Sarentino, 26 April 2023 - The anniversary edition of the Südtirol Ultrarace on the last weekend in August 2023 brings some new introductions. On the second longest distance over 63 kilometres with 3550 metres of elevation gain, there is a new (old) start time. The second part of the route is also different this year.

While last year’s Südtirol Ultrarace was a pure night run, this year, the organizers are returning to their roots. The starting signal for the second longest course of the extreme mountain run along the horseshoe shaped Hufeisen tour in the Sarntal Alps will be given on Saturday, 26 August at 6:30 am at Piazza Walther in Bolzano. And so the adventure for hundreds of trail enthusiasts once again starts in the early hours of the morning and,  once arrived on the first ridges, with stunning panoramic views of the Dolomites and many other well-known peaks.

The route for the first 44 kilometres and thus up to Rifugio Croce di Lazfons is identical to that for the most prestigious distance distance of 119 kilometres. From the Bolzano basin, the route climbs a challenging elevation gain of 2,000 metres to Corno del Renon, continues to Forcella di Sarentino and down to Stöfflhütte, before again passing Croce di Lazfons and descending towards the finish in Sarentino. And it is precisely this last section that is new, because the route now runs across Malga Getrum, continues on wide forest paths below Monte Villandro to Castel Regino and for the last kilometres into the main town of Sarentino, where the finishers are welcomed by the enthusiastic public.


There could be new records on the new route

Defending champions of the Südtirol Ultrarace 63K are Martin Graf from Val Casies and Angelika Eckl from Tesido. Last year, Graf arrived at Passo di Pennes, where the finish line was located at that time, after 9:18.19 hours in the dead of night. For Eckl, however, the adventure was over after 10:57.51 hours. The last winners in daylight were Mattia Depaoli from Trentino (7:32.53) and the Merano trail queen Julia Kessler (8:38.51). The course record is held by Fulvio Dalpit (7:04.44), who lives in Racines, and Daniela Ömus from Germany (8:32.12). However, the route then was longer (69 km) and had a greater elevation gain (3930 m) than the new route this year, which is why there could well be new records on Saturday, 26 August.

The Südtirol Ultrarace is rated as a qualifying race for the Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB). Finishers of the 63K course will be awarded three (3) ITRA points, or nine (9) Mountain points. Registrations for all four distances at the Sarentino trail event will be open four months before the big showdown at www.ultrarace.it.