RIBN´CA TRAIL THIS YEAR ALSO WITH THE YOUNGEST MEMBERS

RIBN´CA TRAIL  – RUNNING ALONG MALA GORA ABOVE RIBNICA

The first weekend in September was also sporting. The pre-fair Saturday was again reserved for the Ribn´ca trail. This is the fourth year in a row.

This year’s events moved to the castle courtyard, where the runners’ starting and finishing area was also located.

It started happening already on Friday. We were able to watch the film Ekipa Špartathlon 2021 in the annual cinema. All the actors of the documentary film who took on this most difficult running challenge last year and successfully completed it also came to Ribnica.

After the film, there was a concert by the singer-songwriter Žiga Bižal, who delighted us with his songs in the pond dialect. The social and cultural evening ended rather quickly, as the Saturday race awaited the runners.

To the accompaniment of the Ribn´ca trail anthem, the runners ran into the foggy Saturday morning. The runners of the longest distance from Ribež´n started first, an hour later the runners from Čebular´ca and after an hour they were followed by the runners of the shortest, but by no means easy distance, Kuhavn´ca.

Running in nature offers an unforgettable experience where we test ourselves. A route along Mali gora with the highest point on the Stene, a run past the church of Sv. Ana, a run along lonely mountain and forest paths, where we can only feel silence and perhaps in the distance we can spot a frequent inhabitant of our area, the bear. But only if we’re lucky.
Otherwise, this great inhabitant of our forests prefers to retreat and leave us the way.

KROŠNJARČKOV TEK

At the time when the adult runners set off on the trail, the Ribnica castle was occupied by children. At the Krošnjarček run, they tested themselves in two distances – the youngest children ran 300 m and the children of the first triad of elementary school ran 600 m.

Laughter and childbearing continued in the castle,
where children could see Leonardo da Vinci’s Time Machine puppet show. Those who prefer to create joined the art workshop. Reading enthusiasts visited the Library under the canopy. The youngest children enthusiastically followed the fairy tale in Kamishibaj’s version.

RESULTS

This year, many excellent competitors came to Ribnica, so the results were excellent.

At the Ruk’n Ančko challenge, Uroš Avgustinčič achieved the best result and with a time of 38 minutes and 46 seconds, he even improved his record from last year. He also celebrated victory in the men’s category at the shortest distance (12 km) with a time of 1 hour and 1 minute. He was closely followed by the second-placed Aleš Svetina, while Sandi Bayer took the third place.

In the women’s competition, young Ema Štupica was the fastest, who covered the shortest distance in only 1 hour and 31 minutes, her older sister Brina Štupica was only 3 minutes behind and took third place. Romana Robnik achieved an excellent second place, only a minute late.

Čebular’co (25km) in the women’s competition was won by Ksenija Grm with a very close result, with a time of 02:40:26, followed only a few seconds later by Manja Trošt. Vesna Kočar took third place with an excellent result.

In the men’s competition, local Tadej Osvald, the winner of last year’s Čebular race in the men’s competition, crossed the finish line with a time of 01:53:39, followed by Janez Mulej with a result 5 minutes behind, third-placed Aleš Žulovec, who was 5 minutes slower from the runner-up.

The longest test – 40 km – was completed by Alenka Pavc with a time of 04:33:23, thus winning again in the women’s competition. Anja Zima took second place, and Tjaša Seliškar took third place. All three competitors beat Ribež´n in less than 5 hours.

Our proud individual Aleš Debeljak won the toughest test for the third time in a row, this time with a slightly worse result than last year, but despite this, he covered the longest distance in a mere 3 hours and 38 minutes. He was followed by Timotej Oiclj, 30 minutes behind, third-placed Nik Zobec was still two minutes slower.

THE CULINARY OFFER OF THE SLOVENIAN COUNTRYSIDE – A CULINARY VILLAGE

Tourist associations from different parts of Slovenia presented the culinary specialties of their place on the lawn under the castle. So we were able to try the sweet delicacies of the local women, Vipava prosciutto, Kozjan stew and buckwheat dumplings from the Dobrepolska valley.

We could also see the skillful hands of crocheters.
They showed how to crochet an octopus for premature babies. This year, the organizers once again allocated part of the funds to charity – the Society for Helping Premature Children.

There was a lot going on in the castle the day before the moon. At Bistrica, some tried their hand at swinging, while others wanted to learn basket weaving.
Under the guidance of experienced knitters, they could weave their own basket.

Everyone could find something for themselves on Saturday. Even those who didn’t run. After all, we are all different. And that’s why sports are interesting.