Hungarian Soldiers’ Success in the Bosnian Mountains
Szöveg: 1LT Zita Dr. Markovics Révészné | 2012. augusztus 22. 10:01This year the 6th International Mountain Running Race was held in the famous Visočica-mountain near Visoko, Bosnia-Herzegovina with the participation of soldiers of eight nations. In late July, CPL Éva Csáki Bálintné, a servicewoman of the HDF 5th “Bocskai István” Infantry Brigade entered the competition as a member of the Hungarian national team.
The soldier who serves in the Hódmezővásárhely garrison of the brigade was the runner-up at the 6,000 meters running event of the HDF championship held in April, so she was invited to join the national team. The team of eight – comprising four women and four men – had to cover 12.2 kilometers on the Visočica while negotiating a height difference of 1,000 meters.
This is how Éva Csáki Bálintné recalls the extraordinary challenge: “We started at 10:00 a.m. Our tactics was to save our strength along the first ten kilometers on the gravelly, winding road and to run at a steady pace, building up our reserves of stamina so that it will last out for the last two kilometers. In retrospect, it turned out to have been unnecessary because after ten kilometers the terrain features did not allow running. We made a forced march along the woody, narrow path and the barren rocky parts of the last 1,200 meters to reach the top of the mountain. Of the Hungarian women competitors I was the fourth to reach the finish line in 1 hour 45 minutes, and our team received a cup for the second placing."
The men’s team of the Hungarian Defence Forces came in first among the around 200 civil and military entrants. This was the first time that Hungary had entered the competition, and the organizers count on our participation next year too.
