At the moment the main favorite to win the 26th Südtirol Drei Zinnen Alpine Run is Hannes Perkmann. The Sarentine, who triumphed at the Stettiner Cup in Val Passiria last weekend, has four excellent results to his credit in Sesto. In 2015 the now 30-year-old athlete finished third, the following year he improved his result to second and another 12 months later he was third again. In 2019, with the Südtirol Drei Zinnen Alpine Run valid as a stage of the World Cup, Hannes Perkmann managed to finish sixth. The Vertical race specialist, who manages to make excellent figures even on the road, still lacks victory.
A German and a Trentino will take care of challenging Perkmann for the win. Simon Eisele made headlines with a second place at the Stuiben Trailrun and finished the 25-kilometre race at the Innsbruck Trail Run Festival in third place. Consequently, the Sesto race course, 17 kilometers long and 1333 meters in altitude, could be very suitable for the 26-year-old. The same goes for Marco Filosi from Trentino, who in June won the prestigious Ledro Sky – Senter dele Greste and in March showed his ability on the road by winning the Brescia Halbmarathon.
There is also much anticipation for the performance of the expert Armin Gögele. The Merano native was recently involved in the Stettiner Cup, finishing in fifth place. At last year’s Südtirol Drei Zinnen Alpine Run the 42-year-old finished seventh. Martin Hackhofer, a local showman, has already signed up. Last year the athlete of the organizing association ALV Sextner Dolomiten finished 15th.
Two young hopefuls aim for victory
In the women’s field, all eyes are on two endurance racing talents. Iris De Martin Pinter from the nearby municipality of Comelico Superiore is part of the Italian national cross-country skiing team and is Italian vice-champion in the sprint. The athlete has just turned 19 and in January she came close to the medal in the 20 km classic technique of the Junior World Championships in Whistler and she finished fourth. A month later she was included in the team for the World Championships in Planica and she finished 22nd in the sprint competition. Anna Hofer, on the other hand, is one of the young South Tyrolean running talents. The athlete from Rablà, born in 2005, was several times Italian champion in mountain running and cross and at the Südtirol Drei Zinnen Alpine Run she intends to demonstrate her skills.
Among the athletes at the start is also Margit Siller from Campo Tures, winner of the Ratschings Mountain Trail 2023. She will compete for an excellent result, as will Manuela Beer, South Tyrolean by adoption and German by birth, on the podium at both the Ratschings Mountain Trail and the Brixen Dolomiten Marathon and eighth in Sesto last year.
At the moment, about 600 of the 1000 bibs available for the Südtirol Drei Zinnen Alpine Run have been assigned. You can register for the mountain running festival in the 3 Peaks / 3 Zinnen Dolomites region on the official website www.dreizinnenlauf.com.