Where to Run if You’re Attending the 2026 Winter Olympics (Plus Other ‘Olympics Inspired’ Routes!)

The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games are being held February 6-22 across multiple locations in Itlay. Milan is host to the Opening Ceremonies, and hockey, figure skating, and speed skating competitions. The curling & alpine events are being held in three ‘clusters’ — Cortina d’Ampezzo, Valtellina, and Val di Fiemme — which are several hundred km apart. The closing ceremonies are being held in the iconic outdoor amphitheater in the Arena di Verona in Verona.

In honor of the 2026 Winter Games, we’ve developed a new running guide for the three alpine areas. For the most part, these are mountain destinations, so it’s trail running heaven during the non-winter months. But each area has some easier, scenic running spots appropriate for the everyday runner. They can be runnable in winter, and we’ve researched sections that are maintained. Still, best to bring your grippers!

We’ve also refreshed our Milan running guide and added some new routes, including one near the Olympic Village. Below is an overview and some of the running highlights. 

Also note: Great Runs has an ‘Olympics‘ category, featuring 50+ running routes incorporating Olympics sites and facilities in locations that have hosted the Summer or Winter Games. 

Milan & Verona

We’ve added an ‘Olympics Sites‘ layer to the Milan overview map, which shows the Milan venues for the 2026 Winter Games. Most of the venues are outside the historic center. We’ve also created a new route near Olympic Village — which is more centrally located near the Porta Romana train station and part of a large-scale improvement plan for the Porta Romana area.

In Verona, our ‘runseeing‘ tour passes by the Arena di Verona — an open-air Roman amphitheater that will play host to the closing ceremonies. 

Cortina d’Ampezzo

Cortina d’Ampezzo is the ‘heart’ of the mountain areas for the 2026 Winter Games. Cortina hosted the 1956 Winter Games (fun fact: the figure skating was held outdoors!). For 2026, Cortina is hosting the curling, women’s downhill, bobsled/luge, and biathlon events. Best running options are the Lunga Via delle Dolimiti Multi-Use Trail that runs for 50 km between Cimbanche and Pieve di Cadore, passing through Cortina. And in Fiames, located 5 km north of Cortina, the Pian de Ra Spines is a pleasant 7 km loop around the Boite Stream.

Valtellina Cluster

Valtellina is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Olympic events are being held in Bormio and Livigno, which are an hour apart. Bormio is host to the Men’s Downhill at the Pista Stelvio. Best running spot is the multi-use path along the Adda River.

Nearby Livigno is the site of Snowboarding and Freestyle Skiing events at specially built Snow Park and Aerials & Moguls Park venues. There’s wonderful running on the Via Restel path along the Lago di Livigno reservoir and also the Via Biondi trail along the Spöl River, which runs through town.

Val Di Fiemme Cluster

The Fiemme Valley is a valley in the Trentino province in northern Italy, located in the Dolomites mountain region. The ski jumping & nordic combined events are being held in Predazzo. The other nordic skiing events are being held in Tesero, which is 10 km to the west. The best running spot in the area is the Val di Fiemme Multi-Use Path, which runs for 19 km between Predazzo and Molina di Fiemme, passing through Tesero.