Marjan Zupančič - Interview

Mountain runner Marjan Zupančič, who started on the Slovenian Mountain Trail from Maribor to Ankaran on August 15, 2013, at 6 a.m. to improve the record achievement of Klemen Triler from last year, arrived in Ankaran on Thursday, August 22, 2013, after 7 days, 14 hours, and 44 minutes, setting a new record for the Slovenian Mountain Trail and thus a milestone in mountain ultra-running. Marjan ran along the route of the Slovenian Mountain Trail when it had 69 control points (today it has 75) – just like Klemen Triler last year, as he wanted to improve Triler's record.



In summer, an excellent mountain runner who competes in ski mountaineering in winter, a lover and innovator of lightweight equipment, has recently been tackling mainly ultra-running feats. It's not just a challenge for him to complete the course; his passion is chasing records. Marjan Zupančič, a member of the Papež Mountain Runners Club, boldly announced for this season that he would challenge the record of the Slovenian Mountain Trail route, which Klemen Triler set last August despite injuries. And so, on August 15 at 6 a.m., he began running the Slovenian Mountain Trail in Radvanje near Maribor, and on August 23 at 8:44 p.m. in Ankaran, he reached the last point of the oldest connecting trail in Europe and the world, which is celebrating 60 years of existence this year. Already on the morning of the last day, it became more or less clear that Triler's record time would fall despite the slowed pace due to injuries. But that he would manage to improve the time by a whole day, probably many besides Marjan wished for, but believed... That this time was possible to catch, only Marjan firmly believed.



ONE DAY, ONE MOUNTAIN RANGE

Marjan Zupančič set off on the trail very boldly, and on the first day, after completing Pohorje and reaching Smrekovec, he continued the journey despite the approaching night. He only allowed himself the first short sleep in the Kocbek Hut on Korošica at 5:15 a.m. on the second day. Already before 9 a.m., he was climbing the slope to the top of Ojstrica and in the evening already bid farewell to the Kamnik-Savinja Alps and slept for a few hours at Kališče. On the third day, at 5 a.m., he was already at the top of Storžič and that day covered an exceptional distance with a large elevation difference. He also finished with the Karavanke and before 10 p.m. added the stamp of Aljaž Hut in Vrata to his booklet.



IN TWO DAYS OVER THE TWO-THOUSANDERS OF THE JULIAN ALPS

The fourth day awaited him with the technically most demanding part of the trail. After ascending Triglav, he descended over Plemenice, continued over Bovški Gamsovec to Kriški Podi, from there over Razor and the Jubilee Trail over Prisojnik, and ended the day at Vršič. He allowed himself a short sleep and at 4 a.m. on the fifth day set off to Jalovec, where he arrived in three hours. After descending to Trenta, he climbed to Prehodavci, from there along the Valley of Triglav Lakes over Bogatin Saddle reached Krn Lakes and the last two-thousander on the trail – Krn. Late in the evening, rain caught him, and he ended the day at Planina Razor, where he got a bit wet until the support team provided him with waterproof clothing. Only at 10 a.m. on the sixth day did he continue the trail along the ridge of his home Bohinj mountains and turned to Petrovo Brdo, from where he continued towards Franja, and midnight caught him before arriving in Idrija, which he reached at 2 a.m. There he slept for a few hours for the last time, then continued towards the goal without a major stop.



INJURY FORCES HIM TO WALK

On the seventh day, the first serious problems appeared. He had already gotten some blisters earlier, which were accumulating more and more, but they didn't hinder him too much. But when pain appeared in the muscles above the knees, physiotherapy care was necessary. The trail was becoming more and more torturous, running was increasingly turning into walking. The seventh day turned into the eighth at Abram, but Marjan continued the trail onward to Nanos and from there to Razdrto, where he allowed himself a short rest but preferred not to sleep. In the state he was in at Razdrto, he wouldn't have rested even with a few hours of sleep, the muscles would have cooled down, and continuing would have been even more torturous. On the slopes of Vremščica above Senožeče, he had a big crisis, and he has only the support team to thank for the encouraging positive thoughts. I don't know what they told him and what all was swirling in Marjan's head, but he overcame the crisis, and soon his thoughts shifted from pain to the goal. There, the sore and swollen legs were waiting to reach them.



