Doru Holerga and Alexandru Otvos, the Winners of the First Marathon in the Transylvania Province

For the organization of the first race in the Marathon category, 354 pigeon fanciers from several counties of the Transylvania Province released their pigeons from the Polish town of Slupca. The race took place on June 20, 2025, with the release of the 2,635 pigeons entered in the competition at 06:12 AM.

In the zonal Slupca race, the first Marathon event of the 2025 season held in the Transylvania Province, 354 pigeon fanciers participated, coming from the counties of Cluj, Bistrița Năsăud, Alba, Mureș, and Sibiu. The stage was organized by the Alba pigeon fancier branch, which also contributed the most pigeons—1,163—and the most fanciers, totaling 151. Participation from the other branches was as follows: Cluj – 83 fanciers and 699 pigeons; Bistrița Năsăud – 24 fanciers and 148 pigeons; Mureș – 34 fanciers and 201 pigeons; Sibiu – 62 fanciers and 424 pigeons.

Doru Holerga (SB) Had a Perfect Race

Regarding flight distances, depending on geographic location, the participating pigeons had to fly between 750 and 850 km. Among the fanciers from the "second line" of distances was Doru Holerga from Mediaș, Sibiu County. But in his case, distance was not an issue. The 825 km of the zonal Slupca race for Doru Holerga’s pigeons were enough for the cock RO-2023-0548566 to deliver a perfect performance, earning 1st place in the release. The male arrived at 14:00:05, faster than all other pigeons in the race. The resulting average flight speed was 1,763.22 m/min.

For this race, Doru Holerga entered 16 pigeons. Both the cock that won the race and the third pigeon to arrive at his loft were team-designated pigeons. Thus, with 1st and 38th place in the release with two team pigeons, Doru Holerga also took 3rd place in the overall fancier ranking, and 1st place in the Sibiu Branch.

Alexandru Otvos (BN) Leads the Fancier Rankings

The winner of the overall fancier rankings is Alexandru Otvos from Arcalia, Bistrița Năsăud Branch. A seasoned fancier, Alexandru Otvos entered 7 pigeons in the Slupca Marathon stage, and the only two pigeons that ranked earned him 1st place in the overall fancier standings. The two pigeons are experienced hens, with serial numbers RO-2023-0564575 and RO-2023-0564584. Key pigeons, both were designated as team birds and arrived at the loft simultaneously, being clocked just two seconds apart. Their arrival time was 13:21:40/42, and their average flight speed was 1,725.56/43 m/min. Following this “wing to wing” arrival, they secured 11th and 12th place in the release and accumulated only 8.72 penalty points in the fancier rankings—few enough to secure 1st place. The race distance for Alexandru Otvos was 741 km.