It’s been a few years of competition since we got used to the pigeons in the national top of this category, especially the champions, having very low penalty scores, below 1. But, from this point of view, 2021 is a very special and even historic season, we could say. The reason is that all three pigeons on the national podium of the mentioned category managed to obtain less than one penalty point in the two stages, and the national champion set a new national record.

Undoubtedly, the Marathon is the “queen” of competitive categories in our country, and with the number of pigeons participating in recent years in these stages, the show is assured. Thus, in 2021 we also had very attractive marathon stages, which highlighted new stars. This is the case of the cock competed by the trio Măgirescu + Ojog + Dorneanu, national champion with record points and champion of the category in the World Best Pigeon competition, the vice-champion competed by Cristian Brumușescu and the hen competed by the Tunduc Family, pigeon with two first places on the launch, which we find on the national podium of the National Marathon 2021 category.

National and world champions

There are many talented Romanian pigeon fanciers when it comes to the distance stages, but, for over a decade, the trio Măgirescu + Ojog + Dorneanu, from Bacău, are, without a doubt, among the best in the country. It has not been a season without at least one national trophy, although, according to the flight route, they have some of the longest distances. The three did not abandon this “habit” even in 2021, a season in which they became national champions of the Marathon old birds category with a new national record: 0.20 penalty points. In addition, the cock with the series 1020652/2018 also became the champion of the Super Marathon category of the World Best Pigeon championship, which is equivalent to a world title. At the national level, the trio became national champion after winning 1st place in the Birzai National stage (1,099), against 15,735 pigeons, and second place in the Kelme stage (1,084 km), against 14,184 pigeons. “The pigeon is the son of two national champions of our loft, cock 004, 1st place National Marathon ace old birds 2017, and our hen, triple national champion. She is part of a real family of winners, being half-brothers by her mother with the winner of the Birzai National stage 2019, which was an equally difficult stage, the hen arriving all night, at 23:58. He is a cousin, in his father’s line, with the 1st place National Marathon Grand Prix old birds 2020 and the 1st place Madona Palmares 2020. At the age of one and two years he competed in two marathons, and this year he flies and ranks three marathon stages, achieving Marathon Palmares with 22 points and Ace Marathon palmares with 45.8 points. He competed on eggs for 13-14 days in the first marathon, in Madonna he had chicks, and in Birzai he had eggs for 4-5 days. It is a pigeon that attaches very well to his nest, often finding him in the box, next to his pair. From moulting point of view, for Birzai stage he got to his third primary feather”, said Daniel Măgirescu.

Cristian Brumușescu (Olt) becomes national vice-champion

Also with less than a penalty point, exactly 0.40 points, Cristian Brumușescu from Oltenia is the occupant of the 2nd national place. A cock is the winner in this case, with the series 0491242/2019, which obtained two exceptional rankings: 2nd place out of 15,345 pigeons at the National Izium stage (1,103 km) and 2nd place out of 7,359 pigeons at the Tokmak stage (920 km) . Cristian Brumușescu is also the national vice-champion in the Marathon Fanciers category, with the very consistent contribution of the vice-champion pigeons of the Marathon old birds category, being nominated as a team pigeon in two of the three stages necessary to complete breeder’s norm. “I have been competing since 2010 and I am only interested in the long distance and marathon stages. I compete with the widow pigeons, being separated by the first long distance race, and everyone, including the young ones, go to the marathon stages. Izium National was one of the best stages of the season, decisive for both national trophies we won. The cock on the second place at the launch also won the first stage of the season, in which 19,008 pigeons participated. It is a pigeon that comes from a family with very good results in my loft. The father is from Daniel Ioja, from Bacău, and he also reproduced the 1st county Marathon yearlings in 2019, and the mother is from my association colleague Constantin Stanciu “, said Cristian Brumușescu.

Tunduc family (Bihor), 3rd national place and 1st place World Best Pigeon Marathon category

If the marathon races in Moldova and Oltenia are spectacular in terms of the number of pigeons employed, those in the West are special due to the very high difficulty. The 2021 season was another example in this regard, but at the same time, it highlighted an extremely valuable pigeon: the hen RO-19-0028223, competed by the Tunduc Family. It ranks 3rd in the Marathon old birds category, with 0.54 percent, but it is the only pigeon in Romania that won two marathon stages last season. It was Nuremberg, a stage in which 8,409 pigeons were engaged, and in the National Stendal race, in which 2,369 pigeons participated, the hen competed by the Tunduc family obtained the first place on the launch. “Five years ago I started flying only hens and applied what I learned from the Kipp family many years ago and more recently from Horvath Karoly in Hungary and Willy Daniels in Belgium, and I fundamentally changed the way I approach competitions and the selection of pigeons. Since we started doing this, we obtained over 30 first places. Out of 13 marathons played from 2017 until now, we have 5 first places and, honestly, we are more attracted to the first place than to the norms themselves. We really preffer pigeons that are able to make a difference. We practice a very tough selection, starting with the youngsters. During the winter we carefully select our pigeons, this being the main reason why we compete with a small number of hens. Personally, I really like motivating hens. This has beneficial aspects, in the sense that you can win competitions, but at the same time, it is very risky, because not all pigeons resist mentally and the harder the races, the greater the chances of crashing. Otherwise, a dream moment for us, which I want every pigeon fancier in our country to live, because in the end these moments are the culmination of years of work with pigeons “, Marius Tunduc detailed.