The norm of this was fulfilled in the 2020 season by a number of 789 yearlings. Although it was a more difficult competitive year, starting with a considerable delay, the number of norms in the Marathon aceYearlings in the 2020 season is higher than the previous two seasons. In addition, we have much lower scores than in the 2018 and 2019 seasons, which makes us believe that the level of marathon pigeons in Romania is growing. This is the reason why the difference in the scores of the pigeons in the national top 3 is not very big, especially since we have a category composed of three marathon races, approached with pigeons at the beginning of their sports career.

At the end of the 2020 season, the national podium of the Marathon ace Yearlings category looks like this: 1st place – Pristavu Family, Bacău (22.14 points); 2nd place- Măgirescu + Ojog + Dorneanu, Bacău (25.76 points); place 3- Chereji Family, Bihor (30.29 points). From the very beginning, it must be said that before the third marathon stage of the season, all three pigeons now on the national podium kept real chances for the title of absolute champion of the category. The differentiation was made at the Birzai National and Berlin National competitions, respectively. In the same time, the pigeons in the first two places occupy the same positions in the Marathon Yearlings norm category.

0693026/2019 of the Pristavu family, double national champion

The young flyer of the Pristavu family, from the Bacău Association, was one of the best young marathon pigeons in the country. He participated in three marathon competitions, where he obtained the following rankings: 1st place out of 5,789 pigeons in the national marathon stage Birzai (1,080 km), 5th place out of 4,481 pigeons in the Vilnius competition (932 km) and 170th place out of 8,155 pigeons at the Vilnius 2 competition (913 km). Following them, he became national champion in the Marathon Yearlings and Marathon Ace Yearlings categories. From afar, as you can see, the races he excelled at was Birzai National, a competition he arrived at at 20:48, on the first day, flying the distance of 1,080 km with an average speed of 1188.58 m / min and winning the 1st place against 5,789 pigeons, from Bacău, Neamț, Iași and Vaslui counties. “We compete with yearlings in the first stage of the marathon, and those who do not rank it stay at home for the next one. Those who rank go further and those who have chances for the Marathon ace also go to the third race. I did the same with this cock, who is a combination of Emiel Denys and Wim Muller pigeons on his father’s line, and his mother is from Cristian Pughiuc, from Sam de Jong pigeons. He competed in the natural method, having cubs for about 14 days each time. I used the competition mixture produced by Ioan Feștilă, and for preparation and recovery I used various products from Beyers, Rohnfried and Tollisan. Between races, the pigeons were taken to 4-5 trainings from 80 km, aiming to improve their speed with every single training”, mentioned Cristian Pristavu.

Two national trophies for cock 0706736/2019, competed by the trio Măgirescu + Ojog + Dorneanu

After the rankings from the first two marathon races where he was engaged (105 / 4,481 pigeons and 11 / 8,155 pigeons), the young fighter competed by Măgirescu + Ojog + Dorneanu was only 2.96 points behind the cock of the Pristavu family. A small difference for a national competition like Birzai. But, although he ranked 5th out of 5,090 pigeons, arriving at 00:25:48 and obtaining only 0.98 penalty points, the cock 0706736/2019 had to be satisfied with the position of national vice-champion, still a remarkable performance. “He is a cock who is part of the pigeon family with which we won the most national trophies. His father, the grandson of the basic breeder, Super Velden, is the brother of the hen who placed 1st in the province of Moldova at the Marathon 3 years Palmares in 2019. The mother is a hen purchased from the Netherlands, by Vincent Vork, pigeon fancier who won the 1st place National St. Vincent in 2018, a hen bought because she is half Velden. He competed in the natural. At the first marathon he ran on eggs for 10-12 days, at the second marathon he ran on cubs for 12 days, and at the third marathon he was on eggs for about 5-6 days. “I use the Champion Plus and Energy mixes, plus food from Vanrobaeys, from which I make a mix, which I give to the pigeons. For training and recovery I used Tollyamin, and because the pigeons do not train at home, I have to take them by car very often “, said Daniel Măgirescu.

The Chereji family (Bihor county) occupies the 3^rd national place.

The third national place in the Marathon ace Yearlings category was won in the West zone, by the Chereji family from Oradea, with the help of the hen 0826082/2019. This is a pure example of the quality and uniqueness of marathon pigeons. Competing in the natural, the young hen was basketed on the first marathon stage of the season, Grimma (830), with eggs, a race she ranked 7th out of 2,103 pigeons. However, her cock did not return from the same competition, but she continued to hatch on her eggs for no less than 12 days, until she was basketed for Stendal Național. She arrived just as well from this competition, occupying the 54th place out of 3,768 pigeons (946 km). After a few days she received a small chick, which she raised alone until basketing for the National Berlin (946 km), where she won 19th place out of 1,504 pigeons. “This hen brought me the most important trophy so far. Her mother is reproduced from a Freialdenhofen cock, paired with a hen from Peto Janos. The father is reproduced from a German cock with a hen by Jac Steketee. She showed a lot of ambition and motivation, going straight to the breeding box every time she arrived for a race. Until the marathon stages started, I used the food from Ioan Feștilă. After that, I fed them food from Vanrobaeys, and for preparation and recovery I used supplements from Rohnfried and CEST Pharma. I also did a lot of training between marathon competitions, taking them twice a day to 60 km for several consecutive days, training from which they did a maximum of 40 minutes “, said Ioan Chereji.

In the 2020 season, Marathon ace Yearlings category is currently the only one where all three national winners competed in the natural method. As in the other marathon categories there are pigeons competing in the natural that occupy a place on the national podium, we can say that for the marathon, the “natural” still fits very well.