Oana Marina - The silence within

1. Who are you when you're not running, and how much of that “you” do you take with you on the trail?

(Sometimes running brings out things we don’t see every day. What part of you comes to light when you’re alone with the mountain?)

When I run, I can say that I am closer to my true essence as a human being than I am in everyday life. Throughout an ultramarathon I experience many states: enthusiasm, pleasure, restlessness, fear, nervousness, gratitude, calm, and happiness. When I am alone with the mountain, I see and feel the greatness of nature, the way it exists, completely unaffected by my presence.

2. Which race did you run at BUR and what did this race tell you about yourself?

(About limits, courage, giving up, joy… What did you learn or relearn about yourself in the hours spent on the trails?)

I have participated in BUR four times. I started with the Beast in 2022, an unfinished race for several reasons. It was the first time my body said “I’m not ready,” my mind gave up, and the weather encouraged my withdrawal. From that moment I waited patiently to return and complete the route in full. In 2023 and 2024 I ran the 110 km race, a challenging, spontaneous, but very beautiful route. In 2025 I returned to finish the Beast course. Bucovina Ultra Rocks showed me that I have courage, determination, and that my limits are far from being reached. The hours spent on the trail were many, but never meaningless.

3. Bucovina Ultra Rocks by UTMB is a race, but also a state of being. How do the place, nature, people, and energy feel to you?

(What kind of connection did you feel between yourself and the space you passed through? How did Bucovina touch you?)

For me, BUR is an event that brings people closer to each other and to nature. It’s a place where even someone who doesn’t run becomes a runner, where someone who hasn’t felt before begins to feel, and someone who hasn’t lived begins to truly live. Bucovina Ultra Rocks gives me a feeling of “home.”

4. If you were to tell runners who have never been to Bucovina about the Bucovina Ultra Rocks experience, what would you want them to feel beyond words?

(What emotion, image, or moment should they experience to understand what it means to be here?)

The atmosphere is warm, even at night. The start gathers everyone’s emotions into the glow of headlamps. As you head toward the forest, silence sets in. Faintly, softer and softer, you can still hear the supporters. You enter the dense forest and follow the chain of light.

The first peak? Rarău, not very high, but not easy to reach. From there the sunrise catches you on your way toward Pietrosul Bistriței. Every step of the climb is worth it when you see its wild, uneven ridge. Then comes Giumalău, the peak with the big cross. You climb it once, then again, and finally touch the cross. After that, you “descend into a climb” and reach Stâna. You’re just 12–13 km from the finish and one smaller “mountain”: Runcul. What is Runcul? Something you must discover on your own. From a valley into a mountain and from a mountain into a valley: horses, rocks, people, Bucovina.

5. What does it mean for you to run among roots and look toward the horizon?

(What always brings you back to your origins, and what always pushes you forward?)

Running among roots brought me back to my origins, to childhood, to my human nature. Contact with the earth is essential for reaching the inner layers of my mind. The mind is sometimes difficult to control, but necessary for making connections and rationalizing what we experience. Running is the activity that helped me understand the theory and gave me the experience. What pushes me forward? The human condition we all share. Either there is nothing special about it, or we are all special.