Cheile Rasnoavei Adventure

This Sunday I’ve participated to the first edition of Cheile Rasnoavei Adventure. This event caught my attention a few months ago by the numerous outdoor activities squeezed in between 28 and 29 July. To be honest I was a little worried thinking of the quality of the competitions. I didn’t organize  any event till now but I know you need a lot of people to help you out. Anyway its only a few km’s away and I wanted to give it a shot.

If at Hercules Marathon it was a yellow code for rainy weather now at Cheile Rasnoavei it was a yellow code for hot weather :), perfect. I don’t have any problems in running at 30+ degrees so I didn’t care.

I really enjoy now the pre and post event atmosphere. Now I know more and more people and its kinda nice to exchange ideas and talk about our great common passion – trail running. Also I believe that this activity is filtering out quite well the people and up to now I’ve met only nice persons :).

Anyway, here is the story. I’ve enrolled for the marathon event and Rose for the half marathon. We’ve arrived early in the morning, registered, picked up the starting kit and than occupied a shadowed place since even at 9:00 AM it was a bit hot.  We heard that last day a lot of competitors lost their way on the half marathon route and now we’ve realized that they didn’t called it Adventure for nothing 😀

A brief technical session and we were good to go, approximately 30 competitors. The start… strange, no countdown but we’ve started anyway. The first portion is quite long following the route from the national road (which links Rasnov to Predeal ) up to the gorge where after a few km’s the fun begun.  A short and steep climb to Poiana Secuilor was about to get us prepared for the climb to Postavaru :D. On Poiana Secuilor I had some water and continued towards Postavaru. On the route I’ve met Florin Simion and had some small talks 🙂 to keep us not thinking on the steepness of the climb. I was really surprised how tough it was… but nice. Florin got a bit in front of me and when reaching the ridge I didn’t notice the markings and continued on the touristic route which I’ve followed until reaching that point. Eventually I’ve reached Cabana Postavaru on this shortcut :).  I don’t know how short was this shortcut 🙂 but I’ve got in front of Florin anyways.

At Cabana Postavaru again I had some water … they had also fruits but nothing was cut and to be honest I was not in the mood for cutting fruits. Maybe they can do it for us next time :). Also I’ve tried the HIGH 5 energy/isotonic drink… I couldn’t drink it … it tastes like shit.  From Cabana Postavaru I had one crazy descent and I was seeing Gica Blajiu in front of me … but not for long. After the descent it was a small climb and I couldn’t keep up with his rhythm :).

Everything happened quite fast in this marathon, I was quite surprise to be in such a short time at Cheisoara where it was another hydration point. My body was functioning perfectly … I didn’t have any pain or drops in the energy level. To be honest this was my best run up till now. The km’s were passing away fast and I was enjoying it again as at Hercules Marathon. The route was quite well marked and I was surprised by the steepness of the climbs. After descending from Postavaru even the climbs through the woods were hard … and this is a good thing :).

I’ve also enjoyed the woody part of the marathon… mostly because the trees were protecting me from the heat. Eventually I’ve was out from the woods and reached the area were they built the trampolines for the youth Olympics next year. It looks very nice… Here it was another hydration point. I’ve met a nice guy from Constanta … unfortunately I’ve forgot his name :), but it was nice to talk with somebody and to exchange the lead from time to time. The km’s passed very quickly until disaster struck 🙂 . After Bisericuta Paganilor the route was bidirectional and we’ve met some guy who told us that we are on the wrong track. I’ve promised myself that this was the last time when I will not take a very close look on the map. I’ve continued but my companion returned. After a few km’s I’ve met somebody else and by not knowing if I was on the right track (on Saturday another 3 competitions took place and I didn’t know for sure if the marking was left there) I’ve returned to Bisericuta Paganilor and called the organizer. He told me that the route is bidirectional and than I’ve realized that I will not be able to finish under 5 h :(. In total this fun cost me around 25 minutes… This time I knew that I was on the right track and I’ve tried to accelerate but I think my morale dropped after this detour and I was beginning to feel tired. Eventually I’ve reached again the Cheisoara road and run most of the road to the finish line. I’ve finished in 5h:17 minutes being the 8’th overall. Of course there is the shortcut at Postavaru :), but I don’t think I’ve gain more than 15 minutes there since the hard climb was over. Anyway … I don’t really care about this. I had a nice Sunday with friends and I’ve manage to enjoy most of this marathon finding again the cruise mode.

Now some words about this event:

+ nice route with hard climbs (although there is also a lot a flat ground)

+ rich prizes

+ nice t-shirts 🙂

+ willingness to help

+ good starting/finish point

– the volunteers gave contradictory info about the route and the mileage

– fruits were not cut in some of the check points

– the route could be a bit better marked

– a more detailed technical session for those who don’t read the map 🙂

– CHIO as a sponsor – I hate chips

Overall a nice competition that I would recommend 🙂

 

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