Extreme Mountain Foot Race in the Italian Alps

Running 3,000 meters in a time of 2 hours, 6 seconds may seem like an easy challenge, but not when the three kilometers in question are not the distance covered, but the height of a mountain to climb. Vertical running, a unique subset of trail running or Skyrunning, is one of the most grueling competitions there is. It's a true test of stamina, strength and endurance. Short courses often mean all-out sprints from the get-go, but Red Bull K3 – the first 3,000m race – required some different strategy.

From sea to sky, Skyrunning spans the great outdoors, across the world’s mountain ranges…and the imagination of thousands of participants and fans. It’s a sport born in the wild, where the logic was to reach the highest peak in the shortest time from a town or village. Today it represents the peak of outdoor running defined by altitude and technicality and counts some 200 races worldwide with with around 50,000 participants from 65 countries.

It is defined by the International Skyrunning Federation, as “running in the mountains above 2,000 meters altitude where the climbing difficulty does not exceed II° grade and the incline is over 30%”.

Skyrunning was founded in 1992 by Italian, Marino Giacometti, President of the International Skyrunning Federation which sanctions the discipline worldwide and sports the tagline: “Less cloud. More sky”.