Apartment or hotel: book independently or directly from your runner profile. At La Corsa della Bora you can share an apartment with other runners - we'll match you up with a flatmate.
PortoPiccolo and Sistiana both have places to stay within walking distance. Trieste is a 20-minute bus ride away.
Shuttles
Dedicated shuttles both ways, from Trieste Centrale station to the Bora Village and back: the outward journey costs € 4 and the return is free. Each distance has its own timetable - check the page for your race.
Bora Village is also on the regular airport-Trieste bus line: you can reach it by public transport without a shuttle bus.
Arriving in Trieste
Bora Village is in a strategic location:Two minutes from the motorway exit, 15 minutes from Trieste Central Station, 20 minutes from Friuli Venezia Giulia Airport.
By car, train, bus or plane - Trieste is closer than you think. From Ljubljana it is 90 minutes, from Venice less than two hours.
PortoPiccolo, Sistiana - Duino-Aurisina (TS) - 2 min from the A4 motorway - 45.7633° N, 13.6350° E
🩺 Medical certificate: competitive and non-competitive
✅ Without medical certificate
🚧 Only with medical certificate
- NOT an Italian citizen and
- NOT a member of an Italian sports club recognised by CONI