Transylvania 50k

8 min read

The Transylvania 50 is a 50 km mountain race held in Bran, Romania, about 170 km north of Bucharest. This was the tenth edition. The course runs through the Bucegi range and crosses Omu Peak at 2,505 m (8,218 ft), one of the highest peaks in the country, before looping back to the start and finish at Bran Castle. This is how my race went.

Distance	Elevation +/-
50.6 km (31.4 mi)	3,320 m (10,892 ft) D+ 3,300 m (10,827 ft) D-

You can download the GPX track made by the organizers for this race.

Arriving in Romania

We flew into Bucharest, rented a car, and drove to Brasov. We spent a couple of days walking the old town and doing short trail runs to stay loose and test out a new pair of running poles. Nothing hard since I was tapering. We made it our mission to try as much Romanian food as possible: sarmale (cabbage rolls), mici (grilled sausages), and ciorbă de burtă (a creamy tripe soup that's better than it sounds).

Two days before the race we drove to Bran, home of the castle that inspired Dracula, and checked into a family-run hotel with a garden. I spent most of that day reading in the sun. The next day I picked up my bib and did a final gear and nutrition check.

No crew support on this one (unlike Finspång where I saw Ninette every 10 km), so I carried everything and relied on four aid stations for water. New fueling strategy: liquid carbs to avoid relying only on gels, salt tablets for sodium, backup snacks (bars, jerky, candy) in case I needed variety.

Here's the plan I used, based on a 10-hour target:

Segment	Dist. (km)	Cum. Dist. (km)	Fueling	Carbs (g)	Sodium (mg)
Start to Malaiesti	13.0	13.0	1x Carb Mix #1, 2x Liquid IV (11g, pre-mixed), 1x 23g Gel	134	1,045
Malaiesti to Omu	3.9	16.9	1x Carb Mix #2, 1x 23g Gel, 2x Liquid IV (11g), 1x 30g Gel	154	1,541
Omu to Batrana	5.2	22.1	1x 30g Gel, 1x Jerky Stick (first ⅓), 1x 23g Gel	76	1,320
Batrana to Pestera	5.1	27.2	1x 23g Gel, 2x Liquid IV (11g), 1x Jerky Stick (second ⅓), 1x ProBar	74	1,205
Pestera to Gutanu	10.8	38.0	2x 23g Gels, 2x Liquid IV (5g), 1x Jerky Stick (last ⅓), 1x Peanut Butter (optional)	63	1,170
Gutanu to Poarta	6.6	44.6	1x 23g Gel, 2x Liquid IV (5g), 1x Mars Bar	65	1,060
Poarta to Finish	5.4	50.0	2x 23g Gels, 1x Jerky Stick (optional)	46	1,055
-	–	–	Total	612	8,396

Race day

I was up at 4 AM after a surprisingly good night's sleep. I ate a ProBar and a banana, downed a Liquid IV, and triple-checked the vest for gels, salt tablets, liquid carbs, poles, and my waterproof jacket.

The 50K starts from the courtyard of Bran Castle at 7 AM, with early light on the stone walls and the whole field packed into the yard. The course rolls out gently from there: 2 km of pavement through Poarta village, then a left turn at Opriș Bridge where the climbing begins.

The climb to Tiganesti

The Transylvania 50k opens with over 1,400 m (4,593 ft) of gain in the first 10 km, topping out at Saua Tiganesti (2,195 m / 7,201 ft). A country road leads into the woods, then the trail pitches up through dense forest and out into alpine meadows, marked the whole way with red tape. My poles earned their weight on this section alone.

From the saddle the trail drops steeply to Cabana Malaiesti at km 13, losing 500 m (1,640 ft) over 3.5 km on loose rock and sharp switchbacks. My feet were already feeling it.

The aid station had fruit and gummy bears. I refilled water and mixed fresh carbs into one bottle. It's one of the few well-stocked checkpoints on the course, so I took my time.

Checkpoint	Race time	Speed	Elevation +/-
Tiganesti	1:50:33	6 km/hr	1,387 m+ / 82 m-
Malaiesti	2:12:11	5.6 km/hr	13 m+ / 380 m-

Malaiesti to Omu: the chimney

Between Malaiesti and Omu lies the hardest 2 km of the Transylvania 50k course. The trail gains over 600 m (1,969 ft) on rocky terrain toward Hornurile Malaiesti, a narrow snow-covered chute known as "the chimney" that needs hands-on scrambling near the top. The blue tape markers point almost straight up, and I followed them one at a time.

I topped out onto an alpine ridge, then made a short climb to the Omu cabin at km 17. At 2,505 m (8,218 ft) it's the highest point of the course. Fog was rolling through the ridgelines below with the valleys opening up underneath.

