S1 TransKarst Ultra 55 km
New 2027! New route!
The S1 TransKarst Ultra is for trained trail runners looking for more than just a long race: an experience with a strong identity, where your perception shifts and the idea of crossing takes centre stage. It is suitable for those who are comfortable with prolonged fatigue and mental management, for those who enjoy trails that feel like a journey and not just a sum of kilometres. Here the Bora feels like real territory: wider, more intense, more of a story to tell when you arrive. To learn more about this wind, see The Bora, the wind.
📍 Logistics
🧳 Bag drop
🚧 Time barriers, refreshment points and checkpoints
- 🥤🍴 ⏱️🚧 Medeazza, km 9.8 09.45
- 🥤🍴 ⏱️🚧 Sela na Krasu, km 27.4 13.45
- 🥤🍴 ⏱️🚧 San Pelagio, km 40.6 16.45
- 🥤🍴 ⏱️🚧 Santa Croce, km 46.2 17.45
🎒 Mandatory equipment
- Cibo e acqua necessari per correre per 15 km
- Your own cup or mug for drinking at the refreshment points
- Headlamp
- Long trousers and a long-sleeved top, or any combination that fully covers arms and legs when needed
- Survival blanket (emergency foil blanket)
- Gloves, hat and windproof jacket
- Mobile phone
🚌 Shuttles
💶 Entry fees
- € 55 until 1 June inclusive
- € 65 until 1 September inclusive
- € 80 until 1 November inclusive
- € 90 until 15 December inclusive
- € 104 until 10 January inclusive
🏅 Awards
Not ready to sign up yet?
Not signing up today? Let's stay in touch — we'll keep you posted on race news. One email a month at most.
Route and Altitude Profile
Time barriers and refreshment points
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.
CAI trail network
This course follows the CAI trails of the Karst
The route alternates waymarked CAI FVG trails — Sector 0, Karst — with link sections marked by us.
- CAI 001
- CAI 001a · Sentiero del Mitreo
- CAI 033
- CAI 003a
- CAI 003 · Alta Via del Carso
- CAI 075
- CAI 079 · Abramo Schmid
- CAI 032
- CAI 010
- CAI 035
- CAI 023 · Tiziana Weiss
The route
The sea behind, the Karst in front, Slovenia beyond the Ermada. The S1 TransKarst Ultra starts from the White Cliffs of PortoPiccolo, stretches along the Sentiero Rilke between sky and sea and, from Duino, heads for the plateau.
After Medeazza the real race begins: the long spur out towards Jamiano, the landscape of trenches and caves around Hill 208, the border path up to the Kremenjak and the descent into the Slovenian Karst towards Sela na Krasu. It is a crossing, not a loop — and that is exactly what gives it its name.
The way back is a long return to the sea: Precenico, San Pelagio, the Lupinc Park, Santa Croce and the Costa dei Barbari.
Want the full detail, junction by junction? Read the Roadbook →
Who is this race for
The S1 TransKarst Ultra is for trained trail runners seeking something more than a long race: an experience with a strong identity, where the idea of traversal takes centre stage — a true journey through the Slovenian Karst, not a simple accumulation of kilometres. It is suitable for those who are comfortable with prolonged fatigue and mental management, for those who love routes that feel like a journey.
Medical certificate. Mandatory for competitive activities (athletics, cross-country skiing, triathlon, cycling, or swimming). Exemptions apply to competitors who are not Italian citizens and are not part of an Italian sports club recognised by CONI.
The right pace. At a sustained walking pace (around 5 km/h), the 55 km can be covered in approximately 11 hours, with room to spare within the maximum time of 13 hours. Fast hiking is compatible with completion, but the intermediate time barrier points remain binding: they leave no room for long stops away from the refreshment points.
Dogs. Not allowed: the S1 TransKarst Ultra is a competitive/racing event.
Sister races — the 49-61 km band. In terms of physical demand, the S1 TransKarst Ultra sits in the 49–61 km band of our events, alongside the Sardon Ultra (49 km) on sardon.run and the Montasio 55 at Alpe Adria Ultra Trail, Summer edition. We do not offer one-to-one matches, but the whole bracket works as an equally demanding alternative.
Do you want to train on the S1 TransKarst Ultra trails even outside of race weekend? The guide Trail Running in Trieste collects paths in the Karst region that are accessible 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 remains. Check ten editions' worth of stats, then decide what to wear at the last minute.
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