Race Date: Saturday 19th April 2025
This Easter, my good friend from Steel City Striders Caroline Brock visited our new home in Tansacqua, Trentino. (Editor: Not to be confused with the Alto Adige where they speak German). We moved here last year from Mestre where we had lived since returning to Italy in 2020. It’s a beautiful location with a tartan track in Mezzano less than 5km away but after the flatlands of Venice, where there are no hills, here there’s nothing but. It has therefore been difficult to find somewhere suitable for training especially my long reps which the coach insists on prescribing. Never mind, all this gradient comes in handy when tackling events such as the Dolomiti Beer Trail with 1400m of climb over 24km which Caroline was to run with me.
Paradise is a track plus hills.
Starting and finishing at the headquarters of Birra Pedavena the route climbs through forest trails then above the tree line to the summit of Monte Avena at 1454m (4770ft) before returning to the brewery with plenty of mud to make the journey even more arduous. The crocus are in bloom and spectacular views are promised. In bad weather, when it could easily be snowing, there’s a formal kit check but today only trail shoes were compulsory although they didn’t stop Caroline from taking a tumble. Along with the Beer Trail, which was also hosting The International Firefighters Trail Championships, there’s a 55km (3000m) Ultra and the 12k (700m) Beer Tour.
The sky looks grey and foreboding with clag on the top.
Although Caroline was running “with” me, competitive beast that she is, she was nearly two minutes ahead after 11km when we reached the ski station at Monte Avena. I couldn’t see her by then as the mist was so thick. At this stage Caroline was 10th woman and I was 14th. After that it’s virtually downhill all the way back but with a further 180m bit of climb at Bivio Campet to negotiate. With Caroline’s slip up I was able to close the gap to 14 seconds as 10th woman whilst Caroline was 9th woman. This data is important as along with the bottle of Pedavena that everyone gets the first ten men and women also receive a bottle of Birra Dolomiti Speciale (abv 5.9%). Coach had his eyes on this but Caroline was only carrying hand luggage so couldn’t take it onto the plane. He’ll have to run the race next year and then buy his own.
The race actually starts within the brewery with fine views along the way.
| Pos | Name | Cat | Time |
| 102 (9) | Caroline Brock | F40 | 02:41:41 |
| 105 (10) | Valeria Gasperini (Atletica Amatori Chirinago) | F40 | 02:41:55 |
First was Costa Isacco (Ita) in 1:48:15 with Bonzi Vivien (Ita) first woman in 2:07:19. There were 536 finishers with 208 running the 55km Ultra and 350 finishing the 12km Beer Tour. Link to full results: Dolomiti Beer Trail Results 2025
Despite reports otherwise, not much evidence of mud here.
Postscript: Since my last report I understand that there was some comment about of mud visible in the photographs. The following Friday I ran the 50km (2300m) Du Rocche Ultra at Cornuda, Teviso on the way to a 60k Ultra in May. Conditions were awful with continual rain and frankly dangerous. At 40k, after having fallen badly several times, I would have dropped out but being half way up a mountain with no roads there was no choice but to continue. I hope that the picture below satisfies the mud fetishists.