Maraton Piatra Craiului – chose to spell it in Romanian, to stand up for the MPC famous acronym – played an essential part in my running journey just before the 2019 edition. Heard of it years back the moment, and perceive it like a Goliath of trail running, both because its alleged difficulty, mostly caused by unstable weather conditions, but also because the tradition it has. Basically, MPC is the oldest continuous running event in Romania, at least I am aware of, starting 2006. Two years before the Bucharest Marathon! So then, when I started trail running, in late 2017, in the opposite side of Zarnesti, I start, in my subconscious to layer a foundation for the moment when I will be at the start line. Years passed, and before the 2019 event, I was decided to give it a try. But in the same year, one week before, the Berlin Marathon took place. I was conflicted. I didn’t have the courage to attend both events, was a bit scared to do this, even if I have done a lot of crazy back-to-back stuff in that period. I just didn’t feel like attending it. Felt it is not appropriate to try my such first experience at Maraton Piatra Craiului, after a very though race in Berlin.
MPC, first thought in 2019: backing off
I was eaten inside by the desire, my emotions pilled like a red onion, and cooled down only by the “water” of patience, of equilibrium. I was just not prepared for that. Will I ever be? Don’t know, but in 2019 for sure it won’t be that moment. And then it happened: two runners died at the event, collapsing on the track, and everything got a sinister air, everything looked to be a grey premonition, like a seal on a very beloved event, which could have ended in a tragedy for two families. Then COVID-19 came, so 2020 and 2021 were out of the question, and I almost forgot about MPC somewhere in the second half of 2022. More than three years past since the thought of my first never tried attempt, and, truth being told, I never expected to see the paths again. But, out of nowhere, the event reopened its doors. Not in the same manner like it use to be, but with a (maybe) predicted wave of sympathy, empathy and, even, enthusiasm. I won’t miss this one! Even if two people died there, I thought, like the organizers maybe, that resuming the event will represent a sincere tribute.
Maraton Piatra Craiului in under… 6 hours and 30 minutes…?
The irony was that, in the same year, I’ve attended something even more monstrous, 2X2. An event that I could not finish, of course, but that is another story. MPC became a consolation – lol. Don’t get me wrong, my emotions were even higher, but in that day, of 6th of October, everything aligned perfectly. I have crossed the finish line in 6 hours 48 minutes. A time I didn’t know to categorize back then, but it seem good to me. Now, I was decided to go even stronger the next year. Trying 2X2 Race only one month earlier, made me think, at the end, that Maraton Piatra Craiului was a far better choice. There are around seven brutal kilometers, but 30 are completely runnable, or very runnable. I become more confident that I can go to 6:30 or something like this in the next years. Little did I knew, amid my enthusiasm, that not only I won’t go that low (actually high), but most likely that will remain the biggest shot for the popular event. 2023 edition was expected with maximum confidence, but also with more… heat. I knew the trail now, I felt strong during the race, but in the last kilometers I was furious: slipping far, far outside the seven hour mark: 12 minutes spilled, 24 in total. What a disappointment.
2024 should be that year… not!
Life is funny. Five years ago I only dreamt to attend this race, couldn’t foresee exactly if I would actually complete it any time, and now, after my second successful attempt, sort to say, I was… disappointed?! Talking to my ego, I’ve just said that one more go will be my ultimate personal legacy here, because that can either mark a rebound, or an unrepairable fall. How will it be in 2024? Can it be even hotter than in 2023? Not likely… Will I be better prepared? I should, of course: more training, more mountain runs, from which, above everything, the mighty 2X2 Race: FINISHED! It is true, last man standing, in seconds before the unofficial 15 hours mark, but what difference does it make? I have completed the most difficult race in Romania, so then… how could I not complete MPC in less than 6 hours and 30 minutes? I don’t have any excuse. Or do I? Of course, at the end, ones brain picks up all kind of opportunities to find reasons for not achieving something. The 2024 edition ended in a huge defeat for my ego: 7 hours 34 minutes. Almost one hour outside my 2022 time. Shame!
What is your excuse now for MPC?
It was hotter than in 2023, much more than in 2022, but did this made a difference? Considering that in 2022 I knew nothing about the track, and considering in 2024 I’ve completed MIUT, Lavaredo, Brasov, EcoRun and Predeal beforehand, alongside 2X2, the excuses are really just to console my broken expectations. Non-sense. I’ve started putting together data, to come out with a “scientific” explanation for what happened with my time, but the reality was that I just don’t have what it takes to put down more time than I did in 2022, because, with little doubt, in that first edition, everything went perfect for me, given me the chance of a result I won’t be able to repeat even if I would run Maraton Piatra Craiului 100 more times. It is just a pure and candid truth. Unless… I genuinely train for it. Wait… are you not trained…? Well, flat asphalt training can take you places, but it cannot push your ass on top of the… mountain. Meaning that the only way to perform better here is to specifically train and hope for a good day. Will I do this? No, for sure not. At least not in the near future, as I am living in Bucharest. In the future, who knows? But for the time being, the MPC cycle is complete.
Maraton Piatra Craiului, for next dreamers in line
You should accept things, cross a line, and understand when it is worth pushing and when it is not worth it. Running, for people like me, it is not worth it. You can get better results, sure. But how good the can ultimately become? Maybe at a level they can feed your ego a couple of days, and that is all. Is it worth time and efforts for this? Not for me. MPC thought me many, many lessons. It will remain always and forever a dear running event for me, and the first one – I think – attended three times in a row. Mostly to me, but sometimes out loud, I said that if I can’t at least go below 7 hours again, in my third attempt, I’ll just close the circle and drop the desire, in the form of a baton, to people that crave of finishing successfully this event at least once. I’ve been there from 2018, maybe, and manage to do it three times. Not great, but not horrible either. For my level, considering my fears, and my unconventional training, everything went up to the sky in terms of achievement. My name mingles with hundreds of others in the history of MPC, but this generates a thought that, even a decent number of people finished this, many more are craving to at least cross once the finish line. I’m passing it to them.
What a wonderful journey!
MPC is really an event you would like to participate in. It has everything, even surfaces where you can run. I mean, for me it was magic. Until I figured it out I’m out of my self-set-unrealistic-objective. My luck collided with my 2022 enthusiasm and I have obtained a result few dream of, at the end. I am proud of it. I am proud of all my three races. Maybe, at a point in time, I’ll find myself in a place were I can and want to train better for this type of race. If that preparation won’t be for Maraton Piatra Craiului, at least for sure I will be thinking of it when I would train for another might event, which might cross my mind, heart and desires at a moment in time. Emotions play a great part of life, and the MPC really represents, first of all, a bunch of pure emotions for my soul. It was a great journey, three years in which I’ve learned, almost by heart, one of the most beautiful and, partly, dangerous trail of the Romanian Carpathians. There are special places in Romania, never question that.
