Frații Aparaschivei

The marathon, known as the “Queen” category of pigeon racing, is the most beloved of long distance races. This season, the 1st national Yearlings Marathon place is won by the Aparaschivei Brothers, Lucian and Ionel, from Fălticeni, Suceava county, by the cock with the series 0600645-2021, who, in the two stages of the Marathon, covered 1,704 aerial kilometers, managing to achieve a very good score of only 0.53 penalty points. “I named this season’s national champion of the Yearlings Marathon category “Schumy”. At the Jonava stage, dated 11.06.2022, with a distance of 851 kilometers, he ranked 25th out of 21,702 participating pigeons, then, at the Seta Provincial stage, where he had to fly 862 kilometers, he took 4th place on overall ranking, out of 9,274 pigeons, and 2nd place, zone 1, out of 4,947 pigeons, thus setting a record score for a yearling, in the Marathon category, of 0.53 points. His father is 100% Cor de Heijde, and his mother was bought from Constantin State, from Târgu Neamț, being the daughter of the national vice-champion in the Marathon ace Old birds category 2019. “Schumy” was competed using the natural method, like all our flight group, and at the Marathon stages we tried to offer him the ideal nesting position for him. We started the season with a batch of 55 pigeons, 20 old birds and 35 yearlings. It was a tough season, with a lot of competition, with many top national fanciers among our opponents. But in the end, this talented male brought us great satisfaction. By winning this trophy, we become, for the second year in a row, national champions in the Marathon categories. This after 2021, when we obtainedNational 1st place Maraton Ace Palmares with the hen series 2090009-2017, named «Sorina». These trophies bring us immense joy, as they are the fruit of our work in pigeon fanciing”, Lucian Aparaschivei told us.

Marian Țăpârdea

The national runner-up of the Marathon Yearlings category registered 1.42 penalty points in the 1,689 ranked kilometers. It is about the male with the series 0524891-2021, which belongs to the Țăpârdea Family, from the town of Giulvaz, Timiș County, a team formed by Marian Țapârdea and his wife Emanuela. The fancier from Banat admitted that he did not expect such a performance. “This trophy is something I never dreamed of. Honestly, I did not expect to have such a good pigeon in the flying team. I had an extraordinary experience, which motivated me a lot. Both I and my wife deal with pigeons. This is the second year that we participate in racing pigeon competitions. Our champion, the cock with the series 0524891-2021, is reproduced in our breeding loft, from two pigeons received as a gift from Oliviu Râmneantu. The father is a combination of pigeons from Jan Aarden and birds from Marcel Cadariu, and the mother is derived from parents with standards in the Marathon Ace and Maraton Palmares categories. In the first stage of the Dresden Marathon, the cockwas competed using widowhood method, where he obtained the 3rd place out of 9,555 pigeons, and in the third stage of the Dresden Marathon, he was played natural, in a nest position with eggs. At this stage, he ranked 3rd out of 2,570 pigeons. As a rookie, I started the season a bit disappointed, but slowly I recovered. My flight lot at the beginning of this season consisted of 43 birds”, said Marian, who is active in the Timiș Racing Pigeons Association, Deta club.

Irinel Popa

On the last position of the national podium of the category climbs a cock, with the series 0221302-2021, which belongs to Irinel Popa, from Bârsănești, Bacău county, who completed the norm with 2.04 points and 1,976 ranked kilometers. “The cock is bred from two pigeons purchased by me from the Brussels Olympics in 2017. The father of the champion has the series 1535814-15 NL, and in his pedigree there are birds from the Aarden – van Roy – Cattrysse lines. His mother, the hen with the series 1525759-15 NL, has pigeons from Owervater – Batenburg and Jan Ernest. These pigeons proved to be very good breeders in my loft, both in sons and grandsons. They are also the parents of the hen with the series 232913-2018, who took 17th place in the national Marathon Yearlings in the 2019 season, and the grandparents of the cock with the series 699285-2019, who took 9th place in the province of Moldova in the Star Marathon category, in 2020. The flight method I used to compete was natural. At the Provincial Seta stage, the cock 0221302-2021 took 2nd place out of 2,056 participating pigeons, a race in which he had to fly 982 kilometers, and at the Kaunas National Marathon he left on a 10-day-old chick and placed 16th out of 15,000 pigeons, having a distance of 993 air kilometers to cover. We started the season with a number of 125 pigeons, half of them being birds for the Long Distance category, and the other half for the Marathon category. I like to play both the Distance and Marathon stages. I can say that I am very happy for the results obtained this season and I hope that they will be repeated next year”, stated Irinel Popa.

