S1 Half Trail – 23 km
New for 2027! A brand-new course!
The S1 Half Trail is the most balanced race for runners who already do some trail running and want the complete package: varied and absorbing, with just the right mix of runnable stretches and hard work. It’s for anyone after a real but manageable challenge — nothing extreme — where pace, consistency and a little care on the rougher sections are what count. It’s the perfect distance if you want to get right to the heart of the Bora and finish knowing you’ve done a proper trail run.
📍 Logistics
🧳 Bag storage
🚧 Time barriers, refreshment points and checkpoints
- 🥤🍴🍲 ⏱️ Duino, km 5.8
- 🥤🍴 ⏱️ Medeazza, km 10.4
- 🥤🍴 ⏱️🚧 Visogliano, km 19.9 14.45
🎒 Mandatory kit
- Enough food and water to run 4 km
- Your own cup or mug for drinking at the refreshment points
- Survival blanket (emergency foil blanket)
- Mobile phone
🚌 Shuttles
💶 Entry fees
- €22 up to and including 1 June
- €31 up to and including 1 September
- €35 up to and including 1 November
- €45 up to and including 15 December
- €55 up to and including 10 January
🏅 Awards
Not ready to sign up yet?
If now’s not the moment, let’s stay in touch — we’ll keep you posted on race news. One email a month, at most.
Course and elevation profile
Time barriers and refreshment points
Can’t find the GPS track?
Everything you need to prepare for the race is already on this page: the map, with the ITRA-certified distance and elevation gain, and the point-by-point checkpoint table, showing the kilometre mark, the ascent and descent of each section, the refreshment points and, where there are any, the time barriers and their closing times. These are the official race figures — the ones that count under the regulations and for ITRA points — and they are final: with that table you can plan your pacing, your split times, what to carry and where to refuel.
We hold the GPX back for two reasons, and neither is an oversight.
The first is your safety. People who download the track weeks in advance don’t go back and check it, and in exceptional cases the course can change at the last minute: a road closed, a path no longer passable, extreme weather. Set off with an old track on your device and you’ll find yourself following a line that no longer exists — and that’s where the risk becomes very real.
The second is that some sections cross private land. They are open for the race under agreements made for that day: they aren’t routes you can go out and do whenever you like.
Holding the track back for now isn’t a shortcoming: it’s how we make sure you have the right course on race day. The official GPX is released in the week before the race, in its final version, ready for you to load onto your device. On the day, the course is marked in any case: GPS is an extra check, not what you navigate by.
We often publish training loops and segments covering the stretches that are open all year round, so you can get to know the terrain before the race.
In the meantime, we recommend:
- looking at previous years’ tracks online, which help you get to know the terrain — though the course changes from year to year and some sections 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.
CAI trail network
This course takes in CAI trails on the Karst
The race alternates trails listed in the CAI FVG trail register — Sector 0, Karst — with connecting sections specific to the course, waymarked by the organisers.
- CAI 001
- CAI 001a · Sentiero del Mitreo
- CAI 033
- CAI 003a
- CAI 003 · Alta Via del Carso
- CAI 008
The course
From the Bora Village at PortoPiccolo it’s a fast start: down to Sistiana Bay, up the stairs and along the road to the Sentiero Rilke, with time for the field to spread out before the trail.
Then come the Sentiero Rilke, suspended between sky and sea, the village of Duino with its castle and the White Lady, and the heart of the race: the Monte Ermada loop, through dolines, pine woods and First World War trenches long since reclaimed by greenery. The run back towards Visogliano and Sistiana is the most runnable part, all the way to the finish by the sea.
It is the most balanced distance of the Corsa della Bora: a real challenge, but a manageable one.
Who this race is for
The S1 Half Trail is the most balanced race for runners who already do some trail running and want a complete experience: varied, absorbing, with just the right mix of runnable stretches and hard work. It’s a real but manageable challenge — nothing extreme — where pace, consistency and a little technical care on the rougher sections are what count (especially the ups and downs of the Ermada loop).
Competitive or non-competitive. With a medical certificate for competitive sport, you start at 9.30 in the competitive race, with results valid for the UTMB Index and ITRA. Without a certificate, you start at 10.00 in the non-competitive race, together with the S1 Family Hike & Trail: same finisher medal, but no ranking.
