Sports lovers have accumulated a great deal of energy in the time since the state of emergency was introduced in Bulgaria over the Covid-19 pandemic. After the lifting of the ban on individual outdoor sports ultramarathon lovers can’t wait for the moment when they will be able to start running again. For them it will mean that on the weekend after the restriction on practicing this sport is lifted they will be able to take part in an irresistible temptation – “Run around the clock” in the “untamed” parts of Mount Vitosha.

“Run around the clock” is planned as a different kind of mountain ultramarathon. It is not going to follow the standard scheme from start through points А, B, C… to the finish, explains its organizer Pirin Galov, winner of the grueling Frozen Peaks,2019 in Greece. In an interview for Radio Bulgaria Galov provides details about the route and the rules of the race:

“It is going to be a circular route, 11.5 kms. long, along the southern slopes of Mount Vitosha, with an elevation of  +525 m. The start-finish will be in the village of Kladnitsa, and the route will be from Kladnitsa to the village of Chuypetlyovo. There will be a mass start at 10 AM. The participants will run along this route and each lap has to be completed in two hours. Two hours after the start of the previous lap they have to start again along the same route. Participants unable to complete the lap in time are disqualified. All participants unable to make the next start on time drop out of the race. Victory goes to the participant who completes one lap more than all other participants within the time set down."

The grueling regulations of the race envisage only one winner. There will be no winner if two people do the same number of laps and give up at the same time. If the “last man standing” starts but is unable to finish in two hours, the race again ends without a winner. The idea for this kind of race comes from the American format “Last man standing” but is taken even further. 

Pirin Galov says he expects some of the participants to run a distance of more than 170 kms. with an elevation of 7-8,000 metres. “I even think that if they all have enough motivation then the 200-km. boundary could be passed, with an elevation of around 10,000 metres,” he says.

The logistics of the mountain race is going to be unorthodox as well:

“Around 40 people have enrolled so far. And as the format is a little bit special, each participant has to organize his own resting area, food and hydration, so that they have at least one person to assist them.”

The runners will take part in the race free of charge, the organization of the event is financed entirely by Pirin Galov himself. The prize is a place in Galov’s own camper when he goes on his adventure in the Alps this year. Pirin’s own interest in long-distance cross-country running started 7 years ago but before that he did orienteering and mountain climbing. Ultramarathons helped him bring together these passions with his love of mountains – in Bulgaria and around the world.

“There are several ultramarathons in Bulgaria which, even though I have been around the world, I run again and again, and with pleasure because they bring me in contact with nature and the opportunity of being left by myself in these mountains for days on end.  For example in the Rhodopes – one of the most magnificent and gentle mountains in Bulgaria – it is the ultramarathon “Persenk Ultra”. Just imagine running in the dead of night, stopping at a support point, and there seeing a fire burning and hearing a bagpipe playing. No words can describe it. It has to be experienced, the magic of the mountain, the thrill of such an experience,” says Pirin Galov.

The same thing holds good of the participants in “Run around the clock” on the slopes of Vitosha. Even if they do not win the event, they will certainly experience the sense of communion with the mountain, will overcome and understand themselves better and get to enjoy the feeling of being part of a community of people who are all on the same wavelength. 

Photos: courtesy of Pirin Galov