Starting with the 2020 season, the Prahova Pigeon Association assumed the responsibility of organizing a national marathon competition. It has been decided that the launch of the pigeons will take place in Kharkov (Ukraine), so this season the Kharkov National has reached its second edition. The competition brought together pigeon fanciers from 10 associations, most of them from Muntenia, but also with presences of some pigeon fanciers from Olt or Argeș. At the end, Gheorghe Popescu, from Prahova, the winner of the first place on the launch, for pigeons, and Lucian Iordache, from Bucharest, the winner of the first place on the competition in the fanciers’ ranking, stood out.

6,152 pigeons were basketed for the Kharkov National 2021, with the participation of 767 fanciers from the Ilfov, Giurgiu, Dâmbovița, Argeș, Olt, Brăila, Prahova, Buzău, Bucharest and Teleorman Associations. As in the other national races, the release of the pigeons took place on Saturday morning, at 05:00, depending on the association, the participating pigeon fanciers will have distances between 800 and over 1000 km. As for the difficulty of the stage, we can say that the Kharkov National was an intense competition, with many arrivals from day one.

Gheorghe Popescu (PH) wins first place of the race

For the pigeon fanciers from Prahova, the National Kharkov competition had considerable distances, which exceeded by far 900 km. Pigeon fancier Gheorghe Popescu, from Tomșani, Prahova, had in this competition 948 km between the launching point and his loft. But this distance did not stop the hen 0482400/2018 from flying so fast that she won first place on the entire launch. His arrival was recorded at 17:16:53, resulting an average speed of 1288.70 m/min, sufficient for the pigeon to win the entire competition.

Lucian Iordache (BB) is the winner of the fanciers’ ranking

The 767 pigeon fanciers who took part in this stage made Kharkov National a competition with very high difficulty. Almost all the pigeons in the first positions were part of the team of participating pigeon fanciers, so the battle for first place in the fanciers competition became even more intense. The winner was a fancier with a lot of experience, Lucian Iordache from Bucharest, one of the oldest active pigeon fanciers in Romania and multiple national champion. He engaged 14 pigeons at the Kharkov National, of which he ranked eight. The first two pigeons to arrive in his loft were team pigeons, the cocks with the series 0028091/2018 and 0028012/2018, pigeons that occupied the 11th and 25th places throughout the launch. Together, the two pigeons accumulated 5.85 penalty points, the lowest in the fanciers’ ranking and added another important result to the bushy record of the Bucharest fancier. “I have been competing for over 60 years, officially, being part of the first pigeon fancier club in Bucharest. I had very good results in my careed, being several times national champion, three times Olympic and with many participations in Spartakiada. From the very beginning, I have cultivated, and I still succeed today, the pigeons of Van Spitael, from pigeon fanciers like Cretulescu, Valcu or Stanuca. Until the first marathon, the pigeons were on position of half-widowed, but three weeks before Kharkov I changed for natural and at this stage they were employed on position of having eggs. I use a variety of foods, with many seeds, but I try to be of quality. I am very attentive to this aspect and if I have doubts, I put it in the corner, to see if it is good for pigeons. For recovery and preparation I occasionally use Avipharm or Tolliamyn, but the basic ones are pollen, lemon and honey. Beyond that, I want to mention a less pleasant fact. From this stage a pigeon arrived to me with the ring cut and without a sensor, which disappointed me a lot “, said Lucian Iordache (foto right).

The winners of the county rankings

Among the pigeon fancier associations that took part in the National Kharkov stage, only the pigeon fanciers from Dâmbovița, Prahova and Bucharest had the necessary numbers to have county rankings. From the organizing association, Prahova, 2,232 pigeons and 357 pigeon fanciers participated in the Kharkov National. Talking about pigeons rankings, in Prahova County, it is understood that the first place was won by Gheorghe Popescu, the one who won the entire competition. Instead, for fanciers, the first county place is occupied by Ene Tasica. From Bucharest, 1,398 pigeons were employed and 161 pigeon fanciers participated. Marian Bădilă, the winner of the first place on the pigeon association (the second place on the whole launch) is the only one that must be remembered, because the winner in the fanciers competition from the general rankings is from Bucharest. The Dâmbovița Association participated in this race with 1,732 pigeons and 147 pigeon fanciers. In the ranking of this county, the first place is occupied by Florin Miriță (10th place on the launch), and the Bolborea Family won the fanciers competition, who also occupy the second place for fanciers in the county ranking.

Also from Prahova is Daniel Zidaru, the occupant of the last step of the general podium of the stage, the pigeons ranking, and Gheorghe Nedelcu, from Dâmbovița, is the one who completes the general podium for fanciers.