In “Strīķupe Stirnu buka” several thousand runners took to the starting line in different distances.
Latvian Championship
Participants of the longest distance “Vilks” fought for medals of the Latvian championship in ultra-long trail races. The 72-kilometer distance, which started in Līgatne and finished in Raiskuma parish, was completed fastest by Artūrs Vadzis from Drustenia (“Pulsometrs.lv”/ “Osveikals.lv”/ “Trailvienė”), spending five hours and 48.01 minutes on the way. This is the second victory for Artūrs in the Latvian championship in ultra-long distances, he was also the fastest in 2020. The championship in ultra-long distances is held for the sixth year, in addition to two victories, he has one second place, one third place, as well as fifth and sixth place.
This time he overtook Andris Ronimois (“Inov8″/ “Osveikals.lv”/ “Rieksti”) by two minutes and 24 seconds, but the third place winner Artūrs Pauliņš (“Scott Running Latvia”) was more than 12 minutes behind the winner. It can also be mentioned that in the 18th place in the absolute rating is Kaspars Krēvics (“Noskrien Cēsis”), who is 15th in his VL1 group. In total, 159 runners finished this distance, and the last ones spent more than 13 hours on the distance.
Artūrs Vadzis admitted to “Druva” that they had to fight for the victory, but it was still a little easier than in 2020, when the second place winner was only one and a half minutes behind. Artūrs reveals that this year he did not think about winning in the first half of the distance, because Andris Ronimoiss has already gained a significant advantage in the first kilometers: “When I found out that he was five or six minutes ahead, I realized that I could not catch up, and I continued to run at my own pace. Even after 45 kilometers, his advantage was more than six minutes, then I thought how to protect the second place, because behind him were strong competitors Artūrs Pauliņš and Jānis Kūms. I was surprised that at about the 53rd kilometer I was told that Andris was only three minutes ahead, and after a short time I saw him. I got closer and closer, I saw that Andris looked sad, I thought, there will be no more competitors. However, when I overtook him, he got a second wind and didn’t let me go. About ten kilometers were right behind me, my strength was also running low, and it was more of a battle with myself. The feeling of security about the victory came about three kilometers before the finish, when I could no longer see Andri behind me on the climbs. I understood that there will be!”
The runner says that everyone chooses their own tactics for the distance, and so far it has always paid off. He starts more cautiously, then “turns on” his pace, which he tries to keep.
“When there was hope that I could catch Andri, then the real competition began. But you always have to understand the limit of what you can and can’t do,” says A. Vadzis.
He is satisfied with the achieved result. Having planned to run a kilometer in a little under five minutes, he succeeded.
He also says that the track was very good: “We gained a lot of altitude, about 1500 meters. Ascents along Amata, near Cēsis, you have to run up Ozolkalna, then down Žagarkalna, up Cīrulkalna. However, it can be said that the track was fast because it was dry unlike the previous year. This time the feet did not slip in the mud. There were not many gravel roads or asphalt, a good course for trail running.”
Artūrs is one of the few who has participated in ultra-long distances in all Latvian championships held so far, always finishing in the top six. He does not hide that it is pleasant to look back on what he has accomplished, as he likes to run long distances in Latvia.
When asked about the competitors, Artūrs says that new names rarely come in: “This year, the orienteer Artūrs Pauliņš made his debut in the ultra-long distance, who is a strong runner, as evidenced by the third place he won. Before the competition, he was the great unknown, many believed that Arthur might even win. But in general, the leading runners are the same, although all the strongest ones rarely participate, because everyone has their own plans for the competition. The general level of our runners is high, so there is strong competition in the championships.”
The victory in the Latvian championship gives A. Vadzim the right to represent Latvia in the 2023 mountain and trail running world championship, which is planned for the beginning of June in the Austrian mountains in Innsbruck.
This year, the main start of the year is still ahead, the “Ultra Pirineu” competition in Spain on October 1, which, according to Artūrs, is a real mountain ultra. 1,300 runners will take the start to cover a distance of 100 kilometers with 6,600 meters of altitude.
“Stirnu buks” near Strīķupe
The most popular trail race in Latvia “Stirnu buks” this summer offers three stages, as they say, “Trejbuks”. This is because at the beginning of the year, the “debt” of the previous season was still returned, when the pandemic prevented the planned implementation. The first stage of Trejbuka “Strīķupe Stirnu buks” was in Cēsi county.
As usual, the Pupils’ Championship was held as part of the stage, where the runners of the Cēsi 1st Primary School took the sixth place in the competition of the fastest schools.
In individual groups, the following performance: in the U10V group, 8th place Gustavs Krieviņš (Cēsu 2nd elementary school); Alice Krastiņa (Cēsi 1st elementary school/ Frozen) in 7th place in the U10S group; in the U12V group, 2nd place Jānis Turlajs (Straupe Primary School), 5th Kristiāns Ezeriņš (Vecpiebalga Secondary School), 7th Bruno Kārkliņš (Stalbe Primary School/ Valmiera Sports School); In the U12S group, 2nd place Adele Šlēžiņa (Cēsu 1st primary school/ “Bērzkrogs Auto”), 7th Nellija Puriņa (Pastariņa primary school/ “Dako Zielmevidzeme”); in the U14S group, 3rd place Līva Lielbārde (Vecpiebalga secondary school), 7th Annija Krieviņa (Cēsu 2nd primary school); In the U16V group, Emīls Eglīte (Priekuļi secondary school) is in 7th place.
However, in general, it should be recognized that there are relatively few runners from regional schools, especially considering that the competition was held in the own region.
A little more about the results in other distances of the series. In the distance “Vāvere” Kaspars Vīksne (“Superheroes”) took third place in the absolute rating.
Jānis Olengovićs (“Pūpolegles”) is in sixth place in the distance “Zaķis” absolute rating, but he has the fourth result in his VZ2 group. The sixth fastest in this group is Agris Krūmiņš (“Scott Running Latvia”). Edijs Dzalbs (“Scott Running Latvia” in 6th place in group VZ1); in SZ2 group 4. Jolanta Krastiņa (Cēsis); in SZ3 group 3. Anita Ieviņa (“Noskrien Cēsis”); in the VZ4 group, Uģis Dančauskis (“TRX Cēsis”) in 2nd place, Ivars Oraševskis (Auciems) in 3rd place; In the SZ4 group, Žanete Leimane (“TRX Cēsis”) is the fastest.
Elita Zālīte (“TRX Cēsis”) took 2nd place in the distance “Stirnu buks” SB3 group, 5th Iveta Zāħere (“Meridian”).
The next stage will be held on September 10 in Tervete, Dobele district, and the third on October 1 in the village of Lielaja, Tukuma district.
