The most spectacular of the categories that are achieved with marathon stages is the Ace Marathon. The beauty of the category is given by its difficulty, because it is well-known that until last year inclusive, the pigeons competing for the Ace Marathon did not have the “right” to any failure in terms of rankings. Although it is not at all easy to fulfill, in the last seasons we could notice that the pigeons, especially the old birds, do very well in this category, the norms achieved at national level being of the order of thousands. The same happened in the 2021 season, about whose performers we will detail in today’s material, a competitive year in which almost all the 5,000 places of the national catalog were occupied.

As usual, it is a marathon category where we find pigeon fanciers from Moldova on the national podium. For the Marathon ace old birds category, both first and third place are occupied by pigeon fanciers from this province. Between the two, on the position of vice-champion, is Iulian Duică from Bucharest, a pigeon fancier who we see changing the distance categories with great success.

Cristescu (Neamt) family and cock RO-19-0410479, champions of the 2021 season with 5.34 points

The new champion of the this category is the cock RO-19-0410479, competed by the Cristescu Family, from the Neamț Pigeon Association. He was engaged in both national races of the province of Moldova, to which is added the Kelme stage, and only 0,6 penalty points made him not occupy a place on the podium and in the category of Marathon Grand Prix Old birds. However, he fully demonstrated his value through the national title won at the Ace Marathon, especially since all three stages were over a thousand km. The three rankings of the champion are the following: the place 1 / 13,034 pigeons (1,123 km), the place 9 / 2,739 pigeons (1,024 km) and the place 28 / 14,184 pigeons (1005 km). Although this is the first national trophy, Olivian Cristescu, the pigeon fancier behind this result, is one of the best fanciers in Neamț County and even in the province of Moldova. At the county level, he is a multiple champion, especially when it comes to the record, results to which are added provincial trophies and important rankings in various competitions. “I have been competing since 2007 and I am only interested in the marathon stages. I keep nine pairs in the breeding loft, from which I take out 30 young birds, and in the flight group I have a little over 30 pigeons. The method of flight is usually widowhood, with the pigeons separated when the young birds are 14 days old, but last year I played the last two stages of the marathon using the natural method. At these two stages where he competed naturally, the cock first had eggs, and then I laid a 10-day-old chick. The food used was Fitnees, from Mifuma, for the beginning of the week, and Vanrobaeys for preparation. I also used Brockamp supplements and put a lot of emphasis on training. The pigeons were taken very often to 100 km training sessions, if possible, and twice a day. Although I have a small batch of pigeons, I compete hard. This cock is reproduced from a hen that was the county champion in the Marathon ace 3 years Palmares, and the father is reproduced from pigeons with Aarden origins, but still selected in competitions “, Olivian Cristescu detailed.

Iulian Duică (Bucuresti), on the national podium also for the As Marathon category

Slowly but surely, the Bucharest Pigeon Association is getting better and better results at the Marathon, even if we know that here, every year, many of the national trophies are won in the short stage categories. In 2021, Iulian Duică, a very good competitor in the Speed and Middle distance stages and a prolific player on the one race lofts, obtained an excellent result. Even though he was successful in the mentioned categories, being also the national champion at Middle distance, Iulian Duică started to breed pigeons for marathon stages a few years ago. Last season came the first national cup won in the new category, thanks to the cock RO-18-0016894. He obtained a coefficient of 9 penalty points, his rankings being as follows: place 5 / 5,144 pigeons (1,000 km), place 5 / 3,478 pigeons (860 km) and place 46 / 6,976 pigeons (1,001 km). In addition to the above, we provide you with the interview made by our publication in Iulian Duică’s kennel, in which the national vice-champion is also presented, a report that you can find by accessing the address https://racingpigeons.ro/2021/08/13/ bucharest-iulian-duica-un-campion-polivalent.

Aparaschivei brothers, from Suceava, three times on the national podium with the same pigeon

One of the best marathon pigeons that competed in the 2021 season is the hen RO-17-2090009, which belongs to the Aparaschivei brothers from Fălticeni, Suceava County. It ranks 3rd National in the category Marathon ace old birds 2021, 3rd place National category E-Marathon Palmares 2021 and, 1st national place Marathon Ace Palmares 2021. It is for the second consecutive year when Suceava gives the national champion of the category Marathon Ace Palmares, which means that we can say without mistake that, at least in these two years, it is the county that gave the exact time for this category. As for the hen of Aparaschivei brothers, this is the kind of pigeon you rarely meet in your pigeon fancier career and which can influence your entire pigeon fancier activity. She was engaged last season at the Madonna National stage (1,094 km), where she placed 5th out of 10,625 pigeons, Tartu (1,209 km), where she ranked 3rd out of 1,174 pigeons, and Kelme (976 km), where she ranked 85th out of 13,188 pigeons. In total, she was penalized with 9.48 points. We also provide you with a video interview with these fanciers, which you can find by accessing the link https://racingpigeons.ro/2021/11/16/fratii-aparaschivei-tandemul-sucevean-cu-pasiune- for the marathon.
In the end, we remind you that the 2021 season was the last in which the norm of the Marathon Ace Old birds category was achieved with three rankings. Starting with 2022, the same norm will be achieved by ranking four races.