«Dream205», the best of the old birds

Viorel Spătaru

The Old birds Marathon category is won by the hen with the series 0744205-2020, named «Dream 205», belonging to the fancier Viorel Spătaru, from Râmnicu Sărat, Buzău county, who obtained a score of 3.06 points after the two stages of the Marathon, ranking 1,700 kilometers. Moreover, the hen also “claims” the title of national vice-champion in the Marathon Palmares category. “Like all the great fanciers, who started pigeons from a young age, I have been breeding pigeons since the age of 10, but as I grew older, I had to, for certain periods of time, give up this passion. But, once “infected” with this passion, you can never give it up for good. So in 2004 I created my own breeding and started buying pigeons from national champion pigeon fanciers such as Dr. Adrian Crăciunescu, Emil Simion, Adi & Nicolaescu, Bogdan Ciobanu, Team Catrinescu and from the Măgirescu-Ojog-Dorneanu team, pigeons whose products have brought me very good results, culminating in 2022 with the title of national champion of the Marathon Old birds category. The father of the hen «Dream205» is original Team Catrinescu, Arie Dijkstra line, grandson of the famous «Big Boom», world-class fancier, and the mother of the hen is original Măgirescu-Ojog-Dorneanu, being the granddaughter of the famous «04» and «05». The pigeon racing method is the classic widowhood. Since 2019, I have started collaborating with my friend Marian Pavel, with whom I have started improving pigeon fanciers, creating common pairs, purchasing Marathon pigeons and pigeon fanciers, each coming with his own ideas, ideas that we analyze together and seek to take the best decisions regarding the preparation of the flight group”, concluded Viorel Spătaru.

Eduard Braia Sr și Edward Braia Jr.

The fancier Edward Braia, from Mărășești, Vrancea county, climbs to the 2nd national place, thanks to the cock with the series 2003866-2020, who managed to accumulate, in the two stages of the Marathon, 3.32 penalty points and classify 1,610 kilometers. “The cock is bred by me from two good fliers from my loft. The father of the national runner-up is a good flyer, ranking in the five competitive years 22 Long Distance and Marathon stages. The sire of the national runner-up is a litter brother to my best flyer, more precisely a brother to 030007-2016, who won 1st place in the competition at the Terespol stage in 2017, a very tough stage with heat and headwind. That year, 2017, he achieved 6th national place in the FCI Marathon Yearlings category. The father of the two brothers, 030008-2016 (sire of the vice-champion) and 030007-2016 (6th place national FCI Yearlings Marathon), is a combination of the vice-champion in the Long Distance from 2010 of Mr. Dan Farauanu, paired with a daughter of the famous «Invincible Dirk», of Mr. Florin Spoială, and their mother is the runner-up of the Marathon Palmares vice-champion of Mr. Vicentiu Scripcaru. The mother of the runner-up 2003866-2020 is a young hen with notable arrivals in my breeding loft, she being bred from a daughter of the famous flying sire with the series 794038-2012, of Mr. Florin Petrache, paired with one of the best breeders in my loft, cock 2244896-2010, original Marian Iorgu. The cock has been raced in the widowhood and this season has been engaged in one Long Distance stage and three Marathon stages. Out of 4 rankings, he came first on the loft three times. The season went very well for me, managing to reach the national podium in the Marathon Old birds category, as well as 1st place in the County Extreme Fancier category and 1st place in the County Extreme Palmares Marathon”, explained Edward Braia.

