1000 km
Balkan Charity Challenge
This is a cross-border endurance sport and charity event. It lasts for 11 days combining biking and running of near 100 km per day on average without interruption. However it is much more than that. It is a conceptual event with a mission to contribute to the holistic development of individuals and society. The event is non-competitive yet the time limit for completing the full daily course (160 km on average for the biking part and 60 km for the running part) is the daylight part of the day, which at this season of the year means 8.30 h. This requires good health status, endurance preparation, perseverance and goodwill.
The objectives of the event are the following:
- To promote amateur sport, particularly outdoor activity, as an available and proven alternative of a healthy life style.
- To develop charity culture trough sport and raise funds through the e-payment platform on the web site of the event 1000balkan.com for those in need structured in carefully selected and designed meaningful charity causes.
- To connect people in a positive way beyond boundaries.
- To develop environmental consciousness.
- To test the human body, mind and spirit. When we cross boundaries in one aspect of our life we are inevitably prepared to do it in other aspects too.
Time
11 days. The start is on 20th October (Sat) at 7.00 am in Bucharesti, Sector 1, Bd. Expozitiei No.1F (in front of the head office of UniCredit Bank, opposite to EXPO center) and the finish is in Bucharest on 30th October (Tue) at around 4.30 pm same place. The time to be spent in Romania is 4 days and in Bulgaria 7 days.
On 23rd October the group will arrive in Sofia city center at Bd Sveta Nedelya 7 in front of the head office of UniCredit Bulbank at around 3.30 pm.
Route
The course is beautiful combining flat road along Danube river and mountain slopes crossing the Balkan mountain. The total nominal distance is 1050 km, including 440 km in Romania and 610 km in Bulgaria, with 6200 m positive altitude difference. The routes from Bucharest to Sofia and from Sofia to Bucharest are different and coincide with the biking and running courses as follows:
1st part – 4 days biking of 640 km nominally in total (160 km a day), starting in Bucharest via Giurgiu and further on Romanian territory, crossing Danube River on the Calafat-Vidin bridge on the 3rd day, reaching Sofia at the end of Day 4.
2nd part – 7 days running 410 km in total (near 60 km a day) crossing the Danube river at Ruse – Giurgiu bridge on Day 10, reaching Bucharest at the end of Day 11.
Disciplines
Super human: full 1050km race in 11 days – up to 15 places
Ultra Bikeman: 640km in 4 days – up to 20 places
Ultra Runman: 410km in 7 days – up to 20 places
Bikeman / or Runman: single day registration – up to 10 places for all days, but the days before and/or after Bucharest and Sofia.
Bikeman / or Runman: single day registration for the days before and/or after Bucharest and Sofia – no limitation.
Fund raising
Each participant shall select one of the causes of the event before the start (all causes will be posted and presented on the official web site) and commit on a certain amount of funds to be raised, the minimum being EUR 150 or RON 750 or BGN 300. Each participant will have a profile page on the website through which he/she could run his/her campaign and raise funds.
Cooperation between the participant and the beneficiary NGO is strongly recommended.