Ultra Trail Vipava

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(Edited)


Vipava Valley, Slovenia, the weekend from Friday, 29th of October to Sunday 31st, 2021.

Ultra Trail Vipava Valley

The event was postponed several times from the original time on the last weekend of April 2020. Then I entered for the 100 K distance, called The Centurion.

It's a 103 kilometers long trail event with almost 5,000 meters of vertical climb.

This weekend it was time to go for a walk in the Vipava Valley park, finally.

My personal goal was to have fun all the way. The time wasn't important since this was not a race, at least not for me.


The events started in Ajdovščina at 23:30 on Friday. Here's the start area inside the Ajdovščina castle.

From Ajdovščina we were running to the source of river Hubelj and continued along the tarmac paths. Soon we started to climb. It was relatively warm at 7 degrees in the middle of the night. I dressed cautiously in a long-sleeved winter undershirt, long-sleeved running vest, long thighs, my brand new running gloves, a hat, and a headlamp.

It was very hot very soon. The arrival to Otlica, kilometer 13, already Saturday at 1:45, where the first aid station was, was a welcoming intermezzo in our climb up the hill.

Fast forward and we are at the third station below Mala Gora, kilometer 32 at 6:40 am. In between were the mountain tops of Kovk, Veliki Golak, and Čaven. I was actually running for the first 20 kilometers and had a great pace. Then the real difficult climb started and my pace dropped to a hike. The higher we got the colder it was. Fortunately, the wind was not strong.

Veliki Golak was the highest point on our journey with almost 1,500 meters above sea level. To be honest, reaching these tops was an anticlimax because you couldn't enjoy the view. It was like:

"OK, we are at the top now."

"OK, we go down again."

During the night, when we were climbing up the slopes, I often switched the side of the trail because there were big pools of slippery leaves and we were searching for secure footsteps all the time.

Yet, this station was great. Loud rock music, even louder volunteers, excellent pancakes. Marvelous.

Then it was out on the trail again. The rocks were loose, the leaves were plentiful. You really had to judge carefully every step you took.

7:10 am, finally the sun peeked above the ridge behind us. It was beautiful dawn. Luckily, I reached the top of Kucelj, kilometer 33, at the best possible moment to enjoy the view.

I took several photos and savored the moment. A fellow runner from Pordenone, Italy, commented: "This is why we came here." True, so true!

We continued at a leisurely pace toward the northwest following the narrow path below the main ridge. The trail was technically demanding and didn't want to bring us down to the valley at all.

At 8 am I allowed myself another longer stop to enjoy the view.

On the next part of the journey, the path was carved in the rock, literally. To the right, the cliff and the ridge, to the left the valley and the drop.

Standing at the edge and looking down to a drop of at least 800 meters. It was lovely.

Good morning, world. This is why and how we are alive!

Moving on I noticed a church on a hilltop below the path. Vitovlje. It was 9 am.

The path lost its cliffness effect yet it was still technically very demanding.

20 minutes later I was already at Vitovlje aid station, kilometer 41. It was the first time limit check with cutoff at 12 hours into the run. I was well on the safe side with 9:50 needed for almost a marathon distance.

Yes, they had pancakes too. And delicious coffee. I took two cups of it, sat at the bench in front of the ex-church, and savored the view, this character included.

Moving on and descending into the valley. It was high time to come down to the lowlands.

Another 20 minutes later I was amazed while looking back up, at the rocks we came from and passed by.

The dullest stretch began here. Running and walking by the wine yards with nothing special to report on, passing villages, reaching civilization and asphalt, running by river Vipava, ... It all went by in a breeze.

At 11 am it was time for another steep climb. It was short and pleasant yet the steepest of the trail so far. Surprisingly in the woods and not high in the mountains.

At 11 am, I stopped and sat on the log blocking the path to ponder whereupon I was and whether I wish to continue. I checked the map to realize I was minutes away from the next station at Preserje, kilometer 56.

11:30 pm. Station Preserje above the steep climb. It served at a station for both 100 K and 10 0miles runs. For me, it signified the end of the road. A long time ago, at kilometers 25 I started pondering the issues of whether I will push it to the bitter end or should I rather DNF in style?

I realized then, as the proven ultrarunning saying goes, the first half is in your legs while the second half is in your head. Isn't it so, @rthelly?

Well, I reasoned like this:

  • there are another 47 kilometers to the finish and I will arrive in the dead of the second night on the trail,
  • there are 24 kilometers to the next drop-out possibility at the Podnanos station,
  • I already did 56 kilometers and climbed 3,000 meters and was on the road for 12 hours,
  • I don't need to prove anything to anybody, myself included,
  • I simply wanted to come to the finish area in Vipava during the daytime, to enjoy time with my family and friends, to have a beer in good company.

So I DNF-ed with an easy heart.

The shack where the aid station was was formerly a biker meeting point with many wild parties I guess. The collection of empty bottles is proof enough.

I took another cup of coffee, ate some bread with tomatoes, drank a lot of tea, took a mattress, put it outside on the ground, and enjoyed a nap under the warm sun.

This is how I waited for the van to bring me and three other DNF-ed runners to the finish area in Vipava where my family already waited.


The elevation profile graph shows that it was a lot of climbing indeed. Climbing includes descending too which was a bigger nuisance for my bad right knee. I am afraid to run down quickly for two reasons:

  • you can never know when the rock under your foot will turn and surprise you,
  • you don't know what's hidden under the heaps of leaves.

This is the Karst regions we were traveling through. A lot of stones and rocks and generally demanding paths to thread on. Some parts of the trail were particularly annoying. For example, at least four kilometers long and winding down mulatiera road, Rocks and stones and stones and rock where you had to judge every step you took. Mulatieras are high mountain roads built by Italian army forces during the Big War. They were crazy for those.

