It’s been a while since I raced the short route in an endurance competition. But with Marathon 7500, you should try and understand the subtle humor behind what the organizers call the “Hobby” category. The track for the long route, what they call “Elite”, is 90 km long with 7500 meters in elevation. While technically a trail running contest, with these numbers it’s more like speed hiking for most.

7500 is a number my mind is not able to comprehend, so I signed up for the short (“Hobby”) race. At 44 km and 3200 meters in elevation, it would be the first time I’d pass the 3000 meter mark on foot.

Another main characteristic of this race is you have to compete as a team. It’s one of the few such races in Romania (the others that come to mind are Bike 4 Mountains and Propark Adventure). Your teammate can make the difference between a DNF and a great race, so I felt fortunate to team up with Razvan. He’s slightly faster than me, but I don’t think I gave him a lot of time to relax.

We arrived at Padina Friday evening. Took the race kit, then set up camp near the start/finish point. Attended the race briefing. Shortly after 10 PM, the first team from “Elite” finished the race. With an all-time record of just over 16 hours, the song the organizers chose for that moment was a perfect fit:

Went to sleep. Heard the second place team arrive sometime before midnight, but got quickly back to sleep. .. until someone shook me. I loosened the sleeping bag’s hood, sat up and looked around. I wasn’t sleeping in a tent, I prefer using a bivy sack instead. Feels more naturey. Anyway, it was still dark, not yet breaking dawn. There were lights from the finish line, so I could see around me. There was nobody. Maybe I dreamt it? No, I clearly remember being woken up with a shake. Looked around more clearly. Right next to me, a little fox was sitting. Staring. Shocked, I found myself staring back. Then the scare passed and I shooed it off. Damn it, fox, I have a race and need my sleep. Went back to sleep, but not for long. The fox came back, pulling on my bivy sack again. Shooed it, but my sleep was gone. Shortly after, at 5 AM, speakers were blasting with rock music. Time to race!

Pestera to Omu Peak. Started in a t-shirt, on perfect weather. Put a fleece on as it got quite windy high up. Had some halvah and apples at Omu Chalet, enjoying the short break from the wind.

Omu to Gura Diham. Very long descent down Cerbului Valley. With little trail running in the past few months, descending was my weak point. I ran this as best I could, but with my primitive technique and lack of training, my quads got ruined. Got to Gura Diham in good time, but my heart rate was high and my stomach was locked.

Gura Diham to Omu. Ate some more halvah, chocolate and apples, then started the second ascent of the day. I took it really easy. I needed my body to recover. At Poiana Izvoarelor I stopped to bandage a blister. The original route was climbing to Omu via Bucsoiu. Because of the strong gusts and exposed sections, the organizers sent us to Omu on another route, via Malaiesti Chalet. Hearing about this, I started drooling at the thought of a cold bottle of Coke. My body recovered itself at the mere idea of sugar+caffeine. It didn’t matter I didn’t have any money on me – I’m OK with begging for Coke. Was lucky to find Silviu Balan there and borrow some money from him. The climb from there wasn’t as spectacular as Bucsoiu, but it did have some nice views.

Omu to Saua Batrana. A gentle rolling hills section. Very runnable. Met a group of foreign mountain bikers and overtook each other a few times. Obviously, made fun of their speed.

Saua Strunga to Poiana Gutanu. Crazy tough descent. It was my first time on this trail and I was blown away by its steepness. Managed to not slip on the scree and made it safely to the checkpoint there.

Poiana Gutanu to Saua Strunga. Gentle ascent. A trail I’ve done several times by mountain bike (going down, of course). Pretty boring for me now. Waiting for the last descent, which my quads were dreading.

Saua Strunga to Pestera. Descended to Padina. Ran most of the way down – we were quite surprised to see ourselves still going after 10 hours. From Padina we had just 2 more km by road and we crossing the finish line. 10 hours, 14 minutes. 23rd place out of 56 finishing teams and 10 more DNFs. Not bad, not bad at all.

Watermelon, shower, vegetable stew, socializing, chicken and fries, awards ceremony. Funny scene: the organizers smashing all the medals they didn’t hand over that day. To prove that only a finisher will ever have that medal.

Finally some blissful sleep. Then I woke up again in the middle of the night. Why did I wake up? I didn’t know. Still, I sat up and looked around and… yeah, that damn fox again. So I moved my sleeping bag inside Razvan’s tent and slept there. It was a good move, as it also rained a little in the morning.

The next day, we went on a short recovery hike. 10 km with 600 meters in elevation, Gura Diham to Diham to Poiana Izvoarelor to Gura Diham. Hoped it would help with our sore legs, but it didn’t. Feeling exactly like in that marathon commercial.

Overall it was a great experience. Nothing to complain regarding the logistics (but if they would sell some drinks at the finish it would be even better). Would I come again for the short route? Probably not. Would I come for the long one? My current self says no, but the future is open.