At the end of the season, one of the biggest wishes of the Moldavian fanciers was fulfilled, by organizing the extreme Tartu marathon competition (from Estonia). The pigeons boarding took place on Friday, the 31st of July, and the launch was set for Saturday, the 3rd of August. Even if it was a great distance, between 1,100 and 1,600 km, many fanciers from many counties were interested in participating, an example being the breeders from Oltenia region. This came together as a super marathon competition, in which 6,082 pigeons and 596 breeders from 14 counties of Romania participated.
By far, the contest from the middle of Estonia organized by the Association of Suceava, an organization affiliated with the National Federation of Pigeon Fancies of Romania (FNCPR), will be a unique one, not being able to compare it with other competitions from the same category, organized by another Pigeon Association from another county of Romania. First of all, the very large number of pigeons for such a contest, then the large number of fanciers, as well as of counties, allows us to say, being totaly sincere, that Tartu organized by the National Federation of Pigeon Fanciers of Romania will be the most spectacular marathon competition of the last years in Romania. In addition to the two aspects that define a competition, the pigeons and fanciers participating, Tartu 2019 still owns a very important quality. Even though it is organized by Suceava, as the main embarkation point, Tartu has far exceeded the borders of Moldova.
The attraction for marathon competitions in this category was not affected at all by the geographical differences, so that in Tartu, in addition to the Moldovan breeders, will participate pigeons from Olt, Mehedinti or Dolj. Moreover, in Craiova we have witnessed a situation that we have to apreciate, Craiova was the only place beside Moldavian area that met the requirements of organizing a boarding center. 310 pigeons from 81 fanciers were boarded at Craiova Elite Club. Although they will have distances of almost 1,600 km, the Oltenian breeders have shown a real courage, registering in a pigeon contest, organized by an association affiliated to the FNCPR, with unprecedented distances in the history of the Federation. In Moldova, the top participants are from Suceava, with 4295 pigeons and 341 fanciers.
We have, therefore, a clear proof of the fact that in Romania, marathon races are in the first place among the breeders’ preferences. Along with the other national marathon stages that will take place this weekend, Tartu will be an equally attractive competition. At such distances, the winner can appear from anywhere, as we have seen throughout this season. Also, do not forget that Tartu is the second contest in the competition promoted by the Best Pigeons Club, which provides the winners with very consistent prizes, which will make the battle for the first places even more interesting.