The map shows half of the loop that I did. 56 kilometers, 3,00. meters of climb, 12 hours of run, and hike.


The conclusion? It was a great day overall. Lovely trails, always friendly volunteers (thank you, thank you, tank you), beautiful views, many paths I walked on for the first time, some great yet brief conversations with fellow runners from Slovenia, Italy, Holland, Czechia, a very pleasant afternoon at the finish, 56 kilometers done. A fulfilling day.

Oh yes, since the start was at 23:30 I was awake a lot. From Friday at 7 am to Saturday at 10 pm with two power naps squeezed in. Around 39 hours of being awake is a lot and not healthy!


As for the unfinished business. The next Ultra Trail Vipava Valley event is in May 2022. I already entered for the 50 K event! The start will be at 8 am and this time I promise you I will finish it and still have enough time to party on. The trail will be the second part of the one I didn't continue on Saturday. In a way, it will be a 100 K run in two parts :)


Mentioning my friends @manuvert, @browery, and @thebigsweed because they've shown interest in this story when I bickered about the @actifit app letting me down.

Thank you for following my ramblings :)


The @pinmapple spot marks the Vitivlje church which is featured in the cover photo.


Check out some detailed info at my EXHAUST page
Join me in testing out EXHAUST!


Proof of Run on Strava

This run on Strava | Strava profile


All the physical activity data that I display in my @exhaust and @actifit reports is gathered with the help of Coros Pace sports watch and displayed with Coros app.


Better and better




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18 comments
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Great event, after reading what you did, I feel pain in my lags :)

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Thank you. YOu don't need to feel any pain. I am completely OK and already did two short runs and several doggy walks after the race.

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Just like the preview was hinting at, this really looks like a very cool event. Everything sounds nice, especially of course the scenery once the sun showed up. I also like the Jack Daniels bottles 😉 Great job on the trail too, 56k is just impressive!
I don't think there is any such event in my current area, but I have to check out other places out West, near mountains and canyons. There is no way I could do anything remotely close to this now, but maybe some day...

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You could do it on a fine day if you set your mind to. It's a lot of hiking :)

Have a great day.

!invest_vote

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beautiful scenery and impressive km count
I am not a runner, so my mountains hiking best is 35km (2600m total elevation gain) and I needed 12:20hrs. I guess ~40km is possible, but I wouldn't try anything beyond 50km

Congrats and thanks for the story

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What a wonderful post my friend. The only way a person really has the opportunity to enjoy the landscape of this area is to travel it on foot. Some of the pictures you included in this post are breathtaking. As I was reading this post and enjoying the journey I was recalling hiking the Appalachian Trail. The trail goes from Georgia to Maine a total of 2,180 miles. Many people have hiked the entire trail, but I'm not one of them.
Back when I was a teacher, I taught a survival training class and those that passed the course would be allowed to join me on a 4-day hike. Over those four days, we would cover about 40 miles. The young adults I taught were Special needs students. Many of them lived in cities and had never stepped a foot into the woods.
I believe that this hike and camping trip changed them for the better. One of the hardest parts of the hike was when we were descending, going up was strenuous, but coming down was very tricky. As you said, every step had to be measured.

This event draws people from many countries and that had to be cool to meet other folks with the same passion.

I'm sure you slept well after being on this 39-hour journey.

The 50K event you entered will cover the part you didn't walk, how cool is that.

Thanks for taking me along with you on this journey, it was loads of fun even though I didn't take a single step.

I'll be getting my second new hip on the 16th of November and two new knees at the end of March 2022.
With all of these new parts, I should once again be able to enjoy hiking in the woods in the near future, just not 56KM. 😁

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Thank you very, very much for your wonderful comment.

It was very rewarding and fun to teach those young adults and show them around so they can see that life can be much more. They certainly learned a lot about themselves.

There is a similar initiative here too. teachers take young people, also with special needs, on a trip from their school to the seaside. 171 kilometers from Kranj to the Adriatic sea. What an adventure and stories to tell :)

Yes, I know about the Appalachian trail, of course. It's not on my list because there are many paths to walk on closer to where I live. the first Slovenian who walked the entire trail wrote a great book about it.

YOu'll get your new hip in two weeks' time? Great! Rest well before the operation, will you? And take some herbs to prepare yourself. Arnica montana can make wonders. Good luck!!!

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Thanks for the links, I always enjoy them when offered.
Jacob J. Kenda is a pretty versed gentleman, well educated, and a recognized author. The one thing that I found very cool is that he translated the Harry Totter book into many different languages.

The other link was also neat. What an experience for these students to have hiked 171 kilometers. Again I had to do a little math and the distance these young adults hiked equals 106 miles. Now that's a very good pace, 25 miles a day. We averaged less than half of that distance and by the end of every day, the students were exhausted.

Thanks for the good wishes with my surgery. I also took a look at the Arnica montana and it sounds like it's something I could use following surgery. I've got the time before my surgery to delve into it a little further.
Thanks again, and after your latest hike, it sounds just like the stuff you could also use.

Take a few days off my friend, I'm sure your body would appreciate it!

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This looks such a brilliant event and I may have to look at it for next year. Well done!
The saying is definitely true but the thought of running anything over 10 miles is terrifying so I try to not think about it 😂

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you are doing great at long distances and difficult terrains.

Welcome :)

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This event looks brilliant and your photos are wonderful. Well done on completing. I may have to add it to my list for next year.
The saying is definitely true. Although, thinking about running anything further than 13 miles is terrifying so I try to not think about it at all! It’s just one long picnic, right?

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