Cycling and running 682 kilometers in 48 hours downstream of the Danube. That is what the Dunav Ultra or Ultra Danube challenge is all about. The start is on 20 August 30 kms. from Vidin, in Koudelin village, and the finish is in the village of Dourankulak, the northeasternmost settlement in Bulgaria. More about the initiative and its cause from its organizer Boris Begumov:

“The initiative was born in 2014 as a personal challenge and an element of my own changeover – before that I lived an unhealthy kind of life. The Ultra Danube challenge – cycling and running this long distance was part of my own new way of looking at life.” As to the choice of itinerary, Boris says:

“The territory along the Danube, as our entire country is remarkable in terms of history and scenery. We all know well how beautiful the Black Sea coastline is or the Rhodope Mountain, but the Danube seems somehow to be left out, though it is exceedingly interesting.”

Boris is a digital marketing expert, and for the challenge his companions will be Iliyan Lazarov, who created the RunBG online platform, Philip Lhamsuren, who is Bulgarian with Mongolian blood running in his veins and has taken part in expeditions in different parts of the world, Stanislav Evgeniev – former rowing competitor and fitness instructor, currently working in the sphere of security and Borislav Yordanov – mountain biker who holds the record for cycling along the Kom-Emine route. And each one of them has his own, personal challenge to face. Iliyan Lazarov:

“My own challenge is 100 percent physical. But I came to realize what the cause and the responsibility of Ultra Danube is all about two months ago, when I was cycling along one of the mountain bike routes in the Rhodopes and I saw so many people there, many of them from abroad – from Holland, Germany. There was even a professor from a Dutch university who had come to scout the route before bringing his students to Bulgaria to show them the countryside here. That was when, cycling from one village to the next, I saw with my own eyes how this kind of tourism was evolving, and it hit me – Ultra Danube is the spark that can kindle the same kind of energy along the Danube.”

The Danube is the second longest European river after Volga, but unlike Volga it traverses a number of countries like an artery running through the heart of Europe. In the advanced economies it is used as a route for tourism and commerce, in the Bulgarian section, however there are places that are so primeval and wild that it is like a journey back in time, says Philip Lhamsuren who has travelled downstream by simple boat. Boris explains that the Ultra Danube sporting challenge is actually an invitation to all exotic tourism enthusiasts to get to know this incredible part of the country that is off the beaten track.

“Northern Bulgaria and the Danube river valley are remarkable with their landmarks and historic sites. There is a special kind of history in this part of the country - since the times of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, the Roman Empire, at a time when it had reached its greatest extent. The Bulgarian portion of the River Danube was actually the border of the Roman Empire and to defend it independent cities sprang up and developed. On the territories of what are today the towns of Silistra (the Roman Durostorum) and Svishtov (the Roman Nove) there were Roman legions stationed, ready to defend the northern border of the empire or what is today Romania, the territory of the Dacians. There is historical evidence here of those times more than 2,000 years ago. There are places where if, as you walk along some path you stub your toe on a rock, that rock may well be an artifact. But with all the social and political turmoil these past 20-30 years, there are treasure hunters and all kinds of people coming here in search of booty.”

Boris says that there are so many historic landmarks studding Bulgaria that it will take funding to be able to preserve them.

“Efforts must be made to help make these landmarks part of specific tourist products that can be offered internationally. To my mind that is the way Bulgaria can be promoted as a tourist destination, it will also mean small municipalities will be able to generate revenues,” says Boris Begumov.

Even though the participants in Ultra Danube have given themselves 48 hours for the challenge, Boris Begumov says:

“The participants will be making a documentary of their adventure presenting the valley of the Danube and what it has to offer tourists. The film will be ready by the end of 2016.”

English version: Milena Daynova

Photos courtesy of the organizers