The BOclassic Alto Adige is an annual
road running
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain.
These events are usually classified as long-distance ru ...
competition over the distance of
10 kilometres for men and
5 kilometres for women. It is held on
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...
in
Bolzano
Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...
, Italy. The competition has only elite races, competed between a limited number of runners, but over 10,000 spectators gather in the streets each year to witness the race. The race has been broadcast live on television by Italian channel
Rai Sport.
It was first held in 1975 under the title Corsa Internazionale di San Silvestro – inspired by the
Saint Silvester Road Race in
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, it was the first European New Year's Eve road race (
Silvesterlauf). After nine editions as a 13 km race, the men's race settled on its 10 km format. A women's competition was included in the programme from 1977 onwards and it has been a 5 km race since 1987.
[Civai, Franco & Gasparovic, Juraj (2009-01-05)]
Corsa Internazionale di San Silvestro
Association of Road Racing Statisticians
The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...
. Retrieved on 2010-01-03. The Corsa Internazionale di San Silvestro changed its name in 1996 into BOclassic Alto Adige.
The course is in the centre of the town of Bolzano. It is a looped circuit, starting at Walther Square and heading west on Via della Mostra before turning onto Via Goethe and Via del Portici. The route then heads southwards along Via Laurin before looping back on itself to follow along Vaile della Stazione back to the starting point.
Past male competitors have included multiple European champion
Serhiy Lebid, Olympic marathon champion
Stefano Baldini while women such as World Half Marathon Champions
Tegla Loroupe
Tegla Chepkite Loroupe (born 9 May 1973) is a former Kenyan long-distance track and road runner. She is also a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights and education. Loroupe holds the world records for 25 and 30 kilometers and previousl ...
and
Berhane Adere have won the women's section. The 2011 edition featured three reigning world champions in
Vivian Cheruiyot,
Imane Merga and
Wilson Kiprop.
Past winners
Key:
*
NB: The race course distances varied in the early years of the competition but the men's distance settled at 10 km from 1984 onwards and the women's race has been a 5K run since 1987.
*
2020 race distances: Men: 5 km, Women: 10k m
See also
*
Giro di Castelbuono
*
Memorial Peppe Greco
References
;General
Past Winners BOclassic. Retrieved on 2010-01-03.
;Specific
External links
Official website{{coord, 46.4984, N, 11.3546, E, source:wikidata, display=title
10K runs
5K runs
Athletics competitions in Italy
Recurring sporting events established in 1975
Sport in South Tyrol
Bolzano
Annual sporting events in Italy
1975 establishments in Italy
Winter in Italy