23rd ‘Run along the Dovžan Gorge’ 2013

Jelendol (Slovenia), Sunday 18 August 2013

Held in a well-hidden corner of the Karavanke mountains on the Slovenia-Austria border, this lovely small running event attracts around 150 runners of all ages.

Juniors and adults run 8km, and children run between 500m and 1500m.

Starting and finishing in the tiny little hamlet of Jelendol, the route takes runners out and back a disused railway track through a steep wooded valley.

The race is run almost entirely on gravel roads. The first half of the course is gently uphill (50m of elevation gain), the second half is downhill.

The only way to get to Jelendol is to drive (or run) through the spectacular nineteenth-century road tunnel in the Dovžanova soteska ("Dovžan Gorge"), a protected natural monument, situated 3km from the old shoe-making town of Tržič.

Race report and photos: 19. Tek po Dovžanovi soteski 2009

Country: Slovenia

Venue (Map): Jelendol (6.5km from Tržič, 46km from Klagenfurt, 52km from Ljubljana, 172km from Udine)

Date: 18 August 2013 (Sunday)

Race distance: 8km; children 500m/1000m/1500m

Start time: 9.30 (children); 10.00 (8km)

Entries: on the day 8.00-9.15 (children's races: until 9.00)

Entry fees: €10; children €4; families (two adults, two children) €24

You get: a souvenir gift; snacks and drinks after the race; pancakes to all children

Prizes: trophies to the first man and woman; medals to the first 3 in each category

Number of finishers 2012: 107 (8km), 44 (children's races)

Event details in Slovene: www.klub-trmastih.si/gp2013/dovzan2013.pdf

No guarantee is made as to the accuracy or thoroughness of the information on this page.