In recent years, they are gaining popularity in our country trail races. There is a Multisport Ukrainian League of Trailrunning and Crosscountry called “Multiki Races”. It organizes various competitions for athletes throughout the year. I already managed to meet one of them in 2018. Then I was lucky enough to accept participation in a trail race “Didorivka Trail Run”. This time, I continued my acquaintance with the league and ran another race that is included in this series - “Pirogiv Trail Run”. It takes place every year in a rather interesting and atmospheric location on the territory of the open-air museum in Pyrogovo.
Registration
Registration takes place in the traditional way for most athletes - online on the event website vseprobegi.org. Here, participants have the opportunity to choose one of two disciplines: a 10-kilometer race for more trained athletes and a 5-kilometer race for beginners. During registration, it is necessary to pay the registration fee, which was 590 hryvnias that year.
Route
The route of the main trail race is 10 kilometers long “Pirogiv Trail Race” consists of two circles of 5 kilometers each. He passes the territory of the ethnographic museum under the open sky. The surface of the track is generally dirt with several asphalt sections. Also, the organizers provided one hydration point, where the athletes have the opportunity to quench their thirst or refuel with an isotonic drink.
Run
The Pirogovo Museum is not a new location for me. I have participated in others before running competitionsthat took place on its territory. It happened for the first time on the eve of the Independence Day of Ukraine during "Race in Pirogov". So I understood roughly what was waiting for me and what I had to prepare for.
Before the start of the "Pirogiv Trail Run" competition, I received a participant's number, as is usually done. Each athlete had the opportunity to do this either on the day of the competition in the starting town, or on the eve of the competition shop "Velobazar", which is located at Konstantinivska street in the city of Kyiv. That's exactly what I did.
As for the trail itself, its start took place at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, immediately after the end of the cycling competition, which began at 9:00 a.m. in the morning. This is not accidental, because the organizers “Multiki Races” develop two interesting sports at once: cycling or cross country and trail running.
The starting site was placed on the "Singing Field" in Pyrogovo, where a lot of people gathered that day, in particular, athletes and cyclists, for whom the award ceremony was held.
The start for the participants of the 10- and 5-kilometer trails was simultaneous. The only difference was that the first had to overcome 2 laps, and the second only one. Trail route completely coincided with the cycling route. It was quite interesting, because it involved several small descents and ascents. In addition, the track was well marked and passed mostly along the paths of the surrounding forest and fields The hydration point was located at the 5 kilometer mark, in the middle of the main distance.
First, there was a small briefing of the organizers of the competition, and then my new ones began adventures along the paths of the museum Pirogovo I covered the first half of the distance in 32 minutes. During this time, I enjoyed the beauty of the surrounding nature and conquered the ascents and descents that the organizers of the trail prepared for us participants. I finished in 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Impression
This trail race in Pyrogovo left only pleasant impressions both from the organization of the competition itself and from the route. After all, the presence of steep descents and ascents on the distance add even more vivid impressions and pleasure. The route was easily covered thanks to high-quality markings, as well as the presence of volunteers at the turns, who, if necessary, were ready to help each athlete, support him and indicate the correct direction of running.