As Morski writes on the 16th of October, 2019, the fourth international “Dalmatia Ultra Trail” race will be held on the 18th of October to the 20th of October, 2019. The centre of the event is the beautiful city of Omiš, which is very well known among the trekking and trail population as the “cradle of Croatian trekking”.
”The race will be taking place all over the county. It goes through eleven local government units and we have three categories of races. The first and longest starts on Friday in Solin with over 150 competitors. It continues in Kaštela, Kozjak, Klis, Poljice, Zadvarje, Brela, and then ends in Omiš.
The second category (54 km) starts from the Makarska Riva on Saturday morning at 09:00. At 13:00 on Saturday, the third 18 km long race begins in Dugi Rat, and on Sunday at 11:00 there is a children’s race where more than 200 children of all ages are expected to partake. This is a sport and tourism event, which promotes our entire county as an ideal destination for active tourism,” said Dragomir Čović, a member of the organising committee.
The importance of the project was recognised by the large number of tourist boards and administrative administrations through which the race route passes, which have as such become part of the “Dalmatia Ultra Trail”.
”We’ve been supporting the race from the very beginning. When the organisers came to me a couple of years ago, I thought, well… what does that have to do with tourism? However, when I came to the finish of the race and saw how many foreign and local visitors there were, and the enthusiasim that accompanied the race, I realised the importance of this event.
After several years, this event has become one of our county’s strategic projects. The synergy of tourist and sporting events has been recognised. This is very important and necessary for tourism in the county. This race is an indispensable part of the post-season, it benefits us to attract guests who love hiking the mountains and trails. That’s a huge amount of marketing being done. With this race, we’re keeping up with the pace of the world and it’s also an example is that with a lot of desire and work, an event at the global level can be created,” said Joško Stella, Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board’s director.
Due to the high level of interest and the number of competitors that exceeded all expectations of the organisers, it should be noted that the entries for all three races are closed. And for all the little ones, some good news follows! Applications for a 1 km long children’s race are still open, which will be held on Sunday on Omiš beach. The winners of all of the races will be announced on Sunday at 12:00.
Petra Bartulović, director of the Omiš Tourist Board, which co-organised the race, said the entire city lives for the race that weekend.
”We’re glad that Omiš is becoming more and more known as a destination for sport-adventure tourism, in addition to klapa songs, pirates and soparnik. I’d like to point out that besides the amount of participants of the race, we’re also pleased by the level of following, which all affects the number of overnight stays in Omiš,” said Bartulović.
In order to make the stay in the area and the race more enjoyable for its competitors, the Dalmatia Ultra Trail Association seeks the help of volunteers who will help them with organising, logistics, arranging and marking the track, assisting at refreshment stations, paying attention to traffic where runners go, and more. In addition, numerous runners are set to arrive from distant countries, so organisers are urging the locals to come out in front of their homes, greet the competitors and present Croatia as a country of friendly, warm, and kind hosts.
The Dalmatia Ultra Trail is an international adventure project that connects the most beautiful locations of this central Dalmatian area, the most important historical and cultural monuments in the promotion of Dalmatia as a new ideal destination for outdoor activities, sport and competitions.
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