Bolzano, 30 July 2021  - In this special year, despite all the adverse conditions, trail athletes are spoilt for choice week after week and can take part in spectacular competitions. One of the highlights of summer 2021 is still to come. In four weeks’ time, on Saturday 28 August, the starting signal will be given for the South Tyrol Sky Marathon (44.5 km/2863 m elevation gain) and the South Tyrol Sky Trail (27 km/1800 m elevation gain).

Already in May, the organisers around OC President Josef Günther Mair cancelled the legendary Südtirol Ultra Skyrace (121 km/7554 m elevation gain) and the approximately half as long Südtirol Skyrace (69 km/3930 m elevation gain) for safety reasons, but at the same time announced the two "short" courses. This means that in four weeks' time the big stage will belong to all participants of the Südtirol Sky Marathon and the Südtirol Sky Trail alone.

While the marathon will be run on the original route except for a small change due to the rockfall at Hotel Eberle at the beginning of January this year, the participants in the Südtirol Sky Trail will be running in the opposite direction this time. The participants race from the Bolzano Prati del Talvera to San Genesio and across Salto, past Alp Möltner Kaser and the Omini di Sasso and finally from Auen down to Sarentino through the finish. This variant also affects the elevation profile and an elevation gain of 1800 m must now be overcome on the 27 km route. 


The preparations are reaching fever pitch

Preparations for the traditional South Tyrolean mountain running event have been in full swing for many months. "Our organising committee is now a well-coordinated team and everyone knows exactly what needs to be done and when. We have already done a lot of work in the past few weeks. Now it’s all about the details. We are pleased with the lively response from the participants - even though we cannot offer the Südtirol Ultra Skyrace, our distance with the most participants, this year for safety reasons due to the Corona pandemic", Josef Günther Mair said.

To date, almost 200 mountain runners from 16 different nations have registered for the two courses. "Half of the registrations come from Italy, followed by Germany, Austria and - get this - the USA. We are optimistic that the 'real' run on the starting places will begin in the next few days. Despite the tense economic situation, the support from our sponsors is considerable and I would already like to thank them," Mair concluded.

Foto: Harald Wisthaler