Written by Dalibor Nedelka - http://trailacademy.blogspot.sk
My second ultra running race this year took place in Hungary. Close to the end of May we have had a very nice and unexpectedly successful trip to our southern neighbors. Just 20 km away from Budapest is located a nice and proud city with the scent of history - Szentendre. The race in such a location promised both trip and the race to be spectacular.
I can say with my sober head that this was the best organised race event I've ever participated in. Race organizers did a tremendous job here in order to provide runners with high quality event and care. Starting with the registration which was fast and smooth, through the race itself and (not) ending by after-race treatment.
We arrived in Szentendre on Saturday evening, checked in in our camp and headed down to the city. The start/finish gate was already placed in the position in the very historical center close to the river. We took couple of pictures and went deeper to the streets looking for the race center. It was established at the gym of a local school and a bunch of runners were already in. Right upon arrival I spotted my friends Matt and Andy with another guy, Janos. First time I met guys was when we were in Switzerland running The Mountainman in 2014. It was about 8.00 pm, I took the package from registration and we headed back to our camp for a decent sleep. OK, I had to get back again to registration because I did not bring the required equipment with me for the first time – my fault. Rules are rules.
Sunday morning, 6.00 am, sunny and warm morning. I am having breakfast, packing gels, bars and slowly jogging close to the start. Bashka and Viki with Peťo (my support team) and Matt decided to use the advantage of the car. That morning was really nice and promised stable close-to-summer weather. It was around 7.30 and runners were coming from every direction. My group cheered me in highly professional manner :), we took couple of nice pics when the starting corridor opened all of the sudden – it was time to line up and find suitable starting position. Things moved quite quickly from this point and the starting whistle/shot (I don't remember which one) approached rapidly by every second. Then the final countdown was here. Even though it was in Hungarian, I perfectly understood what it was. I could feel the raising emotions and tension with every second. 3-2-1...and we go.
I maintained stronger pace along the Szentendre streets because I did not want to get stuck by the bunch after the start. When we left the city I eased it little bit saying to myself I will have another 50 km to push it again. The last thing I want to do in 50 km long race is to push the pace too much from the very beginning. After approx. half an hour, the whole bunch was evenly spread over meadows with the front slowly nearing a forest. When we got to the forest we realized what the terrain will be about for the next approx. 10 km. Trails were massively soaked with water and very muddy; up to the ankles in some sections. First part was significantly influenced by such conditions but after the first aid station it all got better. Bashka, Viki and Pedro were there cheering us again :)
The trails narrowed and the average speed increased. I kept my non-pushing strategy and enjoyed every stride of this journey. After second aid station we crossed Pilisszentlászló village and got to a kind of deep valley with fresh stream on its bottom. One of the other runners told me this will be nicest part of this race and he was right. The trail crossed this stream several times, one had to jump over fallen trees, get into the water and run carefully among all those rocks and roots. This section was a bit downward sloped so I could speed up a little and gain some advantage. Then there was the final descend to a town of Visegrad with the third aid station. I did one mistake which I realized during the course at the aid stations – I forgot to pack empty glass which was recommended by the organizers. The whole event had “green stamp” so there were no traditional plastic glasses on the stations and many other green features. By not having this glass, I had to use only my bottle which was not very handy. I managed to drink regularly but it took me a bit longer than usual.
The climb from Visegrad to Pap-Ret was not very long but it was steep indeed. We were on precisely opposite side of the hill at this point so very close to the half of the race. Looking at my Suunto I could see time around 2,5h and more than 25km to go, I knew this will be definitely more than 5 hours in total. When you are in the race you can more or less estimate on which position you run. I saw myself around 8th place at that time but when we got to the last aid station, the guy there told me I was on the 5th position. This was one big surprise for me and I could not believe him. In a moment later he explained me that couple of leading guys managed to get lost and got big delay. Standing on this station I drunk as much water as I could, refilled my bottle and ate something knowing I have another 17 km to go without any more aid stations.
This last stretch was the hardest part of the course for me. It was sunny day with clear skies and the temperature rose. I finished my bottle quickly and knew that the last 10 km will be long, hot and hard – and they totally were so. When we got out of the forest shade and ran through nearby villages I was totally out of water and felt my pace dropped rapidly due to dehydration. It was hard to keep running in some sections (not even hilly ones). However, I finally got a glimpse of the church in Szentendre that was right next to the finish line.
I luckily got to the city and ran towards the end. Somehow, I did not remember quite well the route we ran before in the morning, so I was not 100% sure where to go on some intersections. This part could be marked better but I can proudly say I ran directly to the finish without getting lost. When I was in the historical center I knew the end is close. There were many people on the streets cheering and shouting from every cafeteria and they created really breathtaking atmosphere in the streets of Szentendre, especially on the main square. From the square it was literally just a few meters to the finish line.
I spotted my support team just a few meters before the line and I headed directly to them. One pre-finish kiss from Bashka and that's it, I have done it on 5th position with time around 5,5h. What were my first words in the finish? I don't remember but “give me some water” probably. I felt totally drained but Bashka gave me elite treatment after all as usual ;) We stayed a while close to the finish and then went to the race center to take a shower and a nice meal. I was totally amazed when the lady gave me a bowl of very good rice and grilled vegetables together with some sesame crisps and eggplant spread – this was something astonishing and extraordinary (and I did not write this only because I promised her I'll do so :))
This is the end of our Szentendre journey. A place that has something to offer not only to runners and cyclists, but I would definitely go back for a weekend trip with family or friends.
(race profile)