Race into the new year with DuRun10K – Dalmatia’s first New Years Day race!
In Dubrovnik this winter time? Among the very rich and varied program of the city’s blossoming winter festival, you can find yourself quickly sweating off all of that excess food and alcohol on the very first day of the new year with DuRun10k.
During a time of merriment and forgetting all about about diet and exercise, we often finish up the festive period feeling bloated and not quite motivated to face the challenges of a fresh new year. DuRun10k comes at a perfect time. Under Dubrovnik’s typically bright blue winter skies and surrounded by the stunning architecture and ambience of the UNESCO World Heritage Site – where could be a better location to dust off your running shoes and let off some steam, be it professionally or otherwise?
Peace Run, which is responsible for the organisation of large-scale humanitarian races has been present in Dubrovnik since the very first DuRun10k back in 2015. The message behind this praiseworthy movement is peace, which is the feeling we should all have on the very first day of a brand new year. As a symbol of peace, a torch is lit before the race, is carried during the race, and later travels the world in all large-scale races of the kind as a mark of peace and respect.
As previously mentioned, this increasingly popular Dubrovnik sporting event was born in 2015, when the then budding winter festival offered very little to the city’s guests and locals, the idea was to breathe some life into the otherwise partially empty town in order to bring people together through the one thing we all appreciate – sport. Running, as a popular athletic hobby, costs very little to nothing to take up and enjoy, making it one of the very few remaining sports that is widely accessible to all, allowing it to become the first choice of many sport lovers.
Races exist all over the world, so why choose Dubrovnik? The Pearl of the Adriatic is unique to say the least. Not your typical running track and far from your typical location. The city has opened its doors alongside the rest of Croatia in its attempt to become a 365 day destination, and therefore is gradually becoming more and more accessible outside of the classic summertime window, when running of any kind is not possible. The internationally loved UNESCO World Heritage Site has many faces, and there is no reason at all why sport shouldn’t be one of them! Runners get to experience and breathe in the life and soul of Croatia’s southernmost destination as they welcome in the new year while they partake in their favourite passtime.
During the week that DuRun10k is held, a great many other varied events are on offer too, as part of the Dubrovnik Winter Festival, a manifestation that increases in popularity among locals and visitors alike as each year goes by. From food to music and open air concerts, running through the most beautiful city in the world is just one of the many very rich angles of winter time in the Pearl of the Adriatic, a time of year that, as mentioned, more airlines and holiday companies are beginning to open their eyes to.
To throw in a segment of the rich cultural tradition of the area, the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, known and loved throughout the wider area, will perform an open air concert right before the race. This mixes the essence of sportsmanship and the deeply rooted traditions of the city together, resulting in a wonderful sporting atmosphere to kick off the new year.
As Croatia’s southernmost city wakes up to the dawn of a brand new year, probably with a slightly less sore head than you, why not kick off the year as you mean to go on in a beautiful ambience and in a way that couldn’t possibly be more healthy.
At a mere 20 euros to enter, you will receive not only your start number, but a DuRun10k t shirt, bag, water and free entrance to one of the city’s top attractions – the mighty city walls. There will be both a male winner and a female winner, and both will receive 500 euros each.
Convinced enough yet to invest in a new pair of trainers? If so, click here for more information on where to be at what time and how to apply and register to try to beat the record on one of the most unique ”tracks” in the world.
