As many as 200 persons will be running from the northern to the southern Moldova, including through the eastern districts of the country, within the marathon Rubicon that starts in Soroca town at 12 noon on February 10. The organizers decided to divide the race into three stages, by the number of colors on the national flag. By one stage will be covered each year, IPN reports.
In a press release, the organizers said the distance of the race this year is of 463 kilometers and this is expected to last for about 46 hours. The route of Rubicon covers 14 districts. Each district will be crossed in several stages, of 6-13 km each. There will be 43 such stages. It will be most difficult to run in Soroca district, owing to the complicated relief and the big altitude difference, and in Grigoriopol district, which represents the longest stage of the race, of 18.4 km.
The idea of Rubicon is to run in extreme meteorological conditions. The time of the race was chosen based on Moldovan weather forecasts for the last few years. These show that the period between February 10 and 15 is the most severe and includes heavy snowfalls and varied temperatures. Rubicon is not a speed, but a resistance race. The participants will run 6.3 min/km. The rules provide that the pace must be neither increased, nor decreased.
An experienced pacemaker runs in front of the column, with the flags of the district and the country, keeping the running speed for all the participants. The district flags are changed on the borders of each new district. The pacemaker is replaced at each stage and this passes on the flags.
The participants will get awards for covering the stages. Those who will run at least one stage, from the start to the finish, and their time will be recorded by the organizers will receive by an emblem of the district. One of the goals of the participants is to collect the emblems of all the districts included in the Rubicon race and then of all Moldova’s districts during three years.
This year winners will be chosen in two nominations: “Longest distance covered” and “Largest number of collected emblems”. Each participant will have to carry with them water and bread purchased by themselves.
