Soller's Trail race debut: A yearly fixture in the making

The “short” trail run covers 14 kilometres, beginning and ending at the Muelle de C/ De La Marina, with an elevation gain of around 432 meters. For those seeking an even greater challenge, the “long” route combines trail running and mountain biking, spanning 27 kilometres with a substantial cumulative altitude gain of approximately 765 meters.

This is a serious race, not a community fun run. It is hoped this will take its place in the official list of races from 2024 onwards, encouraging sports people to the Soller Valley to race. This is an initiative arising from the promotion and awareness of the Universal Heritage of the Serra De Tramuntana.

The Town Hall and local businesses are very supportive of this new race. Some hotels are offering special prices for the weekend. The Town Hall is also building a series of events and music to coincide with the dates and enable a fun weekend for all. For this first year, with just a month to go, they may be looking for participants. Time to get training friends if you want to be part of the first ever Tramuntanya Trail Race. More information can be found here tramuntanya.com Registration will close on October 31 in order to provide a better organisation of the event.

This is a good reason to join us this weekend as we are having a Retro Music Fest on Saturday, October 14. This takes place in the Placa near the Train Station from 6.30pm to midnight. We will be reliving the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s with prizes for the best costumes of each era. If you want to eat from the huge Fideuo being prepared by Lluis Cardell buy your ticket in advance from bar Es Castellet. This is a great night to look forward to in this autumn of endless sunshine and cheerful music. A Tardeo by any other name, as it starts early and finishes at midnight.

For those wanting music of a different kind, the port of Soller Classical Music Festival continues its Saturday concerts in October. This week a String quartet of members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra perform. The concert starts at 7.30pm in the Saint Ramon de Penyefort Church in the port of Soller.

The Soller Valley remains full of events and interesting exhibitions this month. The Museum of Soller has an exhibition of the work of local artists until October 28. This is a great place to visit for local history and artefacts. The exhibition space hosts great works every month and concerts are held in its courtyard. Tucked away round a side street this Museum is often missed, which is a great pity. You can find it on Calle del Mar, and you will be glad you did. You will find the definitive story about Soller being a ‘City’ in this place. The triumphal arches, announcing it as such, are contained there.

We are looking forward to a project, coming our way soon, which involves building a temporary heavy-duty bridge. Major building work on the Repic side of the beach needs a huge crane for the works. The existing bridge would collapse under its weight, so an engineering enterprise is going to be employed to solve this dilemma. This is going to attract a crowd to watch this take place. We all like something different to ‘tut’ about. I believe it will be a temporary arrangement but then again who knows. It will probably kick off the whole debate about the back road entrance to the Repic. It all helps the winter chatter box and the interest level of the many with mathematical and engineering brains amongst our friends.