OUR STORY
From doubts and challenges to a success story
Three thousand runners don’t appear at an event overnight. But back in 2013, there was one unforgettable night when, on top of everything else, we were tending the bar, sweeping cigarette butts, and scraping chewing gum off the asphalt just before the race started. If you’re curious how the Soča Outdoor Festival was born and grew into what it is today, keep reading. Read all the way to the end – you’ll find yourself in this story, too
First came the Big Bang, then dinosaurs, peasant revolts, two world wars… and finally, in March 2013, two childhood friends from Tolmin, Jan Klavora and Peter Dakskobler, came up with the idea of organising a mountain bike race.
Two more locals, Blaž Lužnik and Jure Kavčič, immediately joined in. Together with Jana Apih, Jan’s colleague from the conference tourism industry (yes, really!), they decided to add trail running to the mix, because hey, this was going to be the outdoor event the Soča Valley had never seen before!
Well, yes: although the team was not completely inexperienced, the first September edition (let’s not forget, the idea was born in March) ended with 320 participants and a big fat loss. The biggest sponsorship support was a promise that they would support the second edition (if we survived the first, they probably thought).
Never again, for the first time
Of course, back then we didn’t have the organisational tools we use today – shared cloud documents, WhatsApp groups, even walkie-talkies. What’s more, just before the event, which was still being held at Na Logu at the time, Jan’s laptop with all the documents and contacts died. And although people ran and cycled and were happy and cheerful, Jan said his famous “Never again!” on Sunday afternoon (which he repeated for another nine editions, before accepting that it would be a shame to give up something that had developed so beautifully over the years).
While some sponsors kept their promise and supported us in one way or another, nature already played a trick on us in 2014, when we settled into the most beautiful corner in the world, Sotočje. That year, Slovenia, including the Tolmin area, was hit by an ice storm; the traffic detour ran directly past our venue, there was some bad mood and even a tractor parked across our course, but there you go – exhausted and still financially undernourished, we also pulled off the second cycling-running party in nature.
“No” to bikes, for the first time
If nature wasn’t enough, then in 2015 we were challenged by, ahem, let’s call them not entirely clear rules regarding cycling on local trails. We bit that bullet too, and in doing so indirectly contributed to several legislative changes in the field of mountain biking. In 2016, we held the MTB race at a different location, starting in Kobarid, and then, with gritted teeth, reluctantly agreed to tear down one of the event’s two pillars – cycling. Or rather, to put it into hibernation.
It wasn’t until the fifth edition, in 2017, that the event first stepped onto the green branch (in Slovene, that means finally getting out of the red numbers), although the branch was rather fragile and shaky. But in 2020, that green branch also broke, fell into the Soča, and bye-bye it went! Yes, during the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, sports event organisers definitely got the short end of the stick, although you might agree that humanity would probably have been better off running outdoors instead of sitting inside four walls.
To put it mildly, it wasn’t easy. On the other hand, we were suddenly given something we rarely have – time. We used part of it to plan the revival of mountain biking. In 2022 and 2023, MTB riders became part of the event again (yay!), though not without complications. At one point, some hero thought it would be incredibly clever to change the course markings overnight and send cyclists into a steep ravine. Fortunately, our course marshals spotted it in time and averted disaster. Once again, we had to thank mountain biking for its service and wave it goodbye (though we still hope not forever).
What reads like a tragedy,
actually isn’t one at all.
At the same time, we expanded the running distances from 5 kilometres to well over 40, while visitors could climb, paddleboard, go (family) cycling and explore the historically fascinating hills around Tolmin. For several years, the Parafestival was also part of the programme. The number of runners grew by an incredible 40% (!) per year on average, and every year the list of countries they came from got longer. Our organising team grew as well, forged into a well-oiled machine through many broken fingernails and blisters. We are especially proud of our younger generation.
Towards the end of primary school, local kids started doing their (not entirely) voluntary summer jobs at Sotočje. Every year they took on more responsibility, progressing from handing out medals to managing registrations or coordinating race starts. Working at the festival became an important part of their CVs. Taking over the leadership of the event was just as important a milestone for Sara Mavrič, who took the conductor’s baton in 2023 and approached the organisation in a more structured and systematic way. Thanks to her, the festival now runs much more calmly and under control than it did before, when we often found ourselves putting out fires as they appeared.
A testing ground for green ideas and an inspiration for everyone
The Soča Outdoor Festival, our first (though no longer our only) and most mature sports festival, has become the testing ground for our ideas. How do you make such a large event friendly to runners, locals and nature alike? We were one of the first to meet the Slovenian Tourist Board’s Sustainable Event Guidelines. At aid stations we got rid of plastic cups. We started sharing equipment and materials with other running event organisers in Slovenia and beyond. We adjusted race schedules to avoid congestion on the trails.
To keep this short, anyone interested can read more about our sustainability measures here. In short, we want the festival to leave behind great memories for everyone involved: runners and the local community alike. And we want nature to continue providing a place to unwind for generations to come. That’s why we’ve helped restore alpine pastures on the slopes of Mount Krn, reforest areas of the Karst destroyed by wildfires, and plant new forests in Kočevje after bark beetle infestations.
And after all these years, what still keeps us coming back, spending Sunday evening, in the summer taking down everything we spent the previous three days building?
If you’d like to experience this meeting of the river’s flow and the runner’s stride for yourself, you’re warmly invited. As a runner, a supporter, or a volunteer. See you soon!
