Man’s endurance is incredible in comparison to other creatures on the planet and according to a number of anthropologists, humans were designed to be long-distance runners. In the distant past, our ancestors pursued prey to the point of exhaustion of the animal and this is possible because when it comes to long-distance running, people have truly unique abilities.

Unfortunately, nowadays we often forget that our bodies are designed to move and the big brains are not the only gift of evolution. Perhaps as a response to the alarming data about the low physical activity of Bulgarians in recent years, the number of sports clubs and organizations in the country aiming at promoting running and healthy lifestyle has been growing.

The number of mountain running competitions on the territory of Vitosha and in the vicinity of the mountain – one of the symbols of Sofia, has also been growing. This year six sports organizations joined forces behind the Vitosha Cup. This is an initiative that joins the best competitions in the mountain in a an overall rating. Part of Vitosha Cup so far are six mountain running competitions with a total length of 201 kilometres and total elevation gain of 7600 meters. 2015 is the first year of the initiative’s existence. The first race Pancherevo - Polovrak, which has a distance of 30 kilometers and 1300 meters of eleveation gain, took place in the beginning of April. The second race with route of 27 kilometres took place on May 23rd in the high area of the mountain. The most popular ultra-marathon in Bulgaria, which already has legendary status and attracts a number of runners from abroad – the Vitosha 100 km, gathered runners and enthusiasts on June 14th . On June 28 ended Simeonovo Run, with a trail passing near the Simeonovo Lakes.

Upcoming race in the program is XLkmrun – a competition on the panoramic trail of Vitosha, scheduled for August 23. Part of the Vitosha Cup is also the attractive mountain running competition starting in front of the National Palace of Culture downtown Sofia to Cherni Vruh - Vitosha’s summit. The marathon will bring together the best trail runners on August 30th . The race is also the final race of a series of competitions for climbing the five highest Bulgarian mountains.

The cup is open to amateurs and professionals, and in order to participate in the final standings participants must have successfully completed at least three of the competitions. Each competition brings a certain number of points that also depend on its difficulty. The difficulty is determined according to the rule of Scottish mountaineer William Wilson Naismith that allows calculating the time it takes to walk a route with a given length and elevation gain.

How popular is mountain and marathon running in Bulgaria? Answer to our question gave us Grigor Varbanov - one of the founders of the Begach Sports Club that is behind the original idea for organizing an overall ranking for interesting mountain races:

"There is a huge interest in mountain running. One of the reasons is that organizations like ours have difficulties in working with municipalities for organising road running races. Another reason is that Bulgaria already has many good examples of mountain runners who excite the imagination of others. These are Kiril Nikolov aka Diesel, Maria Nikolova and Bozhidar Antonov, who recently broke the record for covering the 600-km distance between Kom Peak and Emine Cape. Some of the successful Bulgarian runners are amateurs and they all give a boost to the development of the sport. Many amateurs are keen on mountain running, especially in Sofia. There are other cities in Bulgaria where people have easy access to mountains and this also helps the development."

Grigor Varbanov advises those who are just beginning to deal with mountain running not to forget that the mountain can be dangerous and the terrain requires a careful choice of shoes. The award ceremony of the Vitosha Cup will take place in November. Organizers invite people to join the mountain running races and to keep in mind that movement is part of the very essence of man.

English: Alexander Markov