ZÁZRIFSKÉ ULTRAPOBEHAŇä 2020 (56km / 2410m+), Zázrivá, 29.08.2020
I ran this race in 2019, under the name Zázrivský Ultratrail back then (and the year before that as Púpovský Heavy Half – 26km track, within the Zázrivská inversia event). The organizers Aďka and Janko Jogošíkovci and their friend David are walking twinkling hearts who organize their race with love and 150% commitment and it can be seen in all the details, the atmosphere and even the very good weather they always book. It was no different this year either, they even arranged the date of the race for me right on my birthday 😄 Thank you. I am welcome 😅.
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| Photo by: Juraj Kožiak |
I'm training with determination, preparing, tapering and praying that the authorities won't tighten up the COVID restrictions and cancel this awesome party-to-be. Lessoned by the logistical vicissitudes of the Malofatranska 50 (read here: malofatranska-50tka), I book a cheap but luxurious (for me) accommodation in a family-run guesthouse in the centre of Zázrivá.
On the eve of D-Day, with a little soul, I move from Vavrišov to Zázrivá on our rickety Nissan Xtrail. There is nothing wrong with it, it just keeps going off in the middle of the drive. Hmm... We've fixed and replaced everything possible on it that could be causing these short circuits, but the Nissan is still going (or rather not going) its own way. My boyfriend explains to me with stoic calm that if this happens, I should just pull over to the side of the road, switch from gas to petrol and start it up again. Vividly and not at all with stoic calm, I imagine myself stopping with the engine switched off at 130km/h on the side of the busy, Friday-afternoon E50 motorway, or on the first-class road No.18 from RK to Kralovany, or on the first-class road No.70 from Kralovany to Párnica or on the second class road No.583 from Párnica to Zázriva, with traffic jams and a convoy of impatient honking reckless drivers behind me 😱 Besides, the power steering doesn't work when the engine is off. And so I go even further in my imaginings - the engine cuts out in the middle of a curve on the second class road 583 and I, unable to handle the steering, go into oncoming traffic or gracefully scoop the hood scoops. Oh, it makes me nervous.
I have no other choice but to keep repeating Arya's "Not today" all the way, and apparently it works, because the little Nissan finally drove me safely to Zázrivá. I am incredibly grateful to him, he probably loves me 😃 The very nice owner of the guesthouse accommodates me in my room, which is really luxurious - it has its own bathroom and toilet. There is a kitchenette in the corridor right next to it, where I can comfortably make coffee and breakfast in the morning, yesss! So I unpack and go to the streets of Zázrivá in the early evening to look for the place of the runners' presentation.
There is a group of people there already waiting by one of the buildings at the school campus, so I join them and some older talkative gentleman informs me that he remembers me from last year. "You were at the podium last year, weren't you?" Well, yes, I was, but in a not so strong competition. This year, the women's field is very strong, so I don't even dare to think about a good placement. I mainly want to have a good run and celebrate my birthday. After all, you have to get yourself down properly on birthdays, don't you? And what could be better than getting smashed on some nice ultratrail. I'm looking forward to it 😀 After a while Aďka, the little sunshine, and David, the other little sunshine appear and we welcome and hug each other. I'm glad to see them after a long time. Aďka looks very well and quite chill for not sleeping and being nervous for the past two weeks. They carry some big full boxes and the runner presentation can begin. Having learnt from the food peripeteias at the Malofatranská fifty, I plan to go somewhere to eat properly, specifically to the biggest restaurant in Zázriva, but Aďka doesn't recommend it to me, so I won't risk it. I don't really want to tempt fate - to start the-switching-off-Nissan again and try to drive to Terchová for food, so I end up in front of a local shop and wait in a long queue together with local regulars. They didn't have anything suitable there so two 7days chocolate croissants and mint tea make up for it. Awesome runner's dinner 😀 I'll do a short evening yoga and go to sleep.
