Sardon Trail

Sardon Trail — 17 km · 396 D+

From the Timavo to the Ermada trenches, along the Rilke Trail to the sea

This year the start is at the Isola del Villaggio del Pescatore: more space, more room to breathe, no bottlenecks. The turn is immediately to the left - unlike in previous years - and the first part of the race runs fast along the coastal road and then along the Timavo, in the direction of its mouths.

The Timavo is a river-mystery: it rises in Croatia, sinks into the Caves of St. Kanzian in Slovenia and runs almost forty kilometres into the belly of the earth before re-emerging here, at St. John of Duino - the river with the shortest mouth in Italy, just two kilometres into the Adriatic. Virgil mentioned it three times in his works, describing in the Aeneid a river that bursts through nine mouths with a loud roar.

At the resurgences of the Timavo, the 17 km turns left along with the 22 and 49. You cross the coastal road and attack the ascent of the Mount Ermadaa technical and steep traverse that requires a sure footing and good pace management.

This year the route does not descend towards the railway. It continues uphill on a comfortable, fast road - consistent with the spirit of the Sardon Run 2026, which rewards running - until it reaches Homes Kohišče, the ancient village nestled in the Karst plateau. Here is the refreshment point. Homes Kohišče is a handful of stone houses where time has stood still: the ancient dwellings of the Princes della Torre and Tasso, the dry stone walls, the silence of the Karst interrupted only by the wind.

From Kohišče The 17 km route continues directly to one of the most striking and unprecedented sections of the Sardon Run 2026. The trail follows the old route of the garnicciari - karst gravel collectors - running exactly on the border between Italy and Slovenia. Technically you are on Slovenian territory, but with one foot still in Italy: the border passes right under your soles.

You enter a new section of the Great War Park of Mount Ermada: a deep doline dotted with caves and Austro-Hungarian emplacements, where the absolute protagonist is the Fire Cave - an underground shelter used by troops during the conflict. An open-air museum where history can be touched.

We continue through this landscape of trenches and memory, through shady pine forests that provide coolness even in the middle of August, until we reach the summit of Mount Ermada. From up here the view repays all effort: to the north the Karst stretches towards Slovenia, to the west the Friulian plain fades into the horizon, to the south the Gulf of Trieste shimmers in the August sun.

From Monte Ermada you plunge at full speed onto a paved forest road, in the shade of the pines. This is the section where the pass opens up and you fly: constant gradient, smooth terrain, legs spinning free after the fatigue of the trenches. Pure downhill adrenaline.

After finishing the asphalt, we continue on shady karst cart tracks, with a compact surface, perfect for running hard. Among the oaks and pines of the Karst, with the late August afternoon light filtering obliquely through the branches, we reach Visogliano-Vižovlje, last refreshment point before the finish.

From here you descend towards Sistiana. Then the descent continues into the forest of the bay: a dense wood of holm oaks kept in a thicket, where the light barely filters through. Steps, passages between the rocks, rapid descents through the undergrowth. Single track pure. The August heat stays above the tree canopy; down here one runs in the shade.

Coming out of the forest, we take the Rilke Path in the direction of the castle. This natural terrace suspended between sky and sea bears the name of Rainer Maria Rilke, the great Prague poet who between October 1911 and April 1912 stayed as a guest of Princess Maria von Thurn und Taxis in the castle of Duino-Devin. It was while walking along these cliffs that Rilke heard in the wind the words that would begin the Duine Elegies, one of the peaks of 20th century European poetry.

The path winds for over two kilometres overhanging the Adriatic Sea, through the Duino Cliffs Nature Reserve. The white limestone, furrowed by karst and shaped by the Bora, plunges sixty metres into the blue. Holm oaks and broom grow among the rocks, and rare species such as the magnificent algiroid, a lizard of Balkan origin, hide in the most sheltered spots. For the trail runner this stretch is pure emotion: you run with the Gulf of Trieste-Trst open on the left, the wind coming in from the sea and the castle approaching step by step. The bottom is technical - single track on limestone rock, exposed roots and short equipped passages.

The route crosses the Cernizza forest, then moves on to the Punta Bratina trenches, an identity passage of the Sardon Run. The walkways carved into the limestone rock, the posts that look out towards the sea. From this promontory, the view embraces the lagoon of Staranzano, the Villaggio del Pescatore and the outline of the castle of Duino-Devin. Last effort before arrival on the island.