12th Marjanska Skalinada: Split's Iconic Stairclimb Race Returns on April 6, 2026

Every city has its defining physical challenge. In Rio de Janeiro, you climb to Christ the Redeemer. In Edinburgh, you run Arthur's Seat. In Split, you climb the Marjanske Skale — 819 stone steps rising from the Adriatic waterfront to the summit of Marjan hill — and you do it as fast as you possibly can, with a chip timer running and the whole of the Dalmatian coast spread out below you when you finally reach the top.

The 12th Marjanska Skalinada takes place on Monday, April 6, 2026 at 11:00, organised by the Maraton Klub Marjan (Marathon Club Marjan, Split). It is one of the most unusual sporting events on the Croatian calendar — not because stairclimb races are rare internationally, but because almost no stairclimb race in the world uses stairs quite like these: stone steps built between 1919 and 1924, rising through the ancient forest park of Marjan hill, above a Roman imperial palace, in a UNESCO World Heritage city, with the Adriatic visible from the very first step you climb.

Registration and details: Maraton Klub Marjan Split. Start of first competitor at 11:00.

Marjan Hill: The Forest Above the Roman Palace

To understand the Marjanska Skalinada, you need to understand Marjan — the wooded peninsula hill that rises immediately to the west of Diocletian's Palace and extends toward the sea, forming the distinctive green profile that defines Split's western horizon.

Marjan is not simply a park. It is a place that Split has been protecting, maintaining, and loving for the better part of a millennium. The 14th-century Statute of the City of Split prohibits the cutting of trees on Marjan — making it one of the earliest protected natural spaces in European urban history.

The Marjan Association (Društvo Marjan) was founded on May 9, 1903, for the express purpose of reforesting and landscaping the hill — its founding president, Professor Juraj Kolombatović, overseeing a systematic planting programme that continued through the first half of the 20th century and transformed what had been a largely bare limestone hill into the dense Mediterranean forest of Aleppo pine, cypress, and holm oak that covers it today.

The Marjanske Skale — the stone staircase at the heart of the Skalinada route — were built by the Marjan Association between 1919 and 1924, designed by Petar Senjanovića, a prominent Split engineer and long-term member of the Association. The staircase was constructed with financial contributions from Split citizens and community organisations — the effort that built the stairway that now hosts the race was the same civic energy that built the forest above it.

The stairs climb from near the Solurat area on Trumbićeva Obala — the western extension of the Riva waterfront, where Split's Adriatic coast meets the foot of Marjan — up through the forested slopes, past the First Viewpoint (Prva Vidilica), past the old Jewish Cemetery, toward the summit of Telegrin: the highest point of Marjan at 178 metres above sea level, from which the view encompasses Split's old city, the Adriatic islands of Brač, Šolta, and Hvar, and — on clear days — the open sea beyond.

The Race: 819 Steps, 1,320 Metres, and the Island of Hvar from the Top

The Marjanska Skalinada is a vertical kilometre race in the most literal sense: a course that begins at sea level and climbs without interruption to a summit, entirely or predominantly on stone steps.

Course Technical Details

• Total distance: 1,320 metres
• Total stairs: 819 steps
• Start altitude: 1 metre above sea level (near Solurat, 100 metres west of Matejuška)
• Finish altitude: 178 metres above sea level (Telegrin summit, Marjan hill)
• Total elevation gain: 177 metres in 1,320 metres of distance
• Timing: Individual chip timing; each runner starts individually (wave intervals determined by number of registered participants)
• Start of first competitor: 11:00

The Course Route

The race begins near the base of the Botićevo Šetalište stairs (colloquially: the Marjanske Skale), on the waterfront at Solurat — the point where Split's western boulevard meets the foot of Marjan's forested slopes.

From the start, runners ascend the historic stone stairway toward the First Viewpoint (Prva Vidilica) — the first terrace on the hill, with its panoramic view across the Adriatic. The route then continues past the Old Jewish Cemetery (one of the historic sites on the stairway route, dating from the 17th century, when Split's Sephardic Jewish community established their burial ground on the hillside) before the course moves through the forest paths and additional stairways toward the higher slopes.

The final section is the hardest: a 314-step final ascent to the Telegrin summit — a near-vertical climb through the forest that determines the race's outcome and separates the physically prepared from the merely ambitious.

At the top of Telegrin, at 178 metres, the reward for this effort is one of the finest views in the entire Dalmatian coastline: the old city of Split spread below, Diocletian's Palace visible as a distinct walled rectangle within the urban fabric, the Adriatic stretching south and west, and the islands of Brač, Šolta, and Hvar lying across the sea in clear Mediterranean light.

Course Records

The current course records for the Marjanska Skalinada are a measure of what the fastest humans can do with 819 steps and 177 metres of elevation gain:

• Men's record: 7:15 — Ivan Kovačev
• Women's record: 9:12 — Ana Aljinović

For context: the average recreational participant takes between 15 and 25 minutes to complete the course — a time that still represents a serious physical effort at sustained exertion.

The History: Twelve Years of Easter Stairclimbing

The Marjanska Skalinada was founded in 2013 — the first edition took place on April 1, 2013, organised by the Maraton Klub Marjan under the leadership of club president Davor Škare and fellow members who had identified the Marjanske Skale as the natural setting for a distinctive Split sporting event.

