Vilnius National 2025 – One of the Most Demanding Marathon Stages of the Season

The final national stage of the South-East Province, Vilnius National 2025, took place on August 2nd, when the pigeons were released at 06:20 from Vilnius, Lithuania. The competition distances exceeded 900 km for all participants, reaching up to approximately 1,050 km, thus classifying the race as an Extreme Marathon event. 

A total of 300 fanciers entered the competition, with 3,704 pigeons registered from the counties of Brăila, Tulcea, Constanța, Vrancea, Prahova, Buzău, and Galați.

Constantin-Cosmin Anghelescu (Buzău) – Winner of the Stage 

The first day of the race proved extremely challenging, with no pigeons managing to complete the stage by nightfall. Arrivals began at dawn on the second day, and the ranking was finalized during the first half of the morning. By 06:00, only seven pigeons had been clocked, among them the cock RO-2024-0007209, belonging to Constantin-Cosmin Anghelescu from Fundeni (Buzău County). 

He was clocked at 05:40:41, after covering a distance of 999 km, securing 1st National with an average speed of 1,082.37 m/min. 

“The mother of the winning pigeon comes from my friend Adrian Pleștiu and is closely related to the 2014 National Champion at the Extreme Marathon Ace category, bred by Mr. Gheorghe Struț. The father originates from my fellow fancier and friend, Vali Voicilă, being a half-brother to the 20th place National Marathon Ace over three years 2022. The cock was raced on the natural system, sitting on eggs at the time of basketing. I knew he was capable of flying at night, and I tried to support him with evening training flights of about 100 km. I believe these helped significantly. Although I have had other results at county and even provincial level, this is by far the most important achievement of my career since I started in 2020,” declared Constantin-Cosmin Anghelescu.

Outstanding Results for Buzău Fanciers 

Although not among the most numerous participants, the fanciers from Buzău achieved remarkable performances: 1st place both in the pigeon category and in the fanciers’ ranking, with five of the top ten pigeons belonging to this county. 

Vali Voicilă, from Zărnești, won the fanciers’ category. Entering only 8 pigeons, four managed to classify, three of them as part of his team, securing 4th, 40th, and 41st National. 

“I have been competing since 2014, and in recent years I have focused mainly on Extreme Marathon races. It seems that my pigeons perform very well in the Vilnius National stage, as I also managed to secure 1st place fanciers at county level last year. My pigeons were raced on the natural system, mostly sitting on eggs, except for my second arrival, which was chasing a hen. Interestingly, my first pigeon this year is the same bird that brought me success last season, and he is likely to become County Champion at Extreme Marathon Ace and should rank in the National Top 10. The second cock is his grandson and was last year’s Provincial Champion at the Extreme Marathon Ace Yearlings category,” explained Vali Voicilă.