The countdown has begun until the first national marathon competition of the 2021 season for the southern part of Romania. Tokmak National, already the classic first national marathon stage in Oltenia, is scheduled this year for July 10. Impeccably organized every year by the Dolj Pigeon Association “Ioan Gelu Gătejescu”, the National Tokmak 2021 competition will be a stage in which pigeon fanciers from all counties of Oltenia will participate. As always, this season participants have the opportunity to win at least one of the available prizes, plus a special trophy.

This year, the National Tokmak contest will reach its fourth edition and will engage in the competition proposed by pigeon fanciers from all counties of Oltenia. As in previous years, the Mehedinți, Gorj, Vâlcea, Argeș, Olt, Teleorman and Dolj Associations will take part in the National Tokmak stage. For the participants from Argeș and Teleorman, Tokmak Național will have the distance between 830 and 860 km. The distances will increase for the pigeon fanciers from Olt, Vâlcea and Dolj, whose pigeons will have to cover between 880 and 950 km. However, Tokmak Național will also have over a thousand km, distances recorded for pigeon fanciers from the Băilești club (Dolj) and from the Gorj and Mehedinți Associations.

Cash prizes and trophies for the winners

Beyond the sports, competitive part, at the Tokmak National 2021 competition, as well as at previous editions, several cash prizes and trophies will be available. First of all, the winner of the first place, in the pigeons ranking, will be awarded a special trophy, a distinction that will be awarded to the winner of the National Izium stage. Equally important, however, are the cash prizes that will be awarded at this contest. Each participant will have to pay the amount of 1,2 euro/ pigeon engaged, money that will constitute the prize fund. This prize fund will be differentiated on each participating county, and the winners of the first three places in each county, for old birds, yearlings and fanciers will receive 50%, 30%, respectively 20% of the prize fund accumulated in that county. Therefore, another reason for Oltenian pigeon fanciers to participate in this stage, if the thirst for competition would not have been enough. “It is the first of the two national marathon stages that we will fly in the Province of Oltenia. Over the years, thanks to a very good organization and a fair reward system, chosen together with the presidents of the participating branches, Tokmak National has grown from year to year, becoming a pigeon fancier for all those who love the marathon. And this year we will strive, from an organizational point of view, to rise to high standards and, despite a particularly difficult year from a pigeon fancier point of view, we expect the number of participants in this stage to be a benchmark. “, Said Florin Gătejescu, first vice-president of the National Federation of Pigeon Fanciers in Romania and president of the Dolj Pigeon Association” Ioan Gelu Gătejescu “.

Tokmak National 2020, participation record

With our eyes on this year’s edition, however, it is worth looking at last year’s edition of the National Tokmak race. The first aspect that stands out is the number of pigeons employed in the race, but also of participating pigeon fanciers. 900 fanciers, a very high figure compared to the number of participating counties, but what broke any record of this stage was the number of basketed pigeons: 10,656. The stage also took place during July, the pigeons being released in the morning of 18.07, at 05:10. In such a competition, the first place on the launch, for pigeons, was awarded by Ilie Lupu, from Pitești, Argeș County, an association that also gave the winner of the fanciers’ ranking, in the person of Ovidiu Pietraru. Although the 2021 season is a difficult one so far, it is not excluded at all that this year, at Tokmak Național, we will witness such participation.

So, one more week until Tokmak National 2021, and in the coming days we will come back with more details related to the organization of this contest.