Trieste: 'melting pot' suspended between sea and mountains
Trieste is a Babel of history and culture, a city where dozens of languages are spoken and where the most diverse traditions, nationalities and religions, even at times opposing ones, meet — and have almost always met — to collaborate and enrich one another.
Trieste is Italian, yet its traditions and customs carry the strong influence of the Slovenian hinterland, of the sea since the days of the Venetian Republic, and of the great Greek merchants and shipowners who once traded here. Trieste is a city with strong ties to Austria and sees Maria Theresa as one of its leading figures. Trieste is a city with churches for all creeds, which has welcomed and valued all religions. But it is also a city with a strong secular and scientific vocation. Trieste is a city of literature, patriotism and heroic mountaineering. Running in Trieste means breathing this atmosphere, which the poet Rilke, from the Duino Crags, summed up in the simple phrase: 'Being here is wonderful', or to use his own words, 'Hiersein Ist Herrlich', or in Slovenian 'Biti tu je čudovito', and in English, the language of science and internationalism, 'Being here is wonderful'.
But what is the best way to say it? The best way is not to say it, but to live it: be overwhelmed by the contrasts of this land. From the sea that meets the rock. From the snow-capped mountains overlooking the Gulf of Trieste, swept by the electrifying Bora wind. In Trieste we are all tourists and all at home, because Trieste is a vibrant city, always growing and changing, but also inclusive and welcoming. Being here is wonderful. In 2022 we gave you the medal with the inscription 'Being here is wonderful'. This year it's the Slovenian version, 'Biti tu je čudovito', and next comes the English and German ones — take part for four years running and you'll have the complete set. One year you can't participate or you miss the 22nd medal? Don't worry, we always make about 20% more than the number of entrants, so that everyone can have the complete set. In January 2023 you will then find both the Slovenian and the Italian medal, in January 2024 the Italian, the Slovenian and the German, and in January 2025 also the English medal. Register on the site for 5 euros, reserve your race pack and bib, and pay at your leisure later.