OUT 2018: ready for departure!
16 July 2018
The Orobie Ultra-Trail®, although only in its fourth year, is already considered a classic event in this discipline. All competing athletes, many of who come from abroad, have confirmed over the years the beauty and technicality of the course, which covers 140 kilometres, beginning in the Orobie Alps and finishing in the medieval town of Città Alta.
This year confirmation also comes from the number of participants. The trend of past years has continued, with growing numbers of participants for both the Orobie Ultra-Trail® and the Gran Trail Orobie, which together have almost 1,500 people registered. Registration is open until 15th July, instead, for the Bergamo Urban Trail, which has some 500 race bibs reserved.
Numbers of athletes from abroad is also high, with over 200 runners from more than 30 different countries.
A new feature of this year is instead the creation of a Pool of companies which have decided to support the competition with a three-year commitment. These firms are more or less local and have invested in the Orobie Ultra-Trail® due to the positive effect it has had on the whole of Bergamo province; a positive effect created also through promotion and enhancement of the local area and by the networks and partnerships developed during the event.
EOLO, LOVATO ELECTRIC, IVS ITALIA, SCAME and MONTELLO are committed for three years to supporting the Orobie Ultra-Trail®, and are flanked by technical partners such as HOKA ONE ONE, ELLE-ERRE, KRATOS, G-TO GUASTO, GORE-TEX, SALICE and other firms in the area such as QC TERME SAN PELLEGRINO and TENARIS DALMINE, MANZONI&MANZONI, PERARIA, GIAMBARINI GROUP, ATB AZIENDA TRASPORTI BERGAMO, POLONI.
The specific competencies of the partners range from event preparation to after-race activities. In particular, the involvement of numerous sponsors linked to food led to a dinner offered to the press and sponsors on Thursday 5th July at Valverde Castle, a small sixteenth-century gem that is largely unknown even though it stands a short distance from San Lorenzo Gate, beneath the Venetian Walls.
It was an opportunity to taste organic pasta from CMP CAMPAGNOLO, made of spelt, lentils and quinoa, and developed especially for athletes thanks to its low glycaemic index and high protein content; pasta which will also be used during the race and at the post-race pasta party.
ELAV BREWERY also presented a product created especially for the athletes: its Ultratrail beer. This beer is a Pale Ale with low alcohol content, low carbonation and fresh hopping, aromatised with ginger and goji berries, which the independent brewery in Comun Nuovo created especially for the Orobie Ultra-Trail.
Products not created specifically for sports people but representative of the local area are Arrigoni cheeses and Bracca and Pineta water. ARRIGONI is an expert in promoting abroad the best of what the Bergamo area and its mountains have to offer, and for three years in a row its products have won the World Cheese Awards! Little presentation is required instead for the water of BRACCA and PINETA, whose springs flow a short distance from the race course, making them truly zero miles products for the refreshment points. Lastly a coffee corner was present, entrusted to the ten years’ experience of IVS ITALIA in bringing drinks and snacks to any event and in any situation.
Another new feature of this year is the creation of company teams, made up of employees of the companies that sponsor the event, which show how LOVATO, SCAME, ATB, GIAMBARINI, ELAV and ARRIGONI truly have at heart sport and the health of their workers, and how their commitment consists not only of a financial contribution, but also the sharing of a passion and its promotion.
Finally, the “zero impact” project with which Orobie Ultra-Trail® aims to be as environmentally friendly as possible, leaving the land as it found it (if not better). This will be achieved thanks to MONTELLO: through its expertise, waste will be separated, even in the most remote refreshment points. Thanks again to its interest, all personalised tablemats delivered to the mountain huts and used for the pasta party will be made of recycled paper, and all t-shirts for finishers of the 140km and 70km courses will be made of organic cotton.
Businesses focussed on the local area and its roots, art, architecture and food excellence, amongst panoramas of lush green hills. A collection of the most beautiful things Bergamo has to offer, and a symbol of everything the Orobie Ultra-Trail® wants to represent apart from just the sporting aspect.
