Pirin Ultra

Dimitar Dimitrov, founder of XCoSports and Race Director for the Pirin Ultra & Pirin Extreme 38k Skyrace. In this interview series, Ahotu will be speaking with the people behind some of the most unique races across the globe. We’ll be discussing the history of the event, challenges and how to overcome them, attracting sponsors, reaching new runners and more! This month, we’re catching up with XCoSports founder and race director of the Pirin Ultra, Dimitar Dimitrov. With the Pirin Ultra & Pirin Extreme 38k recently taking place, we took half an hour to hear how the event went and learn a bit more about what goes into organising some of the most extreme races Bulgaria and Europe have to offer! ‍ Thanks for joining us Dimitar. Firstly congratulations on the recent Pirin Ultra event, it looked fantastic. For people who aren’t familiar with XCoSports and the Pirin Ultra, could you tell us a little bit about the company and the race(s)? XCoSports is actually a collective of companies. We run under several brands, with an outdoor gear distribution business, retail chain, travel agency, sports marketing & publishing business and a sports club. All based mainly in Sofia, Bulgaria and regionally, but also with a small setup in Eagle, Colorado, USA. We deal with and live for anything related to outdoor sports, mountain and surf culture. How did you end up becoming a race director and how long have you been organising events? We started doing events back in 2009 and it has been a long 12 years. Many stories and a lot of amazing memories. It started as a marketing push, but also as a vision to open the local scene for some really bad-ass competitions. Together with my business partner Ivan Savev and friends – we share a passion for skiing, climbing, running, biking, flying and general suffering in the mountains. The first thing that we did was a crazy and now almost legendary adventure race called the XCo Adventure Race which was a 300km+ event. I started as Race Director and kept the position ever since. Six years later we came up with the Pirin Ultra, and grew to include the Parangalitsa Run and Balkaniada race. The team is also involved in the support, safety and organization of some other bike, triathlon and skiing races too. Has the running community / industry in Bulgaria changed at all since you have been involved in the sport? Back in 2010, the trail running was almost non-existent in Bulgaria, at least in terms of events. Then the scene erupted rapidly. This occurred alongside the growth of the international ultramarathon scene, so quite unnaturally the first boom here was mainly in long and really tough events. Then the scene gradually evolved back to shorter runs, park events, Mountain Running, Sky-running and etc. Now there is busy calendar with many races in any style every weekend. We also have some good mountain runners on the international elite level – like Kiril Nikolov, Maria Nikolova, Antoniya Grigorova, Shaban Mustafa and others. The Pirin Ultra has a range of distances, including 160k, 66k & 38k with all routes covering extreme mountain terrain, what are the main challenges for you and your team given the environment and location? The Pirin Mountain range is the toughest in Bulgaria (and we have a lot of mountains!) and definitely one of the toughest in South Eastern Europe. It is in a National Park with strict rules around conservation and also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Under the current rules, and with current capabilities in Bulgaria we have no available aerial support which many other mountain ranges can rely on. The alpine sections are all supported on foot. The weather, the elevation the distances – it is all quite challenging. For example for the Pirin Extreme 38k – the week of preparation, meant for the crew – daily climbs and descents of 2,000m with ropes, gear, water, etc. Some areas of the mountain, especially around the 160k course are remote and wild. To get there takes up to 3 hours of off-road driving from Bansko and another 2-3 hours of hiking and then the real work starts! Would you say the Pirin Ultra is only for experienced mountain runners or suitable for those moving into more advanced trail / ultra running? The 160k and 38k are no joke for sure. The 38k is super technical, with sharp ridges and huge cliffs. The 160k is a super tough race, I would speculate it is the hardest 100 miler in Europe at this stage due to many factors, it’s wild, remote and technically crazy in places. The 66k is a little bit more mellow and has quite generous cut-off times, so people looking to step up into advanced trail running can tackle it, with some proper preparation of course. Where do your runners typically come from? Is it primarily Bulgarian participants or do you see a mix of other countries represented? The race expanded internationally a lot in recent years and typically we have about 70% of registrations coming from outside Bulgaria. Participants come from across the globe with runners this year from 39 countries and 6 continents. The 38k distance was part of the Skyrunner world series, did you do anything differently when designing the route or event with this distance being part of the series? The Skyrunner Worlds Series means a lot of elite runners and worldwide attention, so everything from the start to the finish has to be perfect. This includes the organization of the start-finish zone, course marking and safety, timing, gps tracking, the awards ceremony, prize fund, spectators, photo and video, social media coverage and so on. Small mistakes on the organizer side are noticed by both spectators and runners, so the event demands a “no compromise” attitude from the entire 70+ crew behind the event. You have a range of sponsors / partners featured at the Pirin Ultra, including Stanley, Red Bull, Dolomite and more. What do you look for in a partnership? I think we are really easy to work with as a partner, and we try to give the maximum exposure and support to all sponsors involved. Given the international level of the event and the fact that we are based in Bulgaria – the event is a cost effective platform to reach out to a bigger international audience in the world of Sky-running and Ultramarathons. For example the video we had from this year event had 200k views on social media platforms with the first 5 days, which is a significant reach. I would expect in the coming years there will be more outdoor sports related brands realising the opportunity they have with Pirin Ultra. World’s Marathons (& Ahotu) promote your race to our European & Global audience, are there any other tools / companies you use or want to shout-out? We have several important partners including the International Skyrunning Federation, Skyman, Loggator, Rescue Service (our professional events safety company), Basecamp Tours (which provides full accommodation and transfer packages to international runners), the National Parks, the amazing town of Bansko, local and country authorities to name a few. Of course, the biggest shout-out goes to the crew, which give their heart, soul and muscle power for the event to happen. Finally, this year I would like to specially mention Julen Elorza – who is the best running video content creator out there! What can runners expect from an XCO Sports event? We offer crazy, technical races in amazing, wild, alpine locations, with solid organization, and no-compromises on safety. The food and the vibe are great with accommodation and services at a international competition standard. We try to keep the rules at a minimum, but those we do have are strict. We want to keep the mountaineering and adventure spirit alive, so we provide everything that is required to run in our spectacular mountains, but no excessive pampering or complaints are allowed! What are the next races you have lined up for 2021/22 and where can runners learn more about your events? The plan for 2022 is of course to organise great events in the Bulgarian mountains. We will have the Parangalitsa Run in the Rila mountains, Balkaniada – in the Balkan mountains, and the Pirin Ultra again. Plus there will be several other events which will be supporting behind the scenes. Pirin Ultra is the cherry on the cake, but for runners looking for something off the beaten track – the other 2 events are not to be missed (the Parangalitsa run & the Balkaniada). The best places to get keep up with our new is on the XCoSports and Pirin Ultra Facebook pages, as well as the XCoSports profile in Instagram. We are all over the place! *Thanks for your time Dimitar and thank you for giving us and our readers an insight into your races. Best of luck with the 2022 schedule and we look forward to seeing XCo Sports and the Pirin Ultra continue to grow! * Interested in taking part? Keep an eye on the upcoming edition on Ahotu – Pirin Ultra To feature in our interview series you can drop us an email on [email protected] Interested in promoting your race with World’s Marathons or Ahotu Marathons? Contact us on [email protected]