The most popular and beloved Marathon race this season was, by far, the Berlin National stage, organized on August 6 by the Bihor Columbophile Association. The race attracted huge interest from Romanian fanciers, so that, this year, 982 fanciers from 24 counties of the country lined up a number of 5,839 pigeons at the start. More precisely, fanciers from Alba, Arad, Bihor, Bistrița Năsăud, Botoșani, Brăila, Brașov, Caraș Severin, Cluj, Covasna, Dolj, Gorj, Harghita, Hunedoara, Iași, Maramureș, Mehedinți, Mureș, Sălaj, Satu Mare, Suceava, Timiș, Tulcea and Vâlcea participated in this competition, which in recent years has turned into a veritable final of the end of the championship with old birds.

If in the first article dedicated to this exceptional race we talked about the winners of the general ranking, as well as the performers from the counties of Arad and Bihor, this time we will present the winners of the counties of Caraş-Severin, Timiș, Mehedinți, Botoşani and, last but not least, Suceava , both in the pigeon category and in the fanciers category.

The twelfth edition of the National Berlin was auspicious for all participating pigeon fanciers, many registered pigeons managed to return from the competition and reach all areas of the country. In Caraş-Severin county, the team of Novac and Fiii, from the town of Oraviţa, imposes themselves and wins the ranking of the pigeon category through the yearling hen with the series 0468619-2021, which crossed the 1,108 aerial kilometers with an average speed of 1,074.72 m/minute, arriving in the loft the next morning at 06:53:46. This season, she also performed very well at the Schwerin Marathon stage, and after the Berlin National ranking, she is a contender for the county podium of the Extreme Yearlings Marathon category. She was competed using widowhood method, and her father is the son of a cock with Bernd Morsnowski blood from Pătru Ciurea and a hen from Emanuel Brojban, while her mother is a pigeon brought from Mihai Bogdan Lunca, coming from a cock with Marc Verschalde blood, mated with a Simion Man hen. Worthy of mention is the fact that, in this race, the Novac and Fiii team engaged only one bird, which managed to outclass all the county competition.

Ionel Buna, also from Oravița, a man with extensive experience as a pigeon fancier, climbs to the 2nd place in the county. He has been racing racing pigeons continuously for 45 years, since 1977. The pigeon family he owns today is based on the pigeons with which he took his first steps in pigeon racing sport, pigeons purchased in the 70s. His county runner-up from the Berlin National stage is the hen with the series 0135035-2020. She arrived at the kennel the next morning at 07:10:46, managing to fly the 1,106 air kilometers at an average speed of 1,056.00 m/minute. For this stage the pigeon was played on 8 day chicks.

On the third step of the county podium of the pigeon category, another Yearling hen, with the series 0469110-2021, belonging to the Ciorman Brothers team, was positioned. Practically, the entire podium of the Caraş-Severin county in the pigeon category was occupied only by hens and pigeon fans from the same locality, Oravița. The Ciorman Brothers’ bird arrived the next day, at 07:13:53, covering the entire distance of 1,099 air kilometers with an average speed of 1,045.39 m/minute. She was competed naturally, leaving for basketing also from an 8-day-old chick. Its origin is 50% Alin Karscu, 25% Firma Crîstici and 25% Ionel Murgu.

Cioata Ionel, from the same town, Oravița, is the champion of the Caraș-Severin county in the category of fanciers. For this race he basketed 9 pigeons and ranked 3 of them, his team proving to be the fastest. His first bird arrived is the hen with the series 0135491-2019, which ranked 11th in the county. It is not her first such feat this season, at the Marathon Schwerin stage she placed just as well, arriving 13th on the launch. After the Berlin National competition, he ends the norm in the Extreme Marathon and Extreme Marathon Palmares categories, in which it seems he will be in the county top. Her father is a cock brought from Gigi Chetrinescu, and her mother from Florin Hanciu. The second bird is a young pigeon and has the serial number 0485933-2021. She ranked 16th in the county after a race of 1,107 aerial kilometers, arriving the next day at 08:58:18. Its origin is a chicken received as a gift from Gigi Chetrinescu. The third member of the team is the cock 0139277-2020, who ranked 20th in the county, and is 100% of the pigeons bred in the Ionel Cioata aviary. For this flight, the breeder prepared his birds using the natural method, being basketed on eggs for 7 days.

