On June 15, the pigeons were basketed for the Nurnberg marathon competition, organized by the Arad Pigeon Association. The race, the first marathon of the 2021 season for the participating counties, comes with some unique aspects. First of all, there will be a competition in which pigeon fanciers from Bihor, Arad, Timiș, Satu-Mare and Caraș Severin counties will participate, which in the West has so far only happened at the national stages. Secondly, the organizers ordered the announcement of the number of pigeon fanciers and participating pigeons through the National Ranking Program, so we already know the figures for this competition, and the organizers were able to determine exactly all aspects of the smooth running boarding. Nuremberg will also be a race where participating pigeon fanciers have the opportunity to vote on when the pigeons will be released.

A total of 8,409 pigeons were engaged at the Nuremberg marathon stage, a competition that opens the series of marathons in the 2021 season, and for pigeon fanciers, 598 are participating. Nuremberg, a race that will be launched on Friday, given that the weather data remains unchanged, proposes distances between 800-930 km, for pigeon fanciers from Arad, Bihor, Satu-Mare and Timiș, but also about 1,000 km, situation in which are found most of the pigeon fanciers from Caraş Severin county.

Arad: 2,216 pigeons and 109 fanciers

From Arad County, the association that coordinated the entire organization of the Nuremberg stage, 2,216 pigeons were basketed, belonging to the 109 pigeon fanciers from Arad who announced their presence. The number of pigeons engaged here is the highest in the participating counties. “We have had discussions with colleagues from other associations since the winter to organize this stage. We based all the discussions on the desire to have a stage of proportions, to have an important number of pigeons and to be able to perform at a national level. For example, we agreed to launch the pigeons from Nuremberg, a condition set by Caras fanciers. Otherwise, they would not have agreed to join us. Regarding the announcement of the pigeons and fanciers who wanted to process the information of this stage through the ranking program of the Federation, I want to remind you that it is a procedure that we have been using for two years. It is very useful for the organizers to know in advance how many pigeons and fanciers you have to manage, how to divide the cars or what boarding hours to set. I believe that this is an issue that must become mandatory for such races. Also, because the German Pigeon Federation has approved launch points, meaning you can’t go anywhere you want for the launch, pigeon fanciers have been able to see their distances for this stage. Another important aspect is that, in the morning when the launch is expected, the participating pigeon fanciers will have the opportunity to vote on the launch time and even to postpone it, the final decision being the one with the majority of votes. I can say that the basketing of the pigeons, in all five counties, went smoothly, which is why I thank the people in charge of each county. From the data we have now, there are no impediments to the launch of the pigeons on Friday, but we will see concretely at that time. What is certain is that we all want a fair and successful competition “, said Daniel Marta, president of the Arad Association.

Timiș: 2,167 pigeons and 95 fanciers

An important contribution in the organization of this competition was also made by the pigeon fanciers from Timiș, who, although Nuremberg is considerably further south in Germany compared to the launching places of the marathon stages organized in Timiș, they approved to participate in a competition together with the whole West province. A number of 95 pigeon fanciers from this county showed up at the Nuremberg stage, hiring together a total of 2,167 pigeons. “From the first discussions we agreed on a common stage for the whole Western area. If so far we were gathering around 3,000 pigeons, with this proposal we understood that we have the opportunity to make a contest with a much larger number of pigeons and we did not hesitate. I can say that we have long wanted such a marathon stage. For this reason, we hope it will be a successful competition, so that in the future, the Western area will compete together since the first marathon competition of the season. Too bad it was a difficult season so far, with significant losses, but it’s good anyway, given that we have over 8,000 pigeons. The launch site is a fair one, which neither benefits nor disadvantages any of the participants “, mentioned Tiberiu Iancu, president of the Timiș Pigeon Association.

Caras Severin: 2,206 pigeons and 201 fanciers

Also over two thousand pigeons will participate in the Nuremberg 2021 competition and from Caraş Severin, an association that also gives the most important number of pigeon fanciers: 201. Recognized for the national marathon results achieved here, the Caraş Severin association has one of the most important numbers of engaged pigeons (2,206), but also the longest distances. In Caras, Nuremberg will have mostly over 950 km, and for some pigeon lovers it will even exceed 1000 km. “I have to admit that some of my colleagues were quite reluctant when it was discussed about a common stage, throughout the province, but in the end, the desire to perform prevailed. We want to have a successful competition, so that in the future we can organize such stages, which only help the pigeon sport. The organization went smoothly, the pigeons are already on the road, and on Friday, weather permitting, they will be released “, said Stelian Păniță, the pigeon fancier who coordinated the organization of the stage in Caraş Severin County.

From Bihor and Satu-Mare participate 872 pigeons and 109 fanciers, respectively 948 pigeons and 84 fanciers

A slightly lower presence, but not negligible, we also have from the associations Bihor and Satu-Mare, where the beginning of the season and, especially, the first two fund competitions in 2021 created great difficulties. However, in Bihor, 109 pigeon fanciers engaged 872 pigeons. “The fact that we established the announcement of the number of pigeons through the National Rankings Program helped us to schedule pigeon fanciers by the hour, so that the pigeons were loaded very smoothly. There were no problems, no queues or very large groups of pigeon lovers were formed, which is very good, especially in the current conditions. The Nuremberg competition is a great opportunity for pigeon fanciers in the West. In the past, we competed in this locality, with very good results. The fact that we will have another competition with a launch in Nuremberg aroused strong emotions and made especially the more experienced pigeon fanciers happy, and the young ones were even more motivated “, said Vlad Fildan, the person in charge of organizing the competition in the Bihor Pigeon Association. From Satu-Mare county, at the Nuremberg stage, 84 pigeon fanciers and 948 pigeons participate. As for all pigeon fancier associations in the Western province, and for pigeon fanciers in Satu-Mare, the proposal of a common marathon stage was a challenge difficult to refuse. “In our association there were no reservations when it was proposed to have a common marathon stage throughout the province. Even if we also had problems created by the loss of pigeons, we managed to engage almost 1000 pigeons. We consider it a good start and we hope we don’t stop here “, said Rober Kasai, the coordinator of the stage in the Satu-Mare Association.

As mentioned, the launch of the pigeons for the Nuremberg stage will take place on Friday, June 18. It should be remembered that all five associations present in Nuremberg will organize together all four marathon stages of the season.