Posted on Alerg the Romanian running magazine:
Two or three years ago the road ultramarathon was virtually non-existent in Romania, now things are totally different.
The Romanian Athletics Federation – which has begun to take seriously this discipline – announced today the national team that will participate in the 24-hour European Championship, which will be held from 26-27 May in Timisoara.
Thus, nine runners were selected based on the criteria detailed here , and which mainly concerned the scales to be met: 175km for men and 150km for women in a race meeting the IAU criteria .
The national teams consist of:
Ladies
Mara Guler (Morosan) – 196,524 km (Timisoara, 2017)
Floricica Neacsu – 179,331 km (Timisoara, 2017)
Ana-Maria Rosioare – 151,840 km (Timisoara, 2017)
men
Florin Ionita – 215,841 km (Timisoara, 2017)
R?zvan Farkas – 215,067 km (Timisoara, 2017)
David-Traian Iancu – 200,259 km (Timisoara, 2016)
Bogdan Ofiteru – 192,833 km (Saint Fons / France)
Mihai Pantis – 191,263 km (Timisoara, 2016)
Claudiu Gorgan – 177,800 km (Heilbroner 24h / Germany)
The coach who will accompany Romania’s team to the European Championship is Sergiu Dascal and the head of the delegation is Andrei Nana (ultramarathonist who lives in the US).
Some explanations and comments
# The selection was based on results achieved mostly in the S24h race in Timisoara, the only one in our country that respects IAU rules and has the Bronze Level certificate. Exceptions are the results of Gorgan and Ofi?eru, who ran in external races, held in March. To say that in Gorgan’s case he participated in a race measured and recognized by the IAU, but who did not have an official referee, which means that his result can not be taken into account in the national rankings.
# In the batches were included almost all runners who fulfilled the required scales. We do not have any women that exceeded the distance of 150km and there are only two other runners, Nicu Buceanu and Vlad Tanase, who fulfilled the scale but who – for personal reasons – were not interested in participating in the European Championships.
# As far as the selection is concerned, FRA has at least respected its established criteria. The very small number of Romanian ultramarathoners did not allow for a performance-based selection (momentum, level of training), but only one based on strict distance trajectories.
# With one exception, all runners are amateurs in the original sense of the word. None of them earns money, they have all paid their expenses so far, none have an official coach. Everyone works (I am a doctor, entrepreneur, military, IT, etc.) and I train in my free time. The exception, and this partial, is Claudiu Gorgan, who has a military and a sport background and trains a club with tradition.
# The team has a coach, but its role will be less related to the specific training for the European Championship,but more as the motivation and support of the athletes in the competition. The Head of Delegation will mainly deal with logistical issues related to pre-race and competition preparation, follow-up to all rules, and interaction with other delegations and officials.
# This moment – the creation of a national team, hosting a European event – is extremely important for the Romanian ultramarathon, which so far has meant only an individual effort. From now on, this discipline has an official status, and the involvement and attraction of amateurs will hopefully lead to its development.
# We have no big expectations from our team. As I have said, the Romanian ultramarathon is barely taking the first steps towards international recognition. In Timisoara, we will most likely only be happy to participate and that we will have meritorious results. Compared to the results of the Romanian runners, let’s say that last year, at the European and World Championships held in Belfast, to be on the podium, runners were supposed to have ran at least 264 km for men and about 250 km for women ( see here )
Links
Alerg – Romanian running magazine
IAU 24H European Championships 2018 26-27/May 2018
S24H 20th September 2018 – 24/12/6 hour race
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