February 6, 2022 - The beloved sporting event on Pašman island is back after a two years’ wait

One of the most popular races on the Adriatic will take place next month for the first time since 2020. Škraping, named after 'škrapa' which refers to a rock or a cliff by the sea, is a unique trekking race that involves a lot of cliff-hopping as the runners make their way over the island's rugged terrain. 

The beloved sporting event was last scheduled for March 2020, when it got cancelled last-minute to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

The skraping race will take place in Tkon on Pašman island on March 12th this year, reports morski.hr. Those who are interested in taking part in the event can register until March 7th.

Skraping on Pašman is the biggest and most popular trekking and trail running event in Croatia and is split into four categories:

Ultra - the most challenging race with a 45 kilometre route for experienced athletes. The route has a starting point in Ždrelac, on the west side of Pašman island.

Challenger - a 25 kilometre route for those looking to discover the natural beauty and historic sites on Pašman island

Active - a 12 kilometre route with a view of Kornati National Park and the entire Zadar archipelago

Light - a 6 kilometre race intended for children and adults looking to spend some time in nature

All participants who paid the race fee for the cancelled skraping event in 2020 can participate in this year’s skraping without any additional fees. They’re kindly asked to contact the organisers via email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to let them know whether they want to attend.

Those contestants who are unable to attend this year’s skraping are also asked to contact the organisers so that a refund can be arranged.

You can register for the race of your choice and find detailed schedules and other details here.

New to skraping? Learn more about the popular trekking event in a dedicated feature here.

December 30, 2021 - The Tkon municipality is preparing for the new tourist season with promotional videos on the Arca Adriatica YouTube channel.

The video materials, created as part of the project, aim to promote the Tkon tourist destination and the cross-border area of Croatia and Italy with particular emphasis on maritime heritage, reports HRTurizam.

Tkon is a fishing village on the island of Pašman, where small shipyards still build wooden boats to order and where they still produce fishing equipment. Although Tkon is a relatively small municipality in terms of area and population, it is proud of its beautiful beaches, sandy coves, and coast surrounded by the sea. The western and southwestern sides of the island are characterized by a steep coast, full of cliffs, intersected by coves and small, accessible bays. That is why Robinson tourism is pronounced in the Municipality.

The intangible and tangible heritage of the municipality has been preserved and nurtured by organizing various events. Thus, maritime heritage, skills, and crafts are nurtured through the traditional regatta "Đir po konalu" and the kayak race as part of Fishermen's Night. In addition, fans of active tourism are increasingly visiting the municipality and participating in various events created according to their "taste", such as the fair of island products, Pašman Half Marathon, and a unique island event - Škraping running.

The development of the Arca Adriatica tourism product is based on establishing a methodology for the systematic preservation of the maritime heritage of the border area. The basis for constructing the recognizable Arca Adriatic maritime product is undoubtedly the newly renovated Maritime Heritage Interpretation Center located in the center of Tkon. With this center, the Tkon Municipality and the whole island receive content worth visiting throughout the year as a concrete form of achieving another essential goal of this project - extending the tourist season. The central interpretive theme of the Center is kunjka, which combines the rich past and present of the maritime heritage of Tkon and shows life on the island through the permanent exhibition "Kunjke fed the Kunjans". In the outer part of the center, restored old traditional boats are presented, and accompanying information can be found on information boards set up around the port.

The project "Protection, promotion and tourist valorization of the Adriatic Maritime Heritage" or ARCA ADRIATICA for short, is part of the third priority axis "Environment and Cultural Heritage" of the INTERREG Italy-Croatia 2014-2020 program. The project officially began on January 1, 2019, and will last until December 31, 2021. ARCA ADRIATICA continues the successfully implemented EU projects Mala barka and Mala barka 2, as the project continues to work on joint protection, promotion, and tourist valorization of the Adriatic maritime heritage.

For more, check out our dedicated travel section.

March the 18th, 2020 - Over the last several years, TCN has followed a little place called Tkon on the island of Pasman as the host and organiser of Croatia’s biggest and very unique trekking race, by now the world famous Skraping. We did it again this year, announcing the big thing, and then one week later we wrote again to inform you all that it had to be postponed thanks to coronavirus.

The news was bigger and more shocking as it was among the very first international events in Croatia that had to be either cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Anyway, to make the picture more precise, Tkon is a small municipality with less than 900 residents on the eastern part of the island of Pasman. Small it is, but relentless in its progress.

In the words of a friend who visited last summer: ''We were here eight years ago, it was an undeveloped little settlement without any identity, except for the ferry boat connection with the mainland. This year, we decided to spend a couple of days here, as Tkon has become a true little township, it's utterly clean, it boasts some beautiful beaches, it's well lit at night with some good catering services and bars which are open late, as well as shops and everything.''

The Municipal Civil Protection Committee is there, too. They have been invited to have their say on any occasion that could imply a wider impact on the community. They are young, energetic, they live there and they know the place well. 

The commander of the committee is 36-year-old Lovre Bojmic, who holds an M.A. in economics, is otherwise a jack of all trades and has heaps of energy. Here is what he told us in a telephone conversation interrupted by quite a few other callers: Just a few days after coronavirus began to take the world by storm, we locals noticed the summer houses were being opened and people, actually, the owners, mainly from Slovenia and some from other parts of Croatia, were settling in.

The reports from Slovenia weren't good at that time either and our residents felt disturbed and jeopardised. So, we got our heads together, developed a strategy of how to approach them without being rude or uncivilised, and started literally contacting one after another, essentially asking them to either show some document of health, state their previously visited places or to please just go home,''

What was their reaction?