Ahead of him was the last thousand-meter peak – Slavnik, and the ascent to it didn't cause him major problems, the pace uphill was faster, but the descents slowed him down a lot, as the pains in the thigh muscles above the knees were the greatest then. Towards the end of the trail, more and more supporters and friends came to encourage him, and at Socerb he allowed himself the last rest, which did him good, but later it turned out to be a bit too long. From Socerb followed a very steep and broken descent, initially even on stairs, and Marjan's muscles obviously cooled down too much, so the initial meters were real suffering, although he was moving at a snail's pace. When the legs warmed up again, it went a bit better, although the descent caused him great difficulties. From the village of Osp followed only the last ascent to Tinjan, where the penultimate stamp awaited Marjan. Since the uphill started, the pace increased accordingly, as the muscles didn't hurt him when walking uphill.

On the last descent to Ankaran, it was already known that the record time would be greatly improved, and it was also known that a 24-hour better time was very, very close, but whether it was achievable, no one dared to predict. The supporters motivationally told Marjan that such a time was completely achievable and thus spurred him to a faster step, although quietly they hardly believed what they were promising him. But Marjan believed. His Gorenjska stubbornness added its part, and so in the final meters, he dismissed the pain and started running again, the darkness without headlamps didn't hinder him. At the finish, where his wife Katarina, friends, and journalists awaited him, he was exactly 1 day and 1 minute ahead of the previous excellent time of Klemen Triler.



SIMPLE EQUATION: LESS SLEEP = LESS TIME

He didn't improve the time due to a faster pace; the supporters who accompanied both Triler and Zupančič on the trail agree that the pace of both was very similar, and on some sections Triler was even faster than Zupančič. The advantage that brought him the whole day improved record, Marjan gained by sacrificing sleep. Before the long sleep he could afford in his home bed after the completed project, he last slept for a few hours on the penultimate day early in the morning, then without firmly closed eyes persisted for two days on walking legs, which in the last meters, as they were used to in the first 5 days – transitioned from walking to running.



COLORFUL GROUP OF SUPPORTERS FROM ALL OVER SLOVENIA

Marjan completed the entire trail, the numerous support team of his running colleagues and also female colleagues handled individual sections, each supporter judged for themselves how long a part of the trail they were capable of following and carrying Marjan's backpack with food and drink. On sections accessible by car, his wife Katarina and sponsor Valentin Goršek from Tgsportlife supplied him with food, drink, and equipment, and to some points, many other friends climbed or drove just to give him some encouraging words. Who all he will have to thank, only Marjan knows, but all who were a pebble in the support mosaic don't need his thanks. It was enough of a great honor for them to be part of Marjan's bold and successful story.

And when he stamped the last stamp in Ankaran and gave a statement to the TV crew from RTV Slovenia, I asked him for some answers while he was enjoying ice cream...



Marjan, sincere congratulations on achieving the new record time for running the Slovenian Mountain Trail, which now stands at 7 days, 14 hours, and 44 minutes. You improved the previous record set by Klemen Triler last August by a whole day and, to be precise, added one minute on top. You didn't set off on the trail just to run it, but half a year earlier you confidently announced that a new record would fall. When did you decide to attempt it?

Last year I followed Klemen's feat a bit and concluded to myself that I was ready for something like that. So I decided that this would be my main project this year and started with trail reconnaissance.



You had already run the entire traverse as part of preparations on one-day reconnaissance. How did you experience the trail then and what was different on it during the actual action?

Yes, I prepared by scouting all sections and recording them on my Garmin watch, so I had "tracks" saved for the entire trail. I already set the pace on reconnaissance as I planned to have when running the whole thing, so I could roughly know what the times would be. Unfortunately, my original plan fell apart a bit in the last two days. When the inner muscles on my knees got inflamed, the real ordeal began, but under a different scenario, the time would have been much much better.



