A good part of the fanciers that love marathon category focus very strongly on the ranking of the fanciers of these races. For them, the level of their loft, but also of them, as fanciers, is very good when they occupy very good places in the fanciers rankings, not just one or two leading positions in the pigeons’ ranking. They carefully choose their team for each marathon competition, which means first five pigeons they nominate to be basketed, and today we will present the three who are on the national podium, after the 2020 season, in the Marathon Fanciers Palmares category.

If the norm is met by achieving the team to three marathon races of that season, organized in the weekends specially nominated for these stages, automatically, the category of Marathon Fanciers Palmares means the achievement of the Marathon Fanciers norm in two consecutive seasons. Thus, we have the cumulative score from six marathon competitions, and after the 2020 season, a number of 447 pigeon fanciers have met the norm of the Marathon Fanciers Palmares. In the 2019 season, 838 pigeon fanciers achieved the Marathon Fanciers norm, which means that only a little over half of them achieved the palmares in the next season.

Elisei Eacobuță (BC), for the second consecutive season national champion of Marathon Fanciers Palmares

For the second consecutive year, the 1st National place for this category is obtained by Elisei Eacobuță, from the Bacău Association. This means that Elisei Eacobuță is the most consistent Romanian pigeon fancier in the last four years when it comes to the Marathon Fanciers Palmares. In 2020, the coefficient achieved by the pigeon fancier from Comănești is 166.94 penalty points, of which 64.31 points are from the 2019 season, and the remaining 102.63 points are from 2020 season. The score for the 2019 season was made after Elisei Eacobuță ranked 1st out of 1,018 pigeon fanciers at the Madonna National stage, the first two of his team pigeons taking 1st and 2nd place at the launch, out of 19,091 pigeons (1,200 km), the famous “Queen Madonna ”And“ Il Fenomeno ”, with two night arrivals, followed by the 2nd place out of 596 pigeon fanciers at the Tartu competition (1,320 km), a race where Elisei Eacobuță engaged 4 pigeons and ranked 3, and“ Queen Madona ”won again 1st place on the launch, the norm being finished with the 8th place out of 199 pigeon fanciers, at the Vilnius stage (941 km). Instead, the rankings from fanciers competition in the 2020 season, with which Elisei Eacobuță won the 1st place National Marathon Fanciers Palmares, were on the 3rd place out of 246 fanciers (6 pigeons ranked out of 7 employees, 941 km), 11 out of 334 fanciers (8 pigeons ranked out of 10 engaged, 1,111 km) and 5 out of 207 fanciers (15 pigeons ranked out of 23 engaged, 961 km). “The Fanciers Marathon category is a goal every season. For this reason, I choose my team very carefully, depending on several criteria. First of all, the distance of the respective stage matters. I see which pigeons are very suitable for that distance and then I watch how well prepared they are, if they are in a good shape and if they have a nesting position that benefits them. If a pigeon, for example, comes from a training very well, with a few minutes advance from th other pigeons, is physically prepared and also has a good nest position, he will definitely be in the team. These are the reasons why the team changes almost every time. There are pigeons that can be found in several races in the team, but they are not always the same five. I think that you can’t approach a 960 km stage with the same team with which you go to a 1,200 km stage or, at least, it is quite difficult to rely on the same pigeons and to win “, detailed Elisei Eacobuță.

Cristian Pughiuc (BT), on the podium also for Marathon Fanciers Palmares

For Cristian Pughiuc, member of the Botoșani Association, the 2nd place National Marathon Fancier Palmares is the second title of national vice-champion of the 2020 season, after he positioned himself on the same place at the Marathon Fanciers norm. The nomination of the team is, thus, an asset of the pigeon fancier from Botosani, which can be seen in the rankings he obtained: 4th place out of 816 fanciers, 28th place out of 807 fanciers and 3rd place out of 125 fanciers, in the 2019 season, and place 1 out of 163 fanciers, 2nd place out of 108, and 2nd place out of 66 fanciers, in the 2020 season. For Cristian Pughiuc, winning this trophy is even more important as he managed to greatly improve his score in the 2019 season, when he achieved the norm at Marathon Fanciers with 114.29 points, and in the 2020 season he obtained only 53.96 points. “I compete with a group of about 70 pigeons. They are mated, raise a young bird and after the first long distance race they are separated. Widows start and both cocks and hens compete in marathon stages. For the team, I rely on experienced pigeons, which I know have good arrivals, either in the pre-season stages or in those of the past seasons. I spend a lot of time in the loft and try to notice the pigeons that are in good shape. A pigeon in full shape exudes vitality, moves a lot, tries to occupy spaces. There are signs that show you that the pigeon is in a very good condition. In addition, over time there is an instinct of the fancier, when holding a pigeon in his hand can figure out if it is worth putting him on the team. For example, in my case, at one of the races, I teamed up with a hen I’ve been competing with for 7 years. I liked the way it looked before basketing and I wasn’t wrong “, said Cristian Pughiuc.

Cristian Gagea (SV) wins the 3rd National place

Another fanier who excels at selecting team pigeons is Cristian Gagea, from the Suceava Association, the winner of the 3rd place National of this category. He is for the second consecutive year the best pigeon fancier in his association in the category of Marathon Fanciers, this year, at Palmares, including climbing the national podium. Its coefficient is 182.70 penalty points, and the rankings that took it to the national podium are the following: places 2/596 fanciers, 19/807 fanciers and 5out of 189, in the 2019 season, and places 5/471 pigeon fanciers, 13 / 1,049 pigeon fanciers and 22/591 pigeon fanciers, achieved last season. Cristian Gagea is the most constant of the three pigeon fanciers on the national podium, being the only one who obtained almost the same score in the 2019 and 2020 seasons: 89.94 points, respectively 92.76 points. “At least in the last two years, I pay a lot of attention to this category, and during this period I managed to win a few trophies. Usually, for the team I rely on three experienced, experienced pigeons, but also on two young ones, because the young ones are unpredictable and can have very good arrivals. At two of the three races last year, we teamed up with an old bird pigeon and a young one. However, one of the basic pigeons in the two seasons, after which we won this trophy, was the hen “Cătălina”, the national champion at Marathon Ace Palmares, who was always in the team, regardless of the race. Sometimes I especially motivate the team pigeons, using jealousy “, explained Cristian Gagea.