The second county level of the fanciers category was occupied by Emanuel Brojban, from Comoriste. For this race he prepared a batch of 14 pigeons, managing to rank 5 of them. Hen 0135606-2020 is the first to arrive in the loft from this competition and ranked 7th in the county after a flight of 1,088 aerial kilometers. She is a daughter of the basic pigeons of the fancier that have Simion Man origins. The second one that arrived home is also a hen, with the series 0136037-2019, which took the 12th place in the county, and in the 2021 season she arrived first for the Berlin National stage. After this ranking, she also achieves a county top 10 norm in the Berlin National Palmares category. As origins she is a granddaughter of the same Emanuel base breeders. The number three pigeon from the team is the cock series 0136086-2019, which took the 31st place in the county, being a son of the basic breeder with a female with Emil Denys blood. In the 2021 season, from the same stage, he came second in the loft, after this season also achieving a Berlin National Palmares in the county top 10. The method by which they were played in this race was the natural one, starting on 6-7 day old chicks.
The same Ionel Buna won, in addition to the 2nd place in the county in the pigeon category, and the 3rd place in the county in the fanciers category, thus acquiring two very important trophies in the Berlin National race. The first to arrive in the loft is the county deputy champion, which I presented above, the hen with series 0135035-2020. The second pigeon from the team is the cock 0135027-2020, which took the 18th place in the county, and the third pigeon is a yearling cock, with the series 0468053-2021, which after traveling the 1,106 aerial kilometers of managed to occupy the 46th place in the county and thus propelled Ionel’s team to the county podium. These three pigeons are cousins, being the nephews of the cock 120037-2000, an extremely consistent pigeon, which in 2004 ranked including the Athens stage. In his racing career he proved to be a good racer, and after being retired to the breeding compartment he never disappointed expectations, breeding in turn very good long-distance flying pigeons.

Timiş Rankings

In Timiș county, a rare phenomenon occurred at a stage of such scope, where a single fancier, Florian Cabău, from the town of Lovrin, took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, thus occupying the entire county podium of the pigeon category. In addition, the three pigeons were also nominated to the team, bringing the pigeon fancier the 1st place in the fanciers category. The first runner to arrive in the county, and the 3rd place in the general ranking of this competition, was the cock series 0383288-2020, the 2nd place in the county and the 5th place in the entire launch was the hen 0341135-2017, and the third bird that arrived home after the race of 981 aerial kilometers is cock 0383154-2020, who also took 14th place in the competition. For this race, Florin Cabău trained and engaged a group of 50 pigeons and ranked 15 of them, the training method being widowhood.
The 2nd county place in the fanciers category goes to Dinu Curea, from Gătaia, who engaged a group of 20 pigeons and managed to rank 14 of them. For this competition, his birds had to fly a distance of 1,059 aerial kilometers. The three pigeons from the team are all hens, having the series 0524085-2021, 0524025-2021 and 0382518-2018. The three pigeons took the 4th, 10th and 16th places in the county and respectively the 25th, 34th and 47th places in the competition.

From the town of Sinmihaiul German, the fancier Sabin Cristea participated with 10 pigeons, 4 of them ranking the race. Following the rankings obtained, he took the 3rd county place in the fanciers category. The first pigeon to arrive in the loft is the yearling cock 545891-2021. He achieves a good ranking in the county, occupying the 12th place. The father of this yearling is a pigeon purchased from the Freialdenhofen Family, son of Mr. Barcelona. His mother is the daughter of 408383-2013, which took the 3rd Provincial place for Marathon ace category in 2017 and the 6th place National for E category 2018, being also semi-sister with 323774-2016, which obtained the 1st place Marthon ace Palmares 3 years Provincial 2020, the 1st place Ace Marathon Provincial 2020. The second traveler arrived is another cock, with serial number 102556-2019. At this stage he ranked 18th in the county. As origins, he is a half-brother by father with 309430-2011, 1st place County Marathon Ace 2014 and 309472-2011, who took 1st place in Extreme Marathon Palmares County 2015. And half-brother by mother with 375027-2018, 3rd place national Marathon Ace 2020 and 323731 -2016, 3rd place in the County Extreme Marathon 2018. The third is also a cock, has the series 384570-2020 and occupied the 42nd position in the county ranking, after this ranking he completed the norm in the Ace Extreme Marathon category. The cock is the son of 375049-2018, who obtained 11th place in the County Marathon Grand prix yearlings in the 2019 season and 13th place in the County Marathon Palmares in 2021. All of them were competed naturally, at the time of basketing on the stage being on eggs of 3-7 days, and at this stage they had an aerial distance of 1,016 kilometers to cover.