Florentin Berbecel

Florentin Berbecel, from the town of Cerneți, Mehedinți county, wins the “bronze medal” of the Marathon Old birds category thanks to the cock with the series 0570790-2020. This ambitious pigeon achieved the norm with 1,465 classified kilometers and a score of 3.78 penalty points. “This season our flight plan has been changed 180 degrees. That is, from Ukraine we moved in stages to the West, a very tough route, but not invincible. The father of 0570790-2020 is a cock, a gift from my godfather and his mother is a pigeon bred in my loft. We started the season with 20 old birds and finished the stages with 4 of them. This year’s season started with three Speed stages, two of them were held in the country and one in Hungary. After the three speed stages, I was convinced that I wanted it all or nothing. This great pigeon proved to me that it is possible and arrived from the first stage of the Trebic Marathon in 6th place in the county, and in the second stage of the National Marathon it was the first announced pigeon for 30 minutes, but in the end it ranked at number 2 on release.
This pigeon, after the two stages of the Marathon, managed to get the 1st place in the Marathon Old birds in Oltenia Province and the 3rd place in the national ranking of this category. I prepared the birds for the stages using the natural method. For the first Marathon, I only had a week of preparation at my disposal, during which I only managed to do two short training sessions, in the heart of the mountains, from a short distance of 17 kilometers from home. Seeing his good finish in the first Marathon I relied on his smarts and strength, trusting that he would be able to successfully cross the mountain. So, during the two weeks of training, he followed an army-like schedule, with training in the morning and in the evening, the pigeons being carefully monitored for the times they took off each time. This training consisted of individual training. It was work that finally paid off. The season was unparalleled due to the route we competed on and due to the fact that at the national level a very large number of pigeons competed. For us, the season starts in winter and ends in winter. This trophy, much coveted by many fanciers, is welcomed and worked with great style and great pleasure. The credit for this trophy belongs to the pigeon and I’m glad that it entered the arena of champions, after a fiery season”, Florian Berbecel told us.

The Fanciers’ “gold” goes to Arad

Nicu Siclovan

In the Fanciers Marathon category, this season the famous pigeon fancier Nicu Siclovan, from the town of Curtici, Arad county, won with a score of 99.83 points. “I have been participating in racing pigeon flights since 1991, and from 2006 until now I have focused only on the Marathon category. In 2006 we brought the first Marathon pigeons from Belgium, from fanciers Nouwen Paesen, Emil Materne, and in 2008 we brought pigeons from Anton x Lucy Van der Wegen, Gebr. Kuijpers, Wijnands and Brickman. Of the six families listed above, the pigeons of Nouwen Paesen, Gebr have given me the greatest satisfaction. Kuijpers and Van der Wegen. At the time I purchased these birds, I decided that, in the next ten years, I would not bring any more birds to the loft and start building a family of pigeons for the Marathon races. Currently, the pigeons I compete with bear the imprint of my vision of the modern Marathon pigeon. It has been 15 years since I selected and formed this family of pigeons. The pigeons that helped me to get the results in the Marathon category, this season, come from Nouwen Paesen pigeons combined with Gebr pigeons. Kuijpers and de Wegen Anton x Lucy. The flying method I use to prepare the flight lot is natural. In my opinion, widowhood is a system that you have to respect, but competing naturally is an “art”, especially in creating the necessary motivation for the pigeon to arrive at the loft in the shortest possible time. At the beginning of the 2010s, we were competing with a large number of pigeons, about 150. During the years of selection, I started to reduce the number of birds, going for the quality option and not the quantity. In 2021 I started with 91 birds and at the end of the season I was left with 43 birds. In 2022 I started the season with 84 birds and finished the stages with 38 birds. For the year 2023 I will have a number of 95 birds. The 2022 season was an easier season than the 2021 season.

We had three stages where the birds performed very well. At the Dresden Marathon stage 1 we engaged 36 birds, placed 26 and got 4th place in the team. Marathon Dresden 2 I engaged 26 birds, ranked 18 and got 1st place at Fanceirs category. At Marathon Dresden 3, we had 13 birds engaged, they placed 8 and we finished 8th at Fanciers. And at the National Berlin Marathon we engaged 20 birds, placed 18 and got the 7th place Fanciers category. If in 2021 I achieved the 1st place Berlin National, out of 600 fanciers, this year I really wanted to be in the first 3 places out of the 1,000 participating fanciers, but I only managed the 7th place Fancier category. I consider the Fanciers Marathon category a very difficult one, where there are three things that depend on each other: pigeons, breeder and loft. And the fact that I managed to get on the national podium in 2022, to be the 1st national place in the Marathon Palmares category, and to be the 3rd national place in Palmares Crescători 3 years old, gives me great hopes for the future. Behind these results are the work, patience and passion for these wonderful birds, the homing pigeons”, Nicu Siclovan told us. The fancier from Arad said that the birds that contributed the most to the team’s results are:

1. Hen with series 086450-2020 – 100% Nouwen Paesen (10 stages engaged, 10 placed, 4 marathons placed; 1st place Marathon county Arad; 2nd place Marathon provincial; 7th place National Marathon). The hen 086450-2020 is a maternal sister to the cock 043099-2018, who in 2021 had 11 stages engaged, 11 ranked and achieved the 1st place in the Arad county Marathon, the 4th place in the provincial Marathon and the 41st place in the national Marathon.
2. The cock with the series 086318-2020 – 50% Nouwen Paesen, 50% Kuijpers/Nouwen Paesen (8 ranked stages, of which 3 Marathon stages; 2nd place Marathon Ace Arad County; 3rd place Marathon Arad County; 10th place Provincial Marathon. The pigeon’s father is a good brother to the cock 0978761-2013, who in 2017 took the 3rd place in the national Maraton Palmares.
3. Hen 086328-2020 – 50% Nouwen Paesen, 50% Kuijpers (9 ranked stages, including 4 Marathon stages)

Marius Iordache

On the second step of the podium we find Aurelia Iordache, next to her husband Marius. The two spouses operate from the town of Gherăseni, Buzău county, and obtain the “silver” of the category with a total of 111.21 penalty points. “This season we had four favorite pigeons in the team, birds that carried the weight in all stages of the Marathon, they finished the rules in the Marathon and Marathon Ace categories with very good scores. They are the hen with the serial 0742035-2020 and the cocks with the serials 0742022-2020, 188770-2017 and 0742515-2020. These pigeons are based on Jelema, Aarden, Stichelbaut and Van der Wegen birds. The flight method was the natural one, at each stage of the Marathon having a good nest position. We started the season with 50 pigeons, ending the competition with 33. This year was a good one for us, in which none of the favorites were lost. We are very happy for obtaining 2nd place in the national Marathon Fanciers, which gives us the confidence that, in the future, we will have good results”, said Marius Iordache.

The 3rd national place in the Fanciers Marathon category is occupied by Ciprian Muraru, from the town of Piatra Neamț, Neamț county. He managed to take this place with 118.19 penalty points. “The three pigeons that were part of the teams of the three marathons are 0529039-2020, who also obtained the 4th place in the National Marathon Old birds, the 1st place in the Province of Moldova, the Marathon Old birds and the 1st place in Kaunas National, County level; 201857-2021, who is also the first yearling to arrive in the county since the Kaunas National stage; and 0529035-2020, who is also the sister of the seventh place Marathon Grand Prix national in 2019. These are domestic pigeons, from top fanciers in the country, with formidable results in recent years.

Ciprian Muraru

I am only passionate about Marathon flights and I would like to mention that I have never purchased any long distance pigeons, for me long distance flights are training. As a playing method, I practice the natural method. I don’t train the pigeons near the house in any way, I don’t stress them, but I teach them to be as gentle as possible and attached to the loft and the fancier. I believe that with how capricious the weather has become in recent years and the climate changes in the years to come, the natural method will be the most balanced and performing method of the game for long distances. The most important things in this uplifting sport, apart from the elementary things – loft, breed, food, physical condition – I think it is the self-control of the fancier, the observation beyond appearances by devoting as much time as possible and the rigorous discipline of the program. I think a pitfall in this sport is the treatment with too many incorrectly administered antibiotics during the season and off-season and the administration of treatments that treat three or four bacteria at once, without consulting the doctor”, revealed Ciprian Muraru, who works at AC Neamț.
It should also be mentioned that, due to the service, the Moldovan fancier was forced to change the location of the pigeons three times from 2010 to 2020. L-shaped, to observe the air currents and the body that form the most suitable environment for performance. After four seasons and the season of 2021, in which I flew the pigeons for one year, only in the Long Distance stages, I made the decision to completely destroy the A position and to orientate it in the same position as the B position, where the pigeons did not get sick and they kept their shape.
The decision I made under the influence of careful observation for a year was a correct one. The proof is the 2022 season, in which we achieved this special ranking on the national podium in the Fancier Marathon category”, concluded Ciprian Muraru.