Dancon March in Kosovo

The first part of the route meandered across inhabited areas, and gave way to a rough mountainous terrain sector, with checkpoints set up at every 4-5 kilometers and continuous medical cover. Fortunately, the weather was perfect, so the soldiers were able to complete the distance in a wonderful autumn sunshine. On reaching the top, from the ridge they had a wonderful view of faraway mountains, and were even able to see Pristina at certain vantage points.

Of the Hungarian peacekeepers serving in Kosovo, a total of 19 entered the march. One soldier arrived from the Prizren camp, four from Camp Film City (the KFOR HQ), and 14 from the ninth rotation of the HDF KFOR Contingent. Two Portuguese service members also joined them and took up the challenge, since the peacekeeping battalion (KTM) deployed at Camp Slim Lines, Pristina is a joint Portuguese–Hungarian one.

The Dancon March is not a competition – it is aimed at building the soldiers’ team morale by providing the participants with some hours of break from their daily routine and an opportunity to test their physical endurance. That said, before each start the participants are informed about the time of the fastest member of the previous march, which gives them motivation.

On this day, the fastest time was 2 hours 48 minutes. Of the Hungarians, it was Cpl. Zoltán Szabó, a soldier from the HDF 5th “Bocskai István" Infantry Brigade that achieved the best result, having run the distance in 3 hours 18 minutes. At the finish line, the Hungarian deputy commander of the joint peacekeeping battalion welcomed the participants and congratulated everybody on the successful completion of the march. As all Hungarian participants completed the “tour" under the time limit of 6 hours, their performance was recognized with the “Dancon March 2013 Kosovo" medal and a related certificate.

The first Dancon March was organized in Cyprus in 1972. Since then, it has regularly been organized in every area of operations where Danish troops are deployed, so among others, the world-famous march is held in Iraq and Afghanistan too.

Photos by the author