While the vast majority of the participants of the Carpathian hike "wandered" at a fast or slower tourist pace, Anton Budai from Steel Shops ran along the ridge of the western part of the Carpathian Arc. Literally. He arrived at the finish line in the Čičky Area before the goulash for hikers had time to be cooked in the kitchen.

Even the organizers, who were still building the stage, were surprised by the early arrival of the runners. Anton Budai is said to have improved last year's best time by half an hour, he ran the 50 km route in 6 hours 11 minutes.

"I was on the Carpathian hike for the first time. I run marathons and I've heard about hiking, but the date is close to the Košice marathon. Two or three weeks before the marathon, it is good to save yourself a little, it is no longer an advantage to run such long distances. This time, however, I let myself be tempted by my colleagues from work. I tend to run trail runs during the year, but I haven't tried this route yet. I was pleasantly surprised, it is not too demanding, from "Kojšovka" we are just sailing down the bank."

We have already mentioned that hiking brings people together in yesterday's article. Thanks to similar events, Anton Budai has made a lot of friends.

"I went on a hike with my colleague, Albín Rešetár from Oceliarne I, who goes on hikes regularly and is a performance tourist. He is not a runner, but he maintains a fast pace. We started at 5:00 in the morning in Štós and a few ultra runners came, about ten of us ran. The two of us had the same pace and when we got to the front, we kept it all the way to Košice. We got to know each other during the run, helped each other, replenished water or salt tablets. Jozef is a more experienced runner than me, he also runs tracks over 100 km. In order to find the ideal running partner, it is important to have a similar pace. And this is what runners find out at such races. We "sat down", we ran side by side from the very beginning and we came to the finish line together, as the first."

The first place was not the intention, but it seems that the runners are motivated by:

"We didn't try to run the best time, we went at a pace that suited us and in the end it worked out nicely. We have already planned next year's hike together and maybe we will meet on a longer route in the meantime. But next year we will definitely try to achieve a slightly better time. There are reserves, at the beginning of the track we all took a wrong turn and ran an extra kilometer. On the way down from Kloptan, we were slowed down by a number of fallen trees."

Anton Budai says about running in nature:

"The beauty of running in the woods is that you can see more. Although the terrain requires increased attention, the surrounding nature makes running more enjoyable and time passes faster. I would like to thank you for allowing us to participate in the hike as employees. It was excellently organized, the weather and goulash were perfect. In my surroundings and at events, I observe that people are interested in doing something for themselves, even those who are just starting out with hiking or running are joining. It's great that the company has supported sports."

Photos : Anton Budai  and FB of the Carpathian Foundation