In 2012, the first edition of
Intersport half-marathon, was my first ever trail running competition. Back then I was into trail running for less than
a year. Better trained and with more experience, I returned in 2013
and did it 20 minutes faster than the previous year, almost reaching
the top 15% of the finishers!
This year I decided to have a look at this competition from a different angle and I did not register. I am trying to reduce the number of competitions. Lately I tend to prefer slightly longer trail races in the 30-45km range and also with more elevation gain. I am not a very fast runner , definitely not a flatland runner, and this race is a rather fast one with only around 600m of positive elevation gain. This time I preferred to relax and enjoy the atmosphere, so I went on the route to take photos of the competitors in the half-marathon race. I know how much I enjoy finding photos with me on the Net after a race and I know that others do!
The competition takes place on the beautiful wooded hills
around my home city Brasov, along the paths that I love and where I usually run. First 8.5km are a long uphill to Poiana Brasov mountain resort, along a winding unpaved forest road giving enough room for overtaking. From Poiana the trail returns to Brasov along a beautiful single trail that follows the top of the hills until Tampa Mountain saddle. The start/finish area is just a couple of minutes from my house in
Unirii Square (Piata Unirii, more traditionally called Prund). I could even see the finishing gate from my home and I listen "live" to the speaker announcements!
I did the race route twice earlier in
the week and noticed that the trails were in a very good condition. The
route was already well marked a few days before the race. Two huge fallen
trees that were blocking the trail were cut and taken out of the way.
In the previous years there were some serious mud problems. In 2013
part of the route had to be diverted to avoid a 500m stretch with
knee deep mud. Following a very dry and warm winter, this time there
was not a trace of mud on the way! Perfect conditions for a new best
time of the race. The second time winner, Vitalie Gheorghita, finished in an
unbelievable time for a 20km trail race with 640 meters of elevation
gain: just 1:15:30!
Actually
it was 25 seconds slower than his own time of the the previous year. I would guess that the slightly longer time was due to some wet and slippery trail
sections.
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| Vitalie Gheorghita, the second time winner of the race |
The weather forecast this year was not good at all. In 2013 the weather was just perfect. In in 2012 the rain
stopped just before the start of the race, but this year it was the other
way round... the rain started just before the start. For the race
day, the National Meteorological Authority issued a warning saying
that the weather will get cold, wet and windy during the day. Although overcast, the
morning was nice, quite warm and dry. Knowing that the weather can
turn bad at any time I rushed out and did a 19km trail run session on
the hills to Poiana Brasov and back. I ran partly along the race
route, but my route had a bit more altitude gain, also reaching Tampa
mountain top. From there I rushed home, in time to get some rest. I then
grabbed an umbrella, some warm clothes and a camera and then I rushed up the hill to Stechil meadow, somewhere in the middle of the race
route, the place where I took the photos.
 |
| With 700 registered participants, there was quite some traffic along the route! |
The start countdown started a couple of
minutes earlier than 12PM, the official start time. I guess that the
rain that was just starting made everybody inpatient. I arrived in
the square just as the last runners were disappearing in the distance.
I knew that I only have 40 minutes to climb the 400m to Stechil
Meadow. I arrived in time to prepare for taking the photos. As it was
raining I did not take my best camera. Instead I took my little
compact waterproof camera... So at least I have an excuse for the bad shots...
I am really sorry that I missed a few runners! A few shots are also
out of focus and some are not so well framed, but overall I am quite pleased
with the results! Most jpeg files came out just fine out of the camera!
You are free to use any photo, as long as you give credit to the author. You can also contact me for a larger resolution version of the photo.
The umbrella was very useful as it rained almost all the time. I also noticed that while I
stood taking photos for 1.5 hours, the weather got colder and colder. After an hour I had to put on my gloves as my hands started to freeze.
In the morning before the race, the temperature in Brasov was almost
15C. By the end of the prize ceremony the temperature went down to
2C... Actually the weather was not too bad for running. The rain was
quite light, most runners finished before it got too cold and there
was almost no wind.
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| The start/finish area in Prund (Piata Unirii). The race route follows the hill tops in the distance |
Overall, from what I could see, the
2014 edition of this race was again very well organized! Congratulations to the organizers and to all volunteers!
See you again in 2015!
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