Karlovački cener - 10K

In this interview series, Ahotu will be speaking with the people behind some of the most unique races across the globe. We’ll be discussing the history of the event, challenges and how to overcome them, attracting sponsors, reaching new runners and more! In this months interview, we’re heading to Croatia to speak with Robert Franjković founder and race director at Adria Run to chat about the return of in-person events and what goes into organising some of the biggest and best events in Croatia! ‍ Thanks for joining us Robert. Could you introduce yourself and Adria Run for those that haven’t heard of you or your events? Adria Run is Croatian road running series with five popular races from March to October. Zagreb is the opening race and last year it was Balkan Half Marathon championship, and Karlovac 10K is the World Athletic Road Label Races with professional athletes on the field running very, very fast. More information you’ll be able to find in coming days on our official web site www.adria.run. How did you get involved in organising running events and how long have you been a race director for? As a young athlete I used to run some very nice road races in Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and Austria. I realized that my hometown, Karlovac is a perfect place for something like that. When I finished with my running activities it took 10 years or so before things went in the right direction for the first race to go ahead. Finally, at the end of 2012 we (me and my friends from our local track and field club – AK Karlovac) decided to organise the Karlovac 10K race – Karlovački Cener (cener is “10” in playing cards and very common name for everything with number 10 in Croatia). The very first race was Friday evening, on the 14th June 2013 and we had 160 runners at the start. We were delighted to see you recently host the Zagreb Spring Half Marathon, how did it go? The hardest ever. Until 10-15 days before the race, we still didn’t know what to expect. Would we be able to organize the event and get the permit from the authorities? Finally, when we had all the relevant authorisation and there were no other legal obstacles, we upped the gears and prepared for a high level running event, with less time than we’d ideally like! What measures did you put in place to allow you to put on the race safely and how did they impact the runner experience? To be honest, compared to some other EU countries, Croatia is pretty relaxed regarding measures and restrictions. However, together with our National Athletic Federation we prepared a Covid-19 protocol, which was shared with the authorities and all runners. Which was nothing you wouldn’t expect, common measures put together with explanations. The runners weren’t affected at all. For example, there were many recommendations which were not compulsory, but encouraged. The biggest change for us, compared to previous editions, has been wider starting zones. Croatia has boomed as a tourism destination over the past 20 years, has that had an affect on your races? Of course, pre Covid-19 Croatia was very popular with visitors from across Europe and beyond. Now, we are waiting for this to pick up and to welcome foreign runners again. Have you seen a change in appetite for running events in Croatia over the past 12 months as a result of the pandemic and what trends do you expect for the next few years? Hmmm, it’s hard to say. People have a huge appetite for running events now in Croatia but we still face problems and restrictions. Many runners are still cautious of being part of mass-participation events. Some even have restrictions from their employers regarding attendance. My prediction is more smaller scale events along with a few large events which will grow in time. You organise various races across Croatia, but where do your participants tend to come from, is it mainly Croatians or a mix from across Europe? Our runner’s structure before 2020 was 80% Croatian runners and 20% runners from abroad, mostly from our neighbouring countries. Our strategy was (and still is) to have more foreign runners from all over the world. We have beautiful races in destinations easily reached by car or plane. Our cities and places are very attractive and all the races are slightly off-season, meaning it isn’t quite as busy and is hopefully more enjoyable. The concept is to have all events over two or three days with different distances – for each family member. Aside from Ahotu, are there any other tools or partners you work with that you would recommend to other race directors? In Croatia we use www.utrka.com (Digital Race Service Ltd). They are a long term partner and are essential to help us organize many aspects of the race. They provide us with registration and payment services as well as with our timing setup. They are the best in Croatia, perhaps in the whole region. Also, Wikoss from Poland – they provide us with finishers medals. Very professional and very helpful. Now, there are many other partners and all of them are not just business partners but friends. What can runners expect from an Adria Run event? What are the upcoming races on the horizon that they can take part in? Adria Run road races in Croatia deliver everything runners need. The organization, starting package, atmosphere and beautiful courses are all paramount. We are currently rebranding and there will be more and more benefits for runners that race with Adria Run. The next race is my favourite, the 9th Heineken 0.0 Karlovac 10k World Athletics Road Label Race. This is the only World Athletics label race in Croatia and is officially the fastest 10k in the country. Set for the 11th June, registration is open at World’s Marathons Heineken 0.0 Karlovac 10K WA Bronze Label Race, Jun 11 2021 (worldsmarathons.com). After that we have three nice races in autumn, the 3rd Pula Marathon (due to Covid-19 this year the race is 5k, 10k & the half marathon) on the 18th September (the Adriatic Sea is still warm in September and this is the best period to visit Pula and the Adriatic coast), 4th Krka half marathon – in the Krka National Park on the 2nd of October. To finish the year we have a 10k race in Šibenik on the 23rd October. In 2022 we start again with the Zagreb half marathon in March! ‍Thanks for taking the time to talk with us Robert. It’s great to hear that you are bringing safe in-person events back to Croatia and we look forward to seeing more European and international runners return in the coming months and years!‍ Interested in taking part? You can register for upcoming Adria Run Events like the Karlovac 10k with Ahotu – Karlovački cener – 10K To feature in our interview series you can drop us an email on [email protected] Interested in promoting your race with World’s Marathons or Ahotu? Contact us on [email protected]