Mehedinţi rankings

The champion of Mehedinți county in the pigeon category was the male with the series 0755185-2021, which belongs to Cătălin Grigorie, from Cerneți. The young traveler traveled the 1,191 air kilometers with an average speed of 1,033.03 m/minute, reaching his destination the next morning, at 08:55:52. This season he ranked all the stages he was employed at, nine in number. Following these classifications, he completed standards in several categories, including the Youth Marathon, Ace Youth Marathon categories. His father is brought from Nicu Siclovan, a pigeon with Nouwen Paesen-Herman Brinkman blood, having good breeding pigeons as his grandparents, such as: Pokemon, Hera, Skywalker or 710. His mother is bred in the Grigorie breeder, being inbred with the female “Woodpecker” , from Kuijpers pigeons, a hen that also belonged to Nicu Siclovan. This wonderful cock was also nominated to the team by Cătălin.

The 2nd and 3rd place in the county in the category of pigeons, as well as the 1st place in the county in the category of fanciers, and they are attributed to the well-known Liviu Plăvițu, from Drobeta Turnu Severin, through the yearling cock series 2009974-2021, which developed in the air throughout the 1,190 air kilometers an average speed of 9.94.46 m/minute, arriving at the kennel the next day, at 09:39:13, and through the hen with the series 1006015-2020, which arrived home the next day, at 09:47:38, with an average speed of 987.51 m/min. These two pigeons were also nominated for the team. The third pigeon arrived at the champion team is cock 0577773-2020. He ranked 12th in the county, arriving on the second day of the competition, at 11:27:28. At this important flight, Liviu Plăvițu presented himself with a batch of 10 pigeons, ranking 6 of them.
The same Cătălin Grigorie, who won the county 1st place in the pigeon category, also claims the county vice-champion trophy of the Berlin National fanciers category. For this competition he basketed 7 travelers, 3 of his cocks managing to rank and take his team to the podium. The first to arrive is the young county champion, the yearling cock series 2009974-2021. The second arrival, the cock with the series 0306289-2019, climbed to the 6th place in the county. His father belongs to Cătălin’s brother and is a pigeon with Nouwen Paesen origins, bred in Costi Popescu’s loft, and his mother also has Nouwen Paesen origins, bred in Cătălin Grigorie loft, from Nicu Siclovan’s pigeons, having grandparents “Ciocănitorea” and “Skywalker”. In the 2021 season, this cock completed the norm in the Old birds Marathon category.

The number three pigeon from the team is also a young cock, with the series 0755121-2021, which occupied the 47th place in the county, and as origins is a cousin of the cock that arrived first in the county, the mothers being sisters after the father. After this season, he also completes the norm in the Ace Marathon Yearling category. Both his parents have Nouwen Paesen blood, brought from the same Nicu Siclovan.
On the third step of the Mehedinți county podium in the fanciers category, Cosmin Frățilescu, from Strehaia town, is climbing, thanks to the three pigeons from the team. The hen with the series 0588065-2020 was the first bird to arrive at the loft, after a race of 1,215 aerial kilometers. She was bred from a ock with Oswald Schneider origins and a hen from Nicu Siclovan, from the Brinkman+ Maternne lines. The second pigeon from the team was also a hen, with the series 0588116-2020, which ranked 16th in the county. The origin is a combination of Bennie Homma and Gebr pigeons Hagens. The third runner arrived is the cock with the series 0588044-2020, who took the 34th county place and is 100% Sam de Jong. For this race of major interest, Cosmin Frățilescu engaged a group of nine pigeons, of which six adults and three yearlings, and four of them managed to rank it. The method by which they were prepared for the Berlin National was the natural one, leaving for basketing on 7-day eggs.