Fast hiking works too. At a brisk walking pace (around 5 km/h), you’ll cover the 23.3 km in about 4 hours 40 minutes, comfortably within the maximum time of 6 hours 10 minutes and the Visogliano time barrier (14.45).
Dogs. Allowed on a lead only in the non-competitive S1 Half Trail (as in the S1 Family Hike & Trail and the S1 Borin). Not allowed in the competitive race.
Sister races — the 17–25 km range. In terms of physical effort, the S1 Half Trail belongs to the 17–25 km range of our family of events: Sardon Trail (17 km) and Sardon Half (22 km) on sardon.run, and Saisera Crossing (18 km), Lussari (24 km) and Dogna Crossing (25 km) at the Alpe Adria Ultra Trail (Winter edition). We don’t offer 1:1 pairings: instead, the whole range is proposed as alternatives of the same level for anyone looking for an equivalent experience at another event in the group.
Want to train on the trails of the S1 Half Trail outside race weekend too? The guide Trail Running in Trieste brings together Karst routes you can run or walk all year round.
In Trieste, you never know.
One year in short sleeves drinking beer by the sea after the race. The next year, wrapped up to the eyeballs. The weather changes; the fun doesn’t. Check 10 editions’ worth of stats, then decide at the last minute what to wear.
Gallery
PortoPiccolo — Bora Village
Start and finish for almost every race. The Bora Village at PortoPiccolo is the event’s base: a fully covered, heated venue overlooking the Gulf of Trieste, with everything you need before, during and after the race.
One place for bibs, expo, showers, food and prize-giving — no moving from place to place, nothing spread out. Arrive, run, celebrate.
Accommodation
Apartment or hotel: book it yourself or straight from your Runner Profile. At the Corsa della Bora you can share an apartment with other runners — we’ll take care of matching you up with flatmates.
PortoPiccolo and Sistiana have places to stay just a short walk from the start. Trieste is 20 minutes away by bus.
Shuttles
Dedicated shuttles run from Trieste Central Station to the Bora Village and back: the outward trip costs €4 and the return is free. Each distance has its own timetable — check the page for your race.
The Bora Village is also on the regular Airport–Trieste bus route, so you can get there by public transport without the shuttle.
Getting to Trieste
The Bora Village is ideally located: two minutes from the motorway exit, 15 minutes from Trieste Central Station and 20 minutes from Friuli Venezia Giulia Airport.
By car, train, bus or plane — Trieste is closer than you think. It’s 90 minutes from Ljubljana and less than two hours from Venice.
PortoPiccolo, Sistiana · Duino-Aurisina (TS) · 2 min from the A4 motorway · 45.7633° N, 13.6350° E
🩺 Medical certificate: competitive and non-competitive races
✅ No medical certificate needed
🚧 Medical certificate required
- NOT an Italian citizen and
- NOT a member of an Italian sports club recognised by CONI
🔁 With or without a medical certificate
🏅 Medal
Frequently asked questions about the S1 Half Trail
Is the S1 Half Trail a half marathon?
No. It’s 23.3 km with 700 m of ascent on Karst trails, not a half marathon’s 21.097 km of tarmac. Your road half-marathon time counts for little here: you run at trail pace, with technical sections and a maximum time of 6 hours 10 minutes.
What time does the S1 Half Trail start?
Sunday 10 January 2027 from the Bora Village, PortoPiccolo: the competitive race starts at 9.30, the non-competitive one at 10.00. Bib pick-up is on Saturday from 12.00 to 20.00 or on Sunday from 7.00 to 8.30.
Do you need a medical certificate?
Yes for the competitive race; no for the non-competitive one, which starts half an hour later, at 10.00, on the same course. It’s the way to cover the distance without needing a medical certificate for competitive sport.
What do you have to carry?
The mandatory kit list is short: enough food and water for ten kilometres, your own cup or mug for the refreshment points, a survival blanket and a phone. Along the course, the refreshment points are at Duino (km 5.8), Medeazza (km 10.4) and Visogliano (km 19.9).
Can you reach the start without a car?
Yes, by shuttle: it leaves Trieste Centrale station for PortoPiccolo at 7.45 on Sunday 10 January. Return shuttles run every hour from 13.00 to 20.00.