The Giro al Sas, also known as the Giro Podistico di Trento and the Giro Internazionale Città di Trento, is an annual 10-kilometre

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 for men which takes place in October in the city of

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...

, Italy. First held as a part of celebrations for Saint Vigilius of Trent in 1907, the competition was interrupted by World Wars but has been held virtually every year since 1945. This makes it one of Europe's longest-running competitions of its type. The race has been won by some of Italy's most successful

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

s, including

Stefano Baldini Stefano Baldini (born 25 May 1971 in Castelnovo di Sotto, Emilia-Romagna, Italy) is a retired Italian runner who specialized in the marathon. He was the Olympic champion in Athens in 2004 and was twice European champion (1998 and 2006). Biogr ...

, as well as elite foreign athletes such as

Paul Tergat Paul Kibii Tergat (born 17 June 1969) is a Kenyan former professional long-distance runner. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished l ...

and

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha (; ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian Long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000 metres, 5,000-metre and 10000 metres, 10,000-metre from 2004 until 2020. He won the go ...

. The race is held within the city centre and starts and finishes at Piazza del Duomo. The name of the race, roughly translated as the ''Sas Circuit'', derives from the fact that the course features ten kilometre-long loops on the main city streets – which are locally referred to as ''al Sas''. The running event should not be confused with the similarly named

Giro del Trentino The Tour of the Alps is an annual professional cycling stage race in Italy and Austria. First held in 1962, it was named Giro del Trentino () until 2016, and run over four stages in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of Italy. In 2015, th ...

– a

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws a ...

competition which the city has hosted since 1963.

History

The history of the competition can be traced back to 1907 when a community group organised a race on the city streets of roughly 6 km as part of the festival of Saint Vigilius of Trent. Domenico Gottin, a runner from

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

, was the first to cross the line but he was later disqualified for taking a short cut, leaving Isidoro Trenner (a member of the local sports club) as the winner of the inaugural race. The race became an annual tradition, although it ceased during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

.Un balzo nel passato
. Giro al Sas. Retrieved on 2010-11-03. Trento-cathedral of saint Vigilio from east

It re-emerged in the post-war period and gained its current moniker of the Giro al Sas at this point – a name roughly meaning the ''Sas Circuit'', which derived from the race's looped course on the city's main streets which were known as ''the Sas''. The running competition was placed on hiatus from 1940–44 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Giro al Sas returned to the streets in November 1945, just months after the Italy's surrender to the Allied Forces. After the wars, the race entered a new, uninterrupted era (with the exception of 1991 and 1996) and gradually became international in nature with elite athlete competition. Alongside other Italian races, such as the Giro di Castelbuono, it is among the oldest road running competitions which continue to the present day. The current race director is

Gianni Demadonna Gianni Demadonna (born 14 June 1954) is a former Italian male long-distance runner who competed at five editions of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships (from 1977 to 1987). He also won a national championship at the senior Senior (shorten ...

, a former athlete and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

manager who won the race three times in his running career. Among the prominent competitors of the race's history is

, the

2004 Olympic The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

marathon champion, who competed in 18 editions and won on three occasions. He set the 2010 race as his final outing of his successful career, although an injury forced him to miss of the competition. Other significant winners include

Franjo Mihalić Franjo Mihalić (; 9 March 1920 – 14 February 2015) was a Yugoslav and Croatian long-distance runner best known for his 1958 win at the Boston Marathon and his marathon silver medal in the 1956 Summer Olympics. Mihalić competed mostly in marath ...

Francesco Panetta Francesco Panetta (born 10 January 1963 in Siderno) is a former Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of th ...

, and

Course and records

The course of the race has varied through its history: it was a 15 km race in the 1960s, before existing as a 12 km circuit from 1970 to the mid-1990s. From 1997 to 2004, the race typically featured ten laps spanning 10.9 km. It has been a 10 km race from 2005 to present.Malcolm Heyworth et al (2010-10-12)
Giro al Sas 10 km

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 2010-11-05. The current course of ten 1 km laps features many twists and bends as it traces a circular loop around the central city streets,Mappa
. Giro al Sas. Retrieved on 2010-11-05. making fast times difficult to achieve in the Trento race.Zorzi, Alberto (2005-10-10)

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. Retrieved on 2010-11-05. Paul Kimaiyo Kimugul of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

holds the fastest time for the 10 km distance via his winning run of 28:00 minutes from 2005. Over the 10.9 km circuit, another Kenyan – Paul Kosgei Malakwen – has the course record with 30:46 minutes. Although it has almost exclusively been a men's race only for its entire history, a women's competition was added to the programme for the 2005 edition – this 10 km race was won in 33:15 minutes by

Bruna Genovese Bruna Genovese (born 24 September 1976 in Montebelluna) is an Italian long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon race. Biography Genovese won the Italian under 21 half-marathon championship in 1998. She ran her first marathon on 24 Octo ...

, an Italian professional

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

runner.

Past winners

Little information about the race (or its winners) in its early history is available and the modern competition regards its post-war rebirth in 1945 as the start of its modern, continuous lineage. Stefano Baldini