Luke Beresford reports
Whilst away recently on a trip to Slovenia, I headed over to the town of Tolmin on the southern edge of the Julian Alps for the Soca Outdoor Festival.
With no parkrun’s in Slovenia I needed to get a race fix and this fitted just nicely and seemed the perfect antidote solution.
The festival had a number of different distances ranging from 10k to the 50k ultra marathon and over 2000 runners ascended on the Soca Valley. I opted for the 15k route which took place on Saturday 1st July.
The race & event exceeded my expectations and was well worth the trip to Tomlin. The route had a few good climbs in it, taking in Tolmin Castle, Tolmin Gorge & finally the finish through the river Tolminka. Bravo! It reminded me a little of the dovedale dash with everyone splashing around and having fun, A great barrel of laughs.
611 runners completed the race, with Slovenian mountain runner Luka Kovacic winning in 1.02.39 & first female finisher Simona Checcucci of Italy in 1.18.47.
I was pleased with my run finishing 5th in 1.08.33 and 1st Old boy V40. The friendly atmosphere of the race made a great day and I highly recommend the race if anyone is down that way. Slovenia is a beautiful country and lots to explore.