In the morning, after completing all the rituals, I quickly pack and leave for the starting area. One last check to make sure I have all the stuff I need with me, I grab some excellent pre-start Habesh coffee, greet and chat with my running buddies, of whom there are quite a lot here today. Slowly a beautiful day is emerging and I am in a great and uplifted mood. I'm really looking forward to the race.
A handful of runners slowly move and group at the starting gate, we listen to the last instructions and blessing (or anointing? 😁 ) from Aďka, boom, and we're off. The track leads from the start along a narrow path, so the starting field quickly turns into a long snake winding through the meadows above Zázrivá. I run with ease from the start, I don't know if it's birthday endorphins or Habesh coffee, in the end it doesn't matter, mainly because I run with ease right from the start. We keep the same pace together with Evžen and so we debate about how this running season was/wasn't, what is still to come, and that we'll hopefully see each other again at Klin. Maťka and Michal catch up with us and congratulate me on my birthday, Evžen also joins in and mentions that actually a year ago and even two years ago we celebrated like this at Liptovský Kŕč on Babky and Sivy vrch. These running birthday parties are simply the best. Maťa and I discuss running shoes, Tatranská Selma Ultra, and all sorts of things, but in the end Michal and her will escape us. After all, they are rockets. We run past some houses, shuffle into the woods, from the woods to the meadows and scramble up the first climb to Grúnik. Up there is the first aid station. Dávid is cheering on us and applies hand sanitizer before refreshments. The climb continues on towards Púpov. A professional photographer crouches in the grass beside the trail, snapping photos for dear life. I can't run, because the section is quite steep, so I'll at least peer into the lens with a Hollywood smile.
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| Photo by: Juraj Kožiak After the steep climb, we run along a beautiful forest path winding around Púpovo. It undulates up and down and up and down, we run out onto a meadow, under which there is a farm that was once used for a TV Reality show and again we dive into the forest and out into a meadow where we are obliged to stop, turn around and admire views at Rozsutec. This is followed by a descent to the picturesque village of Šípková. I'm running down the grassy path and suddenly out of sheer joy I jump and shout Yahhoo! I don't care what others may think of me and actually someone is joining in. Probably Evžen. A hard asphalt climb follows, on which Sonka catches up with us. She is running her first ultra adventure today and she is doing great, but is a little worried about the climb to Minčol, which awaits us in the second half of the route. I assure her she can handle it. It seems that we will run together from now on, but we confirm to each other that if either of us feels like going forward, we will. No obligations or commitments. In good spirit, we discuss running, races, motherhood, children, all kind of things. We are progressing with ease, and in our friendly conversation we pass the pleasant trail around the other side of Púpov, from where you can enjoy the views of the Mala Fatra ridge the whole time.  In high spirits, we run to the Syrex aid station and dictate our numbers to the volunteer. Me: 35. Soňa: 53. We laugh at that and rush to the food counters. Lessoned by the caloric deficit issues at the Malofatranska 50, I also eat bread with Nutella and some other bits and pieces in addition to watermelon and banana. After small rest and refilling the watter flasks we head on. Next comes a climb and a traverse through the meadows below Malý Rozsutc. I remember this section from last year as pretty muddy and smelly of sheep, but today it is drier and the track is more friendly. We pass Lucka Dobrucká on the footpath under the forest. We don't know each other personally, but I admire her a lot for her performances and achievements, so I think it's appropriate to say hello to her. She hardly says "Hi" back. It tugs at my heart, because I can tell she's probably struggling quite a bit today. The fact that I'm overtaking such a great runner does not make me happy at all, because I know that it is because Lucka has most likely big problems on the track. But, she is very strong and despite the problems she will not give up and at the end of the day, she will finish the race with grace. We run past the place where there was an aid station last year, and back then, Sonka was there with her pregnant belly as a volunteer. I remember exactly how she told me then that I was the sixth woman, in the end I managed to finish in a third place. Today, after a year, Sonka no longer has a belly, she is participating in the race as a runner. It's us women. I wonder how it is today in terms of ranking, but somehow it doesn't bother me, I just run and enjoy it. We have to climb one more trail, run through a forest, and a long, steep, rocky descent to Zázriva awaits us. We overtake three girls - Lenka H., Lenka Sent. and Zuzka. The downhills are going well for me today, I'm really enjoying them. We reach the intersection, some turkey behind the fence greets us with a loud cluck, and the cheerful volunteers guide us - after the intersection, we have to take an inconspicuous path back into the forest. A bit up, then down a meadow and another seemingly endless, slightly uphill section along the main road to the start/finish/refreshment area.
