The race has been won by some of Italy's most successful long-distance runners, including Stefano Baldini, as well as elite foreign athletes such as Paul Tergat and Kenenisa Bekele.

The running event should not be confused with the similarly named Giro del Trentino – a road cycling competition which the city has hosted since 1963.

[1] The history of the competition can be traced back to 1907 when a community group organised a race on the city streets of roughly 6 km as part of the festival of Saint Vigilius of Trent.

Domenico Gottin, a runner from Veneto, was the first to cross the line but he was later disqualified for taking a short cut, leaving Isidoro Trenner (a member of the local sports club) as the winner of the inaugural race.

[7] The current course of ten 1 km laps features many twists and bends as it traces a circular loop around the central city streets,[8] making fast times difficult to achieve in the Trento race.