What is the Tatras to Danube Race?

Just imagine: You and your 11 friend are running 345 km without a break throughout day and night across Slovakia seeing places you have probably never seen. Add some funny stories in the car and a slight delirium caused by sleep deficiency. And the result? Someone could call it a running party without sleep, pillow or deodorant. We call it a great running adventure!

How to put together a team?

We recommend this:

• the best way to get people for you team is to agree with someone to fill one vehicle (5 people) 
• do not count only on your friends. Friends of you friends as well as your friends´ friends´ friends widen the circle of people who could take part in the race. 
• begin the search for team members in advance. It is much easier to make all the arrangements, when everyone can plan ahead and have the time to prepare for the race. It is very difficult to do so too close to the race. 
• do not look for runners only. There are many people who do not run, but have great form and like to compete and gain new experiences. 
• try to find a vehicle (you + 5 people) and give us a notice on our facebook page. There will be many similar cases and this is a great way to connect with people who can´t find more team members. 
• it is possible for you to find individuals looking for a team on the facebook page, as well. You can also try our Runner's dating at www.odtatierkdunaju.sk.

Can you register as an individual?

From Tatras to the Danube Race is a team competition not meant for individuals. The only exception is the unofficial category S) SOLO – for individuals. Runners, who would like to take part in the race but don't have a team, should use the Runners' match or they can also look for a team on our facebook page.

What is the smallest number of the runners in the team?

At least nine runners in the categories A, B and C, and six runners only in category E

Do I have to have my team assembled before registration?

No, you can gradually add or remove members of your team until the final deadline for registration (July 31st). After this date any change in the team can be made only with the approval of organizer and each chage will be charged of 10 Eur.

Is it my responsibility to find team members on my own or will the organizer do that for me?

The responsibility for registration, as well as assembling their team is for the team captain to do.

Is there any age limitation of the runners?

All runners must be 18 at the time of the race. On the basis of a written request (also in electronic form), the organizer can allow runners who are 15 years old, to compete. Any runners who are younger than 15, cannot take part.

What should my performance be like in order to take part?

Each runner should be able to run 10 km in less than an hour. This is the time in training or some other race. Officially, all the average times of the times should be under 60 minutes.

What is the distance each runner covers?

In case there are 12 members in the team, each runner covers around 30km. If there is less, some runners will have to run four stages, i.e. 40km. In a team with six members (cat. E) each member covers approximately 60km.

How will the runners get to the handover zone?

Every competitor runs their section by themselves from point A to point B. The rest of the team will get to the handover zone by their team car, where the second team member takes over the relay. The runner finishing his section will hand over the relay, get into the car and ride to the next handover zone. After running all the sections, runners will do the major handover of the relay. The rest of the way will be serviced by the second team car. If there are no competing runners in the car, you have some time to refill your energy. Your car will take over the relay only after all the team member have run their sections.

Who secures the vehicles for teams?

Each team get their own cars. It would be ideal if the cars had 9 seats

How many vehicles can a team use or are teams allowed to use 3 cars? 

Official rules say, teams can use 2 vehicles at most. These vehicles are labelled, and they are allowed to pick up runners in the handover zone. You may use unlabelled vehicles, however, such vehicles will not be permitted access to the handover zone parking place. The labelled vehicles can meet these “other” vehicles on the track in order to exchange the athletes, who are riding to the handover zone, with the athletes in the labelled vehicles.

Will we need someone to drive the car?

You can choose to drive the car yourselves. You exchange the driving position when you are not running. However, you can also have a driver, who is not a ruuner.

When does the competition start?

Teams start gradually. The first teams will be those which have the worst performance, the last teams to start will be the elite teams with the best performance. Every team must give times for individual team members on 10 km track and this will be the basis to determine the starting time of all teams.

What will happen if any of the team members gets injured during the competition?

The sections, which were meant to be run by an injured team member, can be run by the other team members. However, the injured runner can no longer continue in the race. Even here the rule of all the runners running only one section at a time applies. And all team members must run the same amount of sections (give or take one)

Will organizers provide accommodation?

No, the race is run non-stop. During the night stages, the organizers will secure a space to lie down in a sleeping bag and to have a shower

Will I be able to find out the interim order during the race?

Since each team starts at different time, the results will only be published after the team finishes the race. The organizer will post partial results during the race, however, these are not final or official.

Can our family and friend come and support us on track?

Of course! We are looking forward to seeing them and we hope, they will be very loud. Especially in the finish

Can I listen to music while running?

We emphatically recommend not to use headphones to listen to music while running. Runners move along a road at full traffic, therefore, it is important that they are able to recognize a moving car and adjust they movement. If runners decide to use headphones despite our warning, they are doing so at their own risk.

If runners want to use headphones while listening to music, it is important they are able to:

• hear and recognize different sound around them
• hear organizer's instructions

What do I need to do in order for my protest to be successful?

In order to have your protest accepted, it is necessary for the organizer to be absolutely sure, that the event, to which the protest refers to, actually happened. Therefore, if it is possible, add visual evidence, e.g. a picture taken by your camera phone, or a testimony from an athlete of another team.

The protest may only refer to rules being broken. Therefore, you must cite the exact rule having been broken. It is not possible to protest against anything that doesn’t have something to do with breaking rules of the race, e.g. getting lost in the woods etc.

How did the idea of organizing the From Tatras to Danube come to life?

One of the main two organizers has run a similar competition in the USA and he told everyone who was willing to listen to him about it. The other one simply had the great idea of both of them organizing something very similar.