How much better time could you have achieved in an ideal scenario?

I lost six hours due to rain at Planina Razor, and in the last two days due to injury I couldn't run at the pace I planned. With that, I lost another around 8 hours. Without issues, the time would have been about 12 hours better.

You didn't have stages precisely divided by days; when you started in the morning, you didn't know yet where you would sleep. You decided to rest only when you were very tired, actually your guideline was – rest as little as possible. Do you think you chose the right tactic for such a demanding trail?

The tactic was risky, I tried to adjust it on the fly a bit. Already after the first day, which I continued into the night, it would have been most optimal to sleep for a couple of hours at the Hut on Grohat under Raduha, but I was arranged with supporters waiting for me in Robanov Kot, so I continued and slept those hours only at Kocbek Hut on Korošica. The logistics weren't as they should have been.



So did you realize already on the first day that you would need a bit more sleep than you initially anticipated?

Yes, when I arrived at Korošica, I immediately went to sleep for 2 and a half hours, which wasn't in the plan. But I woke up reborn and reached Kališče that day.



Your supporters couldn't believe it when they saw you completely exhausted in the evening, but after a few hours of sleep you seemed completely rested and they could barely keep up with your pace.

The pace wasn't so tough that I would destroy myself, but it was "wound up" for the whole day. So all my "sherpas" who carried food and drink for me were, in plain terms, exhausted..., except the last two days when the pace was slower. They all almost collapsed.



When on the trail did the first problems arise?

On the penultimate day in Idrija, the inner muscles on my knees started hurting. At that time, I couldn't run for a while, then at the end of the day I could run again, but the next day it really didn't go anymore, the pains only intensified.



Besides injury problems, sleeplessness probably added to the fatigue. Before arriving at the finish, you last slept a few hours yesterday early in the morning in Idrija. How did the fatigue of the entire organism, which occurred due to lack of sleep, affect your well-being while walking?

Both were connected. In Artviže I lay down in the grass for an hour and a half, my wife massaged my legs, the fatigue was already very severe there.



How do you comment on your logistical support? Did it seem good to you, could it have been better?

It could have been much better. As for the supporters and backpack carriers, everything worked out well, I didn't run a single meter of the trail alone. That was covered superbly. Regarding the logistics itself, it could have been much better.



On the long trail from Maribor to Ankaran, you didn't just get blisters on your feet, but you also destroyed several pairs of shoes. How many?

Three pairs are only for the trash, the other three pairs are also quite worn out.



In your long and successful running career, you already own several records, perhaps the most notable recently were the record of the Iron Triathlon course in Bohinj in 2011, on which you have won seven times, and the record of the Tržič Mountain Trail or T-24, which you set last autumn. What place does the Slovenian Mountain Trail now have in your collection of records? (author's note: T-24 is a popular running challenge – to complete the ten highest Tržič peaks in 24 hours. Marjan Zupančič set the record time of 13 hours 42 minutes and 50 seconds in October 2012)

There's a bit of a bitter aftertaste because I wanted to set it on a higher bar, but what I experienced on the trail today can't be forgotten. Pure suffering.



As far as I know you, despite today's suffering that you won't forget, you haven't finished with attempting records. Which one could be next?

First, I need to heal my legs. That's the first project. Then maybe GM4O extreme or K-24.

(author's note: The running challenge GM4O extreme is completed by those who walk the original route of the Mountain Marathon of Four Municipalities three times in one day starting at Petrovo Brdo. K-24 is the challenge to complete all Koroška peaks within 24 hours.)



So challenges won't run out yet.

No, now that I'm a bit older, long courses suit me.



Marjan, thank you for the conversation and successful regeneration.