The concept was simple but powerful: use the city's most famous natural and civic infrastructure — stairs that Split citizens have been climbing since the 1920s, in a forest that the city has been protecting since the 14th century — as the course for a competitive race that anyone could enter.

The tradition of running the Marjan stairs as a timed challenge predates the race's formal establishment. Visitsplit.com describes it as follows: "For those who like cardio challenges, there is a Skalinada — route going up the stairs from the waterfront, all the way up to Telegrin. In total, more than 800 stairs to run." The informal challenge became the formal race in 2013, and the race has been held annually since — always in the Easter season, as the 12th edition on April 6, 2026 confirms.

The 11th edition was held on April 21, 2025 — the year-over-year consistency of the Easter timing creating a reliable anchor point for the race in the sporting calendar.

Why This Race Attracts Runners from Across Croatia and Beyond

The Marjanska Skalinada occupies a particular niche in the world of stairclimb racing: it is genuinely difficult, genuinely beautiful, and set in a genuinely unique historical environment.

The Physical Challenge

A race covering 819 steps with 177 metres of elevation in 1,320 metres of horizontal distance requires a specific combination of leg strength, cardiovascular capacity, and willingness to sustain discomfort at a high level for an extended period. The stairclimb format rewards different physiological attributes than flat road racing — the emphasis on repeated leg extension and the constraint of the step rhythm create a form of effort that is distinct from running on flat ground, requiring athletes to adapt their pacing strategy from the first step.

The Setting

No amount of race organisation can manufacture a setting like the Marjanske Skale. The ancient stone stairs, the Mediterranean forest on either side, the glimpses of the Adriatic between the trees, the historical landmarks along the route (the Jewish Cemetery, the First Viewpoint, the Telegrinum summit) — and the final moment at the top, when the effort ends and the view opens — create a race experience that competitors consistently describe as unlike any other.

The Community

The Maraton Klub Marjan and its network within Split's athletic community give the Skalinada the character of a local institution rather than a commercial event: a race organised by people who love both running and Marjan hill, for people who want to test themselves against one of the Adriatic's most distinctive natural challenges.

Practical Information for April 6, 2026

Date: Monday, April 6, 2026

Start of first competitor: 11:00

Organiser: Maraton Klub Marjan, Split

Registration: Via Protime.si (protime.si) — check current registration status

Race results tracking: my.raceresult.com/386067

Start location: Near Solurat, Trumbićeva Obala, 100 metres west of Matejuška harbour

Finish location: Telegrin summit, Marjan hill, 178 m altitude

Getting to the Start:

• On foot from the Riva: 10 minutes west along Trumbićeva Obala to Solurat; the most pleasant pre-race warm-up walk on the Adriatic
• On foot from HNK Split / Trg Gaje Bulata: 15 minutes west through the Veli Varoš quarter and along the waterfront
• By Uber/taxi: "Matejuška" or "Solurat" or "Trumbićeva Obala"; walkable from all central Split accommodation
• Spectator viewpoints: The First Viewpoint (Prva Vidilica) is accessible by the stairs and by the road running up through Marjan; the Telegrin summit finish is accessible on foot through the forest paths from the Western Road (Zapadna obala)

Weather note: April 6 in Split is typically 16–20°C with sunshine and light sea breeze — ideal racing conditions, warm enough to run comfortably, cool enough that the climb does not become a heat challenge.

Split the Day Before and After the Race

The Skalinada on April 6 gives you an excellent reason to be in Split for the Easter weekend — a period when the city is genuinely alive with the overlap of religious tradition (the Feast of Saint Domnius is May 7, but Easter celebrations begin the week before), spring weather, and the pre-season energy of a tourist city coming back to full life.

Post-race Marjan: After the race (or in lieu of competing), the Marjan Forest Park is one of Split's most rewarding destinations for a morning or afternoon: walking and cycling paths through the forest, the chapel of St. Nicholas overlooking the sea, the zoo (Zoološki vrt) on the northern slope, and the series of viewpoints (Vidilica cafes) where Split's inhabitants have been drinking coffee and watching the islands since the 19th century.

Matejuška: The small fishermen's harbour immediately east of the race start — the colourful boats, the waterfront fish restaurants, the specific character of a working Adriatic harbour in its modern form — is one of the most authentic corners of Split for a post-race meal.

The Riva and Old City: Everything that makes Split extraordinary — Diocletian's Palace, the Peristil, the Cathedral, the marble streets — is 15 minutes' walk east of the race start along the waterfront.

Eight Hundred Nineteen Steps and the Adriatic Below You

There are races you enter for the medal. And there are races you enter because the course itself is worth the effort — because the combination of physical challenge, natural beauty, and specific sense of place creates an experience that goes beyond the finisher's certificate.

The 12th Marjanska Skalinada on April 6, 2026 is the second kind of race. Eight hundred and nineteen steps, 177 metres of elevation, 1,320 metres from the Adriatic to the top of Marjan — in a forest that Split has been protecting for seven centuries, on stairs that Split's citizens built a century ago, in a city whose history stretches back to the Roman Empire.

Registration and details at protime.si and with Maraton Klub Marjan Split.

Verified Information at a Glance