Garmin duo complete epic trail run in the Carpathians

Jason, a Garmin software engineering manager, takes the idea of team-building to great lengths here at Garmin headquarters. Earlier this year, he organized a winter bike commuter challenge, encouraging other associates to trade driving miles for pedal-powered ones. This summer, Jason had the chance to connect with another Garmin associate from Romania on a decidedly different form of team-building challenge.

During one of Jason’s trips to the Garmin Cluj office in Romania, he bonded with software engineer Radu over his commuter bike. “We just hit it off and started talking,” said Jason. “We decided we should go running together.” The duo ran together on numerous visits and on one of those, Jason proposed they go on a big trail run. “That’s when I told him I wanted to do epic,” he said. “I wanted to get out of the foothills.” Radu consulted his cousin, who tracks trails for hiking and backpacking books. She recommended a 36-mile trail route in the Carpathians.

After the pair spent months training on separate continents, Jason boarded a plane back to the Cluj office where Radu joined up to start their adventure. Just getting to the trailhead to start their epic journey was a challenge. Although they didn’t have far to drive, they had to traverse the city of Cluj. According to Jason, in the city, traffic laws are more of a suggestion rather than hard and fast rules. Plus, delays from cows and horse carts aren’t unusual.

The pair stopped at Radu’s grandmother’s house to stock up on water and fruit. They also carried flatbread made by Radu and his wife and hummus, peanut butter and dates. Hydration needs were carefully planned as well. Jason carried a pack that held two water bottles. When the water he carried in ran out, they stopped at natural springs. At the ones near the grazing areas of sheep, they used purifier tabs.

Jason said one of the greatest challenges on their journey was encountering sheepdogs on the loose in the grazing areas. “These dogs look rabid,” he said. “You hear them barking from about three miles away, and then they come running up, snarling and barking.” The runners used trekking poles to keep the dogs at bay. In an unfortunate oversight, they’d left the pepper spray in the car. “In 36 miles, we probably went through 6 packs of dogs,” Jason said. In the first instance, the shepherds wouldn’t call the dogs back. But in later encounters, the young shepherds were more helpful. “When we ran into these kids, they pulled the dogs back. So once we got connected with them, then the dogs went away. It was really remarkable.”

For a run of this distance, keeping adrenaline levels down is important. “You want to keep that in check, otherwise you’re exhausted,” Jason said. “We would walk about 20 or 30 feet, and then when they’d turn around again, that’s when we started to jog a little bit. Then we would be able to run again. The distance is its own psychological barrier that you’ve got to break through. You don’t need adrenaline on something like this.”

Overall, it took Jason and Radu 9 hours and 15 minutes to traverse the 36.5 miles. Take a look at the details of their epic run in Garmin Connect, recorded by Jason’s Garmin fenix watch.

The post Garmin duo complete epic trail run in the Carpathians appeared first on Garmin Blog.