Ultra Trail Vipava Valley - Slovenia (UTVV)

What a melodious race name 🎼. Almost as beautiful as the wild and lush Slovenian landscapes you’ll see during the Ultra Trail Vipava Valley - Slovenia (UTVV), also humbly known as the Vipava Trail (named for the beautiful green valley of the country 🌱🌳). Which country? Well, you guessed it, it’s the Slovenia! 🇸🇮 This country still relatively untouched by mass tourism has a lot to reveal. There are thus 3 conditions to meet to participate in the competition: love the expansive natural spaces natural, want to discover new horizons and be a challenger (and love wine +1 😋)! So head to Ajdovščina (bless you 🤧) to tackle one of the 6 routes offered: 10 km , 15 km, 30 km, 59 km, 107 km and 165 km.

It’s not made up: the Vipava Valley (or Vipava Valley) was the site of the battle of… Dragibus Frigidus! 🤺 Far from a frozen region, not the cradle of refrigerators, this narrow Slovenian valley, a corridor between the north of the Italyand Central Europeis traversed by the river that gives it its name: the Vipava 💦. It’s here, in this green space surrounded by mountains ⛰, that Christian troops of the Eastern Roman Empire under Emperor of Rome Theodosius Iand the pagan allied troops of the LLate Western Roman Empire and the Franks (cock-a-doodle 🐓), commanded by Eugene and Arbogast. For lovers of the Middle Ages! 🏰 I might as well tell you that this valley in the Primorska region of the country west is a hotspot of history: indeed, this battle helped the adoption of Christianity in the western part of the Roman Empire and accelerated the military collapse of the West 🤯.

Rest assured, we won’t give you a history lesson as long and as snooze-worthy as a Roman one 🥱 (no, you’re not a sleeper but a runner! 🏃 ), but knowing the history of the Vipava Valley helps you better understand the essence of an event that brings together 1300 runners from 40 nations. Because it’s here that you can don, in addition to a numbered bib with your name, the heart of a conqueror 🏆. No need for a helmet and sword to battle: all you’ll need is a pair of shorts 🩳, a T-shirt 🎽 and a pair of sneakers 👟 (plus a small set of mandatory gear) to battle against… yourself! 😂 Start by resisting the urge to devour a banquet of Slovenian specialties the day before the race (forget potica, a rolled cake with walnuts, hazelnuts, or tarragon, whose dietary virtues before a trail have not yet been proven by the scientific community 😅) and don’t give in to the temptation of a tasting of local wines 🙅 (that’s for later, don’t worry 😉).

Like a brave Gaul celebrating on unknown lands, you’ll discover a land of undisclosed riches (but without Idéfix 🐶): you’ll see mountains, fields, dense forests 🌲, limestone plateaus, caves 🦇, picturesque villages, but also the Adriatic Sea and the neighboring Italy. The locals are incredibly warm and get genuinely excited for the spring event 🌺. It almost feels like a Gaulish festival with beer and boars everywhere! 🤤 Except here, they mostly drink Cockta 🧋, a caffeine-free local soda made from rosehip that resembles the famous American drink in color but tastes very… particular. Give it a try, just in case it has the same effects as Asterix’s magic potion! 😜