Botoşani rankings

From the North-Eastern part of the country, as we are used to year after year, the pigeon fans from Botoșani and Suceava counties engaged a significant number of pigeons in this beloved Extreme Marathon flight. The champion of the Botoșani county in the pigeon category is the hen with the series 0473966-2020, which belongs to Gabriel Elcu, from Mihai Eminescu. After a race of 1,176 aerial kilometers, which she covered at an average speed of 1,162.97 m/minute, arriving home the next morning at 06:34:08, she managed to beat the 690 pigeons engaged by the 75 pigeon fanciers in his county. This season, the pigeon was competed in 10 stages, including 4 Marathon stages. For the Berlin National she was flown natural, on a position of one week eggs.

The 2nd county place in the pigeon category is occupied by Constantin Crăcană, from Hârlău. The pigeon that brought him this trophy is the old hen, with the series 0151150-2019. She had to travel home an air distance of 1,219 air kilometers and arrived at her destination the next day, at 09:10:03, developing an average speed of 1,044.53 m/minute in flight. At the age of one year she completed the norm in the Marathon Yearlings category, at 2 years the norm in the Palmares Marathon and Maraton Ace, and this season she achieves a good score in the Old birds Marathon norm, thus also achieving the norm in the 3-year-old Marathon Palmares category. The pigeon is a paternal sister to the 2nd place national Marathon Old birds 2016. As a bloodline, it comes from Kipp & Sohne pigeons and was competed naturally on eggs for 4-5 days.

Dorin Cucu, from Botoșani, occupies the third step of the county podium in the pigeon category. The cock that brought him this beautiful award has the series 3029768-2017. He arrived home the next day at 09:59:49, flying the 1,183 aerial kilometers at an average speed of 972.08 m/min, also being one of the nominated birds for the team. Throughout his sports career, he fulfilled the norm in at least one of the Marathon categories every year. As origins it is a combination of the lines of Jan Polder and Jac Steketee. For this race, he started from eggs for 10 days, being prepared by the natural method.
Viorel Raiu, from the town of Hlipiceni, won the Botoșani county rankings of the fanciers category. For the Berlin National he prepared and basketed 14 pigeons, 5 of them ranked the race, and the first 3 arrivals were birds from the team. The cock with the series 5051730-2018 was his fastest pigeon, which after the race of 1,223 aerial kilometers ranked 6th in the county. The second runner was a hen with the serial number 0431711-2019. In the county ranking, it occupied the 9th position, and the hen 3025213-2017 is the third to arrive in the loft, managing to occupy the 27th place in the county.
The 2nd county place in the fanciers category goes to the pigeons from the Purice Family team, from the town of Cătămărești-Deal. The first of them was the hen 5051126-2018, the second the cock 3022613-2017, and the third also a hen series 3022626-2017. The three birds had to fly 1,176 aerial kilometers during the Berlin National stage, and in the end they took the 10th, 12th and 22nd places at the county level.
Dorin Cucu also climbs the county podium, this time in third position in the fanciers category. His fastest pigeon from the team was the cock 3029768-2017, which also took the 3rd place in the pigeon category, mentioned above. The second bird, a hen with the series 0076635-2016, took the 26th place in the county. She is drawn from pigeons by Jan Polder, and at the stage she flew naturally from chickens position. The third pigeon to arrive in Dorin’s loft is the hen 0472149-2020, which ranks 34th in the county. It is a combination between the pigeons of Jan Polder and Chris van der Velden, and at basketing it left from the egg position of 8-9 days.

Suceava Rankings

In the neighboring county, Suceava, 157 pigeon fanciers basketed a number of 1,083 pigeons for the Berlin National stage. The one who managed to surpass them all was the cock 0798812-2020, who belongs to the team Ursu Cornel and David, from Măneuți. This powerful pigeon arrived in the loft the next day, at 08:06:22, managing to develop an average speed of 1,022.49 m/minute, over the distance of 1,128 aerial kilometers he had to cover. This season he also participated and ranked two other Marathon stages, namely the Code stage and the National Madonna. For the Berlin National he was prepared by the natural method, being basketed on a position of young birds of 8-10 days. As origin he comes from a Kees Droog cock, and his mother is reproduced through a joint mating with Ionuț Ghenț.