We can't exercise any force, but we had to be careful and try to talk to them when we could as they wouldn't come out of the house, but we've managed to pass the message on that under these circumstances and without any control - they are not welcome. It sounds utterly stupid, I know, they're part of our community, it's their property, but they must understand what potential peril they might induce. We keep a link with the regional police station on duty and inform them of each case.

What could you do in case there's an infected person, there, on the island? 

Being aware of our geo-location, one of the first concrete moves was to adapt a municipality owned two-bedroom apartment into a possible quarantine for four persons. In the case of an epidemic, such a facility is necessary and we're happy we've got it.

How is the collaboration between the residents and the Municipality?

I can't praise everyone enough, from our Mayor and his staff, to our many volunteers, to our elderly neighbours who support us and have a trust in us, actually, to every living person in Tkon.

That's so nice to hear. How else do you operate?

We've managed to get essential protection gear for the committee and our volunteers. We have two teams with eight members each. Our laptop is the main source of information, we follow most closely what is happening elsewhere, with particular attention being paid to the instructions and orders from our authorities. The teams act according to the situation. Like today, both our teams completed personal house visits to our elderly residents for better instructions on how to protect themselves, but, more importantly, to assure them they're not supposed to leave their homes, and that our teams will do the shopping for them, pick up their medicines from the pharmacy and do anything else they might need us to do.

That is excellent. How do they accept the visits?

Our guys show up with some protection gear, like with masks, so the first reactions can differ. But as they leave, they notice a tear or two in someone’s eyes. Like in some other parts of Croatia, now the local cafes are closed as well.

Life in this small place has never been more quiet. How do you deal with it?

Just like we've been saying to every person we visit or see - this is because we're cautious, which doesn't mean we're fearful. Caution is so much better than fear, isn’t it? The best thing anyone can ever gain from a situation like this is an incredible sense of mutual confidence and solidarity, all setbacks aside.

We're inclined to believe that Tkon is just one of the many examples of such responsible and efficient engagement of practically everybody in a community. The authorities higher up issue instructions and orders, but if they are not implemented on the ground, they are of little use. Be like Tkon.

Make sure to follow our dedicated section for rolling information on coronavirus in Croatia.

Like elsewhere around the globe, and especially over the last decade or so, running events have been springing up all over Croatia like mushrooms after the rain, in all sizes and shapes. Among the many, there is a truly outstanding one - the country’s biggest trekking and trail race - Škraping. Christened so by its real founder Josip Tomic, a genuine athletic enthusiast thirteen years ago.

''Škrapa'' is a rock or a cliff by the sea. In other words, you don't go just running, but you go ''cliffing and rocking'', you run, you jump over the cliffs, climb up and down, all along the picturesque coastline of Pasman island.

The first Škraping was held back in 2006, with weak but enthusiastic local organisers, it gathered 182 enlisted participants, all so enthused and enchanted with the very particular track, spread the word around so that the event kept growing until it reached 1350 runners. In the words of the organisers, the Municipality and the Prvenj Comunal Entity of the picturesque little place of Tkon, that is the upper limit for the number of possible participants.

Why?

''Of course we'd like to have tens of thousands of people, but we are aware of our capacities. We don't have the necessary logistics for more than 1,300 people, approximately, that's about the number about which we're sure we can provide accommodation for, as well as catering and other services, transportation, and so on. We've had a lot of local infrastructure sorted out over the last several years, we've improved the old side and forest roads and made some ten kilometres of new paths and proper roads across the territory of our municipality, for at least two good causes - protection against wood fire and for Škraping!,'' says Goran Mušćet, the Mayor of the picturesque Tkon.

''It mobilises all our forces, but the purposes of Škraping are many. Taking place in early March each year, like an early harbinger, it announces the spring and the tourist season, it injects so much life into our otherwise very quiet little place, it helps the local economy, our young ones are interested and take part either by participating or volunteering in the organisation, friendships are coined, and so on. Last year we had people from eleven countries,''

Any age or limits of any other sort?

''Not really, as long as the person is healthy, one can be 100 years old and run! To support this, I always quote with special affection how some years back we organised the ''Little Škraping’ for pre-school kids. With our assistance, our local kindergarten invited other kindergartens from the island and the mainland. It's so touching to watch those little faces give their genuine effort to arrive first and win. So they also learn about the good that running can bring, about competition, about maintaining a healthy lifestyle, they mingle, share a fruit juice and a cake and make friends. Who could ask for more?'' concludes Mušćet.

There are other things happening during ''Škraping time'', too, music, fun, and the traditional and, again, another special event - the Fair of Island Products, a trademark under which some forty small private producers offer their very particular local products, from cosmetics to food.

But don't get discouraged just because you're past pre-school age! There are four different tracks, from short to long, you can choose and apply for any that you think suits your post-Christmas form. More details can be found here, and if you want to register, click here.

Hurry up, as registration closes on March the 1st, and many of those who have participated before have already registered again! Have fun, start getting back in shape in preparation and join the 1000+ people that, just like you, want to feel healthy in the cleanest environment imaginable.

Stay up to date with this and much more by following our dedicated lifestyle page.

Good news for two island communities in the Zadar region.

As Zadar celebrates being voted Best European Destination 2016 on February 11, 2016, interest in the popular Dalmatian destination is bound to increase. TCN's Sarah-Jane Begonja looks at an upcoming event for a rather unusual sport called Škraping.