A high-altitude ultramarathon in Romania’s Bucegi Mountains turned into a major rescue operation this past weekend, after snow, ice and biting winds left more than a dozen runners stranded, injured or in need of evacuation during the Transylvania 100, according to a report by Canadian Running Magazine.
The regional mountain rescue service, Salvamont Brașov, reported 15 separate incidents on the 100-kilometer course alone, as cited in coverage by the Romanian outlet Informat.ro. Three of the cases were serious. All of the injured runners were eventually stabilized, the service said.
The race, held annually in central Romania, offers four distances: 30K, 50K, 80K and 100K. Running Magazine notes that runners tackling the longest distance climb roughly 6,444 metres of elevation, which is part of why the event has built a reputation as one of the toughest mountain races in Eastern Europe.
What happened on the course
Conditions deteriorated quickly. Running Magazine reported that snow piled up across exposed ridges, slopes turned to ice, and visibility dropped low enough that a rescue helicopter was initially grounded. One injured runner was eventually flown to a nearby city once conditions allowed a helicopter to fly.
In an update on its official channels, Salvamont Romania said eight runners were recovered from the trail, three were pulled from a ravine with various injuries, and four others refused medical evaluation and chose to keep running.
The most severe injuries were among the runners who fell into the ravine, according to Running Magazine’s reporting. One sustained multiple injuries. Another was reported to have hypothermia. A third was initially conscious but had suffered a pelvic fracture, a traumatic brain injury and a fracture to the right upper limb.
Sebastian Marinescu, vice-president of Salvamont Romania, told the Romanian television channel Digi24 that incidents were reported in 13 different locations on the course. He said 12 of those cases involved runners slipping on ice and falling tens or even hundreds of metres.
A bear was also spotted on one section of the route, Running Magazine reported. Officials said the animal was driven away without incident.
Rescuers say the race should have been postponed
In a public statement posted to its Facebook page, Salvamont Romania said mountain rescue teams from Brașov, Prahova and Dâmbovița counties were mobilized at maximum capacity, with both county-level services and local Salvamont units in the field. Rescuers worked through low temperatures, poor visibility, snow-covered terrain and a high risk of landslides in alpine sections.
According to the same statement from Salvamont Romania, rescuers had recommended postponing the event because of the weather. The race went ahead anyway, though, as Running Magazine reported, organizers added extra rescue personnel.
Salvamont Romania said the situation should prompt a wider review of how mountain competitions are organized in poor conditions.
“Mountain safety should never be treated as a secondary aspect,” the organization wrote in its Facebook statement.
The same post added that the capacity for rescue intervention is not unlimited, and that simultaneous incidents put extreme pressure on field teams. It called for stronger coordination between race organizers and rescue services, and said the recommendations of mountain rescuers should be treated with “maximum responsibility” regardless of the size of an event.
Runners raise their own concerns
Several competitors have spoken publicly about what they saw on course, including Costel Rotaru, a Romanian ultrarunner who Running Magazine notes holds his country’s national 24-hour record.
“Transylvania 100K left a bitter taste in my mouth,” Rotaru wrote on Instagram. He pointed to sections between Țigănești and Mălăiești, where he said runners in the 80K and 100K races were most exposed to danger.
“In such competitions, the safety of the participants should be the absolute priority, especially on the high-risk segments,” Rotaru wrote in the same post. “Ropes were needed in the dangerous sections.”
Rotaru also described hearing other competitors screaming for help from ravines and watching them slide down slopes, uncertain whether they would stop.
Anna Simone, a Scandinavian runner identified by Running Magazine as also being in the field, took a more measured view in her own Instagram post. She wrote that she pulled out of the race after reaching her third icy section.
“It’s easy to try to find someone to blame, but I think it’s really hard to decide whether something is too dangerous or not because the range of experience and confidence was so big,” Simone wrote. “I don’t know who I think is ‘responsible’ but I surely took responsibility for myself, and that’s the most important.”
According to Romanian reports, despite the incidents, the race continued, with no fatalities reported.
0 Comments