Costi and Bicu, from Pârteștii de Jos, take the 2nd place in the county through the hen series 0300040-2020, which arrived at the loft the next day, at 12:07:58. Throughout this race of 1,144 air kilometers she developed an average speed of 850.42 m/minute, being competed in widowhood. As origin it is reproduced in their own loft, the father being a combination of 50% Ionuț Drăgușin (Kitta line) and 50% Florin Vartolomei. The mother of the hen has as father an original cock Daniel Magirescu (son of 148 + 005 ), and her mother is the best fancier in the loft – “Urâta”, original Sorin Iftime (100% Verweij de Haan). “Urâta” is the mother and grandmother of most of the pigeons from the Costi si Bicu fancier. Another son from this couple, (son of 148 + 005) and “Urâta”, is also the cock series 111138-2019, who this season was their best cock in the Ace Marathon Extremely Mature category. At the Madona National stage, he got the 39th place out of 14,484 pigeons, in which he had a distance of 1,064 aerial kilometers.

Walter Costiuc, from the town of Siret, is in third place in the county ranking of the pigeon category. The bird that brought him this place on the podium is the hen series 0890054-2019. She managed to arrive at the loft the next day at 12:04:53 and cover the 1,128 air kilometers home at an average speed of 841.06 m/min, competing as a widow. In the 2020 season he was in the breeding loft, and in 2021 he completed the norm in the Marathon category. This year, after a flight of 560 kilometers, she was injured, but she managed to recover in time to be able to achieve such a good result at a stage of such scope. Her father is from Gheorghe Struț, from Roger Florizoone’s pigeons, and the mother was brought from Sorin Iftimie’s aviary, having Ko van Dommelen blood.

The county champions in the fanciers category are the team of Nistor Cristi and Doru, from Horodnic De Jos. They participated in this flight with 13 birds, managing to rank 3 of them. The first pigeon from the team is the cock 0650550-2016, which took the 6th place in the county. In his career he finished 14 Marathon stages, including three Tartu stages, four Madona stages, one Birzai stage, one Berlin stage, four more 830 kilometer stages and one 930 kilometer stage. His sire is a Chris Hebberecht pigeon and his dam was 1st Palmares County Long Distance 3 years and 2nd Palmares County Marathon. The second pigeon arrived in the loft is cock 0298118-2017. He ranked 8th in the county, and in his career he ranked 8 Marathon races. His father is a combination of the Verweij-De Haan pigeons with Frank Zwiers, and the mother is the original Sjaak Buwalda. On the 20th county place, the third pigeon from the team arrives, the cock with the series 4023073-2018, he is a half-brother of the father of the pigeon that arrived second in the loft. He is sired by the same cock 50% Verweij-De Haan + 50% Frank Zwiers and his dam is the original First Prize Pigeons, inbred on “De Brive”. The aerial distance that the birds of the Nistor Cristi and Doru team had to cover at this stage was 1,124 aerial kilometers, the flight method was natural, they started from 7-day-old chicks.

The 2nd place of Suceava county in the fanciers category is occupied by another successful team, Bejenariu and Borhan, from Verești locality. Their 11 birds entered at this edition of the Berlin National competed as widows, and three of them also placed. The air distance they had to travel home was 1,178 air kilometers. The first arrival from the team, the cock 4003249-2018, took the 5th county place and is a combination of 50% Daniel Cobzaru + 50% Călin Ususan. The second pigeon, hen 0567358-2018, placed 25th in the county. The origin is 50% Daniel Cobzaru + 50% Gheorghe Struț. The third bird is also a cock, with the series 0567377-2018, which occupied the 33rd place in the county, and its origin is a 100% Daniel Cobzaru pigeon. This batch of travelers was prepared for Berlin National by the widow’s method.

Cristian Gagea, from the town of Scheia, climbs to the third county step of the fanciers category. He hired 10 pigeons for this competition, all old birds with experience, 3 of them managed to rank, bringing another nice trophy to the owner. The birds had to fly home a distance of 1,159 air kilometers, and the first three team arrivals took the 19th, 46th and 60th places at the county level. The first runner-up, cock 0190052-2019, and the second runner-up, hen series 0220045-2020, are maternal half-siblings to the Jan Aarden blooded hen, series 250038-2016, named “Judas”. The third ranked cock is the series 0800042-2019, whose father is a son from “Super 61”, while his mother is the main breeder of the kennel, the loft series 889630-2013, original Cătălin Bocăneț. This cock returned to the loft with several feathers missing from one wing, having been caught en route by raptors. For this Extreme Marathon race, Berlin National, Cristian prepared his pigeons using the natural method, they being basketed on eggs for 6-7 days.