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Photo by: Rišo Pouš The three girls are overtaking us and Zuzka assures us that they are not racing, they just want to be at the finish line already 😅Yeah, right. We come out of the forest among the blueberry bushes and I remember exactly the place where I got lost a year ago in May. There was still a lot of snow and difficult conditions. But now it's raging summer, everything around is beautifully green, the trail is dry and runnable. We are at the top. All the tension has obviously dropped from Sonka - the dreaded peak is behind her. To get to the aid station on Kubínská hola, we have to run a short distance down to the upper station of the ski lift. It's chilly up there, the wind blows cold, but we don't mind it somehow and in shorts and tank tops meet and greet Evka and Saška, who willingly refill our bottles with water and serve us all kinds of goodies. They're having a good time there. Some music is playing and I can't resist a little dance. Well, I'm celebrating today, right? Another chap from the volunteers admires our huge chills, which we don't feel, because we feel hot from within. He states that we're enjoying this ordeal beautifully and I tell him that it's been great so far. After recharging both solid and cosmic energy, we head back to the ridge and Rišo snaps us into his report one last time. Together with the trio L+L+Z we run along a beautiful grassy ridge with probably stunning views, but at the moment it is cloudy, the storm that has been threatening us since morning will probably come.
The last descent is long, steep and unpleasant, leading through a narrow, rocky ravine. I go a bit cautiously at first, but as soon as my legs get used to it, I let it go and help myself with my poles. I catch up with Lenka and other two runners and overtake them. Above the village there is one more questionable section which is a bit worse marked, but my watch unerringly points me in the right direction. So I navigate the others and we go down. One of the two is running with me, probably wanting to get it over with too. I speed up, he speeds up as well, but he assures me that he won't overtake me. How sweet 😊 I assure him that I don't mind, he can go ahead. We both assure each other that we are enjoying it, that we're feeling good 😂 we sprint down the hill past the cemetery and the first bystanders cheer us on. From a distance I can hear the music and the best presenter in the world, Ondrej V. from the loudspeakers (who can easily put Adéla V. in his pocket), I can feel the finish line atmosphere, and get a rush of endorphins three hundred meters before it. The sprint graduates and I'm trying not to stumble on some stupid rock right before the finish gate. I run under it, stop the watch, hug Sonka, who finished about one minute before me and start enjoying the state of happiness, joy and satisfaction that can only be experienced at the end of such a great ultrarunning party like this one.   
Photos by: Rado, Hvizďo and Juraj Kožiak Rado comes with his camera and says that he didn't manage to take a picture of me when I ran to the finish line, because I was too fast. We laugh about it, we also take pictures with Soňa, her husband Hvizd and the collie Bublina. In the end, Soňa was fourth in the category and fifth overall, and I was fifth in the category and sixth overall - a placing I never dreamed of today. The best presenter in the world drops his jokes and catchphrases into it, he runs his own ultramarathon behind the mic and he runs it brilliantly. All of this is nailed down by a great nutritious soup from Jogošíci and a finisher's kofola. We sit and chat with friends, watch the ceremony, the raffle, and that's it. It's time to say goodbye and go home. The icing on this well-baked cake – Nissan drove me home without the engine dying. I guess he really loves me after all. |
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