Nadia Battocletti at the BOclassic (© Organisers)
The BOclassic in Bolzano, Italy, whose creation in 1975 was inspired by the Saint Silvester Road Race in São Paulo, Brazil, has been awarded a World Athletics Heritage Plaque (category: ‘Competition’) to celebrate Tuesday’s 50th edition. It follows in the footsteps of São Paulo’s new year race (1925) which was honoured with a plaque in 2019.
Bolzano’s New Year’s Eve road race, which was the first of its kind in Europe, was originally called the Corsa Internazionale di San Silvestro but since 1996 has been known as the BOclassic Alto Adige. All races are run on a 1.25km circular course through the streets of the historic centre of Bolzano, the capital of the South Tyrol, northern Italy. As well as the men’s (10k) & women’s (5km) elite races, annually there are 5km public runs for youth age and adult runners, and the route is lined with thousands of spectators.
The World Athletics Heritage Plaque is a location-based recognition, awarded for an outstanding contribution to the worldwide history and development of the sport of track and field athletics and of out of stadia athletics disciplines such as cross country, mountain, road, trail and ultra-running, and race walking.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe commented: “Bolzano’s New Year’s Eve event led the way in Europe as the first road race to run the old year out and the new one in. The BOclassic’s international reputation for excellence annually attracts a star-studded elite field. Vivian Cheruiyot, Berhane Adere, Tegla Loroupe, Uta Pippig, Elly van Hulst, Edwin Soi, Daniel Komen, Salvatore Antibo, Emiel Puttemans and Dietmar Millonig are among an illustrious roll-call of running greats who have been victorious since 1975.
“During its fifty years, the BOclassic has become part of the social fabric of Bolzano whose citizens turn out on the streets, either to take part in the recreational runs or to cheer on all participants, elite and public runners alike.
“Congratulations on reaching your 50th edition, an anniversary which World Athletics is delighted to mark with the award of the World Athletics Heritage Plaque.”
Christiane Warasin, head of the organisation team, commented: “We are of course happy and proud to have reached this important milestone of 50 editions of BOclassic Südtirol. For us, however, this is not only a milestone, but also a starting point for hopefully another 50 editions of our event at the very highest level.”
Andreas Widmann, president of the organising association Läufer Club Bozen Raiffeisen, commented: “BOclassic Südtirol is an event for the citizens of Bolzano. This is probably one of the reasons why the New Year's Eve run is so popular and why it can rely on the help of so many volunteers year by year. The city administration is also still firmly behind this event, which puts Bolzano at the centre of the international running scene on the last day of the year.”
A small group from the Runners Club Bolzano headed by Dr Josef Mulser, Hans Pircher, Toni Ritsch, Toni Stampfer and Dr Günther Andergassen organised the first New Year's Eve Run in Bolzano. They were simply looking to create a middle-distance competition opportunity in the winter and took inspiration from São Paulo’s world-famous Saint Silvester Road Race which had attracted the world’s best runners since 1925. That first race in Bolzano was for men only and approximately 100 runners took part but in 1977 a women’s race was staged for the first time.
The BOclassic, whose elite races today are run over 5km for women and 10km for men, holds a World Athletics Road Race Label.
The start and finish have over the years been consistently held in the main Waltherplatz. However, up to 1983, the course was different, approximately 13km for men and 6.5km for women, and in 1977 and 1978, women ran the same 13km route as the men. The women’s winner in those two years was Germany’s Heide Brenner.
Sergiy Lebid of Ukraine with five wins is the most successful male athlete, while Ethiopia’s Berhane Adere, with four victories, is the best woman.
Currently Eyob Faniel, who won the men’s race in 2019, and Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Nadia Battocletti, who won the women’s race last year, are Italy’s most recent victors.
Chris Turner for World Athletics Heritage