Climb the Heights Within
Bucovina Ultra Rocks by UTMB channels a raw energy found only where spruce crowns meet legend. Forged in the greenest corner of Romania - and one of Europe’s last true wilderness strongholds - Bucovina Ultra Rocks by UTMB delivers an unfiltered trail-running experience, drawing athletes from all corners of the world and matching them with a guardian volunteer at nearly every turn.
The Mission
Our mission is constant: to help you ascend your Mountain Within while safeguarding the brutal beauty of Bucovina. Six courses - 15 K, 20 K, 34 K, 48 K, 72 K and 114 K - trace shepherd paths over Rarău, Giumalău and Pietrosul Bistriței, brush past Lady’s Rocks and through the Moara Dracului Gorge, then dive into the High Secular Slătioara Forest. Some special aid-stations with Live Cooking serve smoked trout, mushroom broth and sweet “poale-n brâu” pastries; reusable cups and shared shuttle services keep footprints light.
Whether you chase a first summit or an ultra at sunrise, Bucovina invites you to rediscover your roots and carry their fire beyond the finish line.
A mountain that gives back
Bucovina Ultra Rocks by UTMB treats the trail as a guestroom, not a playground. We partner with nearby councils and villages to replace private cars with shuttle fleets, draw 40 percent of all aid-station food from local producers, and keep Bucovina’s crafts and stories in the world’s line of sight year-round. Our rule is simple: leave it better than you found it.
The spark behind the legend
Race Director Paul Smereciuc still remembers the hush of that first night – 7 to 8th of August 2020 at midnight and in the mid of a crazy year - when 500 trail runners pierced through the heart of Câmpulung Moldovenesc and Bucovina Ultra Rocks took its first breath. What began as a pandemic gamble has grown, in a few years time, into Romania’s largest trail running gathering and a beacon for athletes worldwide. Yet the flame that drives him has not changed: to craft a course where every runner, from the first to the last, lifts their arms with the same pride once crossing the finish line; to protect the land that lends its legends; and to weave a community in which going beyond one’s limit, safety, and raw wonder light the path forward. A wild, ambitious idea born from the rugged beauty of Bucovina and the unbreakable spirit of endurance athletes.
Now, it’s a movement. A brand. A family.