Špela Zupan, Turni.si

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More about record feats and the Slovenian Mountain Trail:



The Slovenian Mountain Trail (SPP), the oldest and longest Slovenian connecting trail, and also the oldest such connecting trail in Europe and the world, celebrated 60 years since its opening on August 1, 2013 (based on the conceptual design of Ivan Šumljak, the father of SPP) and measures 600 km in length with 45,200 meters of ascent and 45,500 meters of descent. Last year, Klemen Triler managed to run the SPP in record time: in 8 days, 14 hours, 45 minutes. This year, Marjan Zupančič set a new record for the Slovenian Mountain Trail.



Several mountain runners have broken records on the Slovenian Mountain Trail. The first were Franc Kavčič - Kavka and Marko Dovjak, who managed the traverse in 1983 in eleven days gross or in 10 days net (on the fourth day they rested due to the passage of a weather front). Radovan Skubic - Hilarij managed the SPP trail in 11 and a half days or in 10 and a half days; first in 1995, then in 1997. Milan Županec, who set out to chase the record in 2002, had quite bad weather just like Hilarij, his time was 13 days. Uroš Feldin needed that much in 2009. The only woman who has run the SPP so far was the late ultramarathoner and mountain runner Ruth Podgornik Reš - she ran it in 2010 in 13 days. Bojan Jevševar wrote in Planinski vestnik (August 2008) the dividing line between running - walking the SPP: if you manage it in less than 14 days, you ran it, if in more than 14 days, you walked it. This thought also encouraged Feldin to run it. Certainly, Klemen Triler's record – 8 days, 14 hours, and 45 minutes – was more than excellent – now Marjan Zupančič has surpassed it and arrived in Ankaran a full 24 hours and 1 minute faster than Triler's record.



All who embark on the SPP must not only be excellent mountain runners but also hillwalkers, they must know how to move in the mountain world, on demanding and very demanding secured mountain paths, etc. Even a small mistake can be fatal on such a trail.



However... A beginner systematically acquires mountaineering knowledge, skills, and experiences on it. When he walks the entire trail, he is already an experienced, knowledgeable mountaineer, with strengthened spiritual goods that such a trail gives, shapes, and preserves. Therefore, the Slovenian Mountain Trail is not intended only for collecting stamps. Ivan Šumljak gives us advice: "Friend, walk slowly! You can really complete the traverse in one month, but rather walk for five years. Then you will have more from it, much, much more. The honorary badge will wait for you!"



SLOVENIAN MOUNTAIN TRAIL in numbers and interesting facts about it:

Opened on August 1, 1953, it had 80 points.

Initiator and conceptual designer: Ivan Šumljak.

Number of points: since 2011 it has 75 control points (2003-2011: 71 control points, 1993-2003: 69 points (in 2001 one point was changed), before 1993 there were 80 control points).

Length of the trail: length along the relief (the one we give for the SPP length): 599 km, total ascent: 45.2 km, total descent: 45.5 km.

When hikers today walk the Slovenian Mountain Trail from Maribor to Ankaran:

- they visit 75 control points,

- refresh themselves in 58 mountain huts,

- climb 23 wonderful peaks,

- visit 5 Slovenian cities and

- 2 museums -> Slovenian Alpine Museum in Mojstrana and Franja Hospital.

- One of the points on the trail, Škocjan Caves, belongs to UNESCO cultural heritage.

- they are accompanied throughout the SPP by the red-white Knafelč mark with number 1.



In the PZS Alpine Publishing about SPP: - Diary from the Slovenian Mountain Trail, - Guide to the Slovenian Mountain Trail.



Right now, within the Alpine Association of Slovenia, the action A Small Contribution for a Remarkable Impression is taking place, in which with a contribution of 1 EUR you help for the renovation of mountain trails (send SMS with the keyword "POT" to 1919).



So far, around 9500 hikers have successfully walked the Slovenian Mountain Trail, who have been awarded just as many badges.

Number of participants/hikers in recent years who walked the SPP: year 2000: 251 hikers, 2001: 247, 2002: 255, 2003: 255, 2004: 194, 2005: 185, 2006: 200, 2007: 179, 2008: 206, 2009: 178, 2010: 116, 2011: 167 participants.