Omu to Pestera: ridges and a rough descent

The 5 km stretch from Omu cabin to Batrana Refuge is gentler, running through low pine shrub and grassy ridges. I found a rhythm here and could run again for the first time in over an hour.

At Batrana (km 22) I passed through another control point and started the descent, 600 m down over 5 km to Salvamont Pestera. The grade invites you to let go and run it hard, but the trail is rutted with potholes and I had to keep the brakes on most of the way.

Pestera (km 27) had the best spread of the day: hot soup, salty chips, water, fruit, and shade. I sat down for a few minutes before the final third of the race.

Checkpoint	Race time	Speed	Elevation +/-
Tiganesti	1:50:33	6 km/hr	1,387 m+ / 82 m-
Malaiesti	2:12:11	5.6 km/hr	13 m+ / 380 m-
Batrana	4:09:20	4.9 km/hr	825 m+ / 379 m-
Pestera	4:47:54	7.4 km/hr	0 m+ / 541 m-

Pestera to Gutanu: the climb to Strunga

After Pestera, the 50K splits from the 80K and 100K. We veered toward Padina, ran 2.5 km of forest road, and started the final major climb: about 3 km with 400 m (1,312 ft) of gain to Saua Strunga (1,909 m / 6,263 ft). The climb is exposed with no shade and the sun was on us the whole way up. Liquid IV wasn't going down anymore, so I switched to a salt tablet and that settled things.

From Strunga a runnable 4 km descent drops into Poiana Gutanu (km 38), where I fueled up and stretched my legs before the last section.

The trail turns onto a blue triangle path with a short climb and then a rolling descent into Poiana Gaura. I tried to catch a small group ahead but hit a bottleneck of 10K runners hiking the narrow singletrack. They stepped aside where they could, but passing took a while.

Checkpoint	Race time	Speed	Elevation +/-
Tiganesti	1:50:33	6 km/hr	1,387 m+ / 82 m-
Malaiesti	2:12:11	5.6 km/hr	13 m+ / 380 m-
Batrana	4:09:20	4.9 km/hr	825 m+ / 379 m-
Pestera	4:47:54	7.4 km/hr	0 m+ / 541 m-
Grohotis	5:52:52	5.8 km/hr	409 m+ / 220 m-
Gutanu	6:32:14	6.7 km/hr	84 m+ / 293 m-

Poarta to the finish at Bran Castle

The last control is at Poarta (km 44). It's mostly downhill from there, with two more climbs at Saua Polite and Muchia Grajdului. Neither is long, but after 40 km they take real effort.

I descended through thick forest following red cross markers, hit a brief stretch of forest road, then took one last twisty trail over Muchia Grajdului. That brought me to Bran Sports Hall, and from there it was a flat 200 m next to the highway before a right turn into the castle courtyard.

I crossed the line in 8:12:03 with the volunteers cheering everyone through the courtyard.

Checkpoint	Race time	Speed	Elevation +/-
Tiganesti	1:50:33	6 km/hr	1,387 m+ / 82 m-
Malaiesti	2:12:11	5.6 km/hr	13 m+ / 380 m-
Batrana	4:09:20	4.9 km/hr	825 m+ / 379 m-
Pestera	4:47:54	7.4 km/hr	0 m+ / 541 m-
Grohotis	5:52:52	5.8 km/hr	409 m+ / 220 m-
Gutanu	6:32:14	6.7 km/hr	84 m+ / 293 m-
Poarta	7:40:42	6.5 km/hr	102 m+ / 707 m-
Finish	8:12:03	9.8 km/hr	12 m+ / 246 m-

Reflections

The Transylvania 50k packs 3,320 m of climbing into 50 km, and the first 10 km take a fifth of that on their own. My quads were done by the halfway point. I don't think I've ever been more thankful for trekking poles.

The chimney to Hornurile Malaiesti is scrambling, not running. Then the course opens onto alpine ridgelines and quiet meadows and it stops feeling like a race at all. The trails here are packed and dry compared to the muddy, rooty ground at Finspång a few months earlier.

My fueling plan held up. Liquid carbs, salt tablets, and a Mars bar covered most of it. I overestimated how many gels and how much Liquid IV I could stomach late in the race, so the different textures and flavors in the vest did the work instead.

Eight hours went by fast. Every step needed attention, whether that was climbing over rock, dodging roots, or picking up red tape in the fog. If I ran it again I'd hold back more on the opening climb and carry less sweet fuel for the back half.

Thanks for reading. If you have questions or want to chat about the race, get in touch or find me on Instagram: @andrewtpham.

Happy trails!