On 19.05.2025, among thousands of tears, Cristian Săpunaru played his last game on Giulești, for Rapid Bucharest. A bitter evening, in a 1-4 loss against a lamentable CFR Cluj team. A shame that Săpunaru’s colleagues didn’t fought at least this time, for the meaning of the event. But what is really the meaning of the…
Author: dominte_mircea
Bodø / Glimt – successful story of Norway: first European semifinalist, in 2025!
We begun 2025 stuck in Bodø, because of a snowstorm, and heavy snow. Even though our favorite place remains Tromsø, this town was pleasant from our point of view. Three months and a bit later, the same story: a snow storm arrived in Northern Norway, so Bodø was covered in white. Just before the first…
FIFA World Cup is becoming a joke: please stop that!
We are one year away from the FIFA World Cup 2026, held, for the first time in three countries: USA, Canada and Mexico. Also, the first edition with… 48 teams. Almost a quarter of the countries from all the world. A disgrace. Why am I saying that? Because while following to globalize and to offer…
Essentials: the feeling of failing to finish a half-marathon
11.65 kilometers. I stop my watch. The feeling is different. After more than 150 races of all sorts in which I’ve started in more than nine years, for the first time I call off one voluntarily. It is strange. I try to announce my DNF, but can’t find where I should do it. I am…
Running a personal best by accident: half-marathon in 1:28:40
Don’t consider this as an example, because it is not. I am preparing for a half-marathon personal best, so need to deliver some proper training. The thing is, that in one day, particularly 5th of March 2025, reality drifted to another path, without having anything planned. The plan was a longer tempo, of 11 –…
Thoughts about Oradea, Cluj-Napoca, and their railway
Some more thoughts about… the railway! Living in Bucharest and coming from Bacău, a town from the Eastern part of Romania, I’ve heard, not once, how wonderful are Cluj-Napoca and Oradea, two cities from the Central – West part of the country. Except they are… not! Wait, don’t judge this from the start, because I…
Travelling by train in Romania: Bucharest – Cluj-Napoca – Șuncuiuș
In the last 20 years, I’ve travelled a lot by train, many times in Romania, and I think I could write a novel if I want to. But I don’t want to, because it won’t be a happy, successful one. Rather full of grief, hopelessness and amusement, if you can stomach everything. The main railroad…
PHOTO | Bodø, the magic given by the fresh snow
Spending five nights in Bodø was not in plan. Actually, only one was scheduled. The main course was Lofoten, and just a layover, for one night, in the “bridge” town, which offered us the link from Oslo to Svolvær. The impression of this frugal stay is not great. Bodø looks moist, sad, deserted. It is…
Jacob Kiplimo, of Uganda, new half-marathon world record: 56:42!
Jacob Kiplimo doesn’t come from nowhere, as he became the youngest athlete to represent Uganda at a Summer Olympics edition: Rio de Janeiro, 2016! 15 years old! Fast forward, nine years later, the guy from the country with the grey crowned crane on the flag, finished the Barcelona Half Marathon, on 16th of February 2025,…
2X2 Race – running on clouds
If there is one race I’ve participated at, in my almost one decade running “career”, I can always speak about in huge terms, that is, without any doubt, 2X2 Race. I’ve written a couple of times about my experiences from there, but I never truly expressed my real feelings experienced in 2024, when I’ve achieved…