The “Bjelasica Ultra Trail” marathon will be held from 16 to 18 August, as announced at the press conference.
Organizers from NGO "A New Beginning" announced that there will be three races within the marathon.
The first race, "Big Bear", of 58 km, (Donji square - Biogradsko Lake, katun Vranjak, Sisko lake - Donji square) will be held on August 17th and is intended for professional racers.
The fact that the “Big Bear” race of the International Trail Running Association (ITRA) is scored with three points, it also gives an international character to the entire event.
"The race "Small Bear" is intended for recreational racers, but also for professional racers, so it carries two ITRA points. It will also begin on August 17, in Donji square, through Melaja, Vranjak katun through Bikovaca to Kolasin. It is a race of 37 km. The "Family trail" is intended for families and all other participants, whose goal is quality time spent in nature. It will be held on August 18. Participants will start from the city, through Dulovina and Sljivovica, back to the square," said a member of the organizing committee, Balsa Cvetkovic.
Organizers have also prepared a race for children under 12, which will be held in the city.
Cvetkovic recalled that the trail is an activity that combines running, and where there are steep slopes also elements of hiking.
After Nordic skiing, it is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and has earned the merited attention in the countries of our region.
At the official ITRA website, nearly 1.5 million runners are registered who are professionally involved in collecting ITRA points. The same number of people in the world is engaged in recreational sports.
Organizers state that besides sports and recreationalists, members of the army and police will participate in the mountain marathon in Kolasin.
"We expect between 200 and 400 overnight stays in private accommodation, which is, according to our estimate, 7,500 to 10,000 euros of direct revenues to local tourist workers. The benefits from this event will be mapped and paths marked for future races as well as hiking and cycling tours. Also, we count on raising awareness of the importance of sport for young people.
Support to the organization of this event, said Sladjana Krsikapa, was provided by the Municipality of Kolasin, the local Tourist Organization (TO), the Montenegrin Olympic Committee (COK) and several Montenegrin companies.
"By organizing this event, Kolasin will be even better positioned on the map of sports tourism, which will contribute to the enrichment of the summer tourism offer. One of the most important goals of the event is to point out the importance of healthy lifestyles and the importance of staying in nature. Also, it is very important the affirmation of the younger population, as well as the presentation of many benefits that are included in the running in nature," Krsikapa said.
At the press conference, there was also a video that announced the event, but also promotes a part of Kolasin's tourist offer.
Text by Dragana Scepanovic, on July 11th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
