Trail del Crocefisso

The Trail del Crocefisso, a celebration of Salento's trails

In the heart of winter, when the racing season is just beginning, the Trail del Crocefisso in Taurisano is already a fixed appointment for the trail running community of Southern Italy. The event, organized by the Gruppo Podistico Alba 13 Taurisano, transforms the countryside of lower Salento, in the province of Lecce, into a vast race course made of dirt roads, dry-stone walls, ancient olive groves, and technical single tracks.

A varied and spectacular course

The competitive race takes place on a single 17.5 km loop with approximately 350 meters of elevation gain, a track that alternates fast stretches and technical sections capable of testing both specialists and amateurs. It starts with a very fast kilometer and a half downhill, continues with four flat kilometers, then moves into the climbs and the more challenging single tracks within the Mediterranean scrub. At some points, the view opens up to reveal the Lighthouse of Sant'Andrea di Gallipoli, before the finale featuring constant undulations and a final kilometer entirely uphill.

Not just competition: a walk for everyone

Alongside the competitive event, the Trail del Crocefisso offers a 5 km fun walk, non-competitive and open to families, enthusiasts, and curious individuals who want to experience the event's atmosphere and discover the rural landscape between Taurisano and Ruffano without the pressure of a stopwatch.

The first stage of multiple circuits

The Trail del Crocefisso is not an isolated race: it represents the first stage of the Puglia Trail circuit, the first round of the FIDAL South Interregional Trail Championship, and a stage of the Running in Salento – Trail, Cross & Mountain Running circuit. For this reason, the race attracts hundreds of registered athletes and amateurs from all over Puglia, Calabria, and the rest of the South every year, effectively becoming the official baptism of the Apulian trail season.

An event rooted in the territory

Now in its early editions but already firmly established in the regional running calendar, the Trail del Crocefisso is an expression of the activity of the Gruppo Podistico Alba 13, a Taurisano-based club awarded as FIDAL regional champion. The race combines a competitive spirit with the promotion of the agricultural landscape of the Municipality of Taurisano and the Salento hinterland, offering participants an authentic immersion into the most rural and least touristy side of Puglia.