
An interview with the organizer of the 15-km long run between the centers of Giurgiu and Rousse – about the Bulgarian-Romanian collaboration in sport, about the culture of running, which is on the rise in Romania and Bulgaria, and about the European spirit of the sport event
Vladimir Mitev
Evgeni Ignatov is a Bulgarian athlete and a president of the athlete club ”Dounav” Rousse. He is a golden medal winner at the Alternative Olympic Games in Moscow in 1984 and has success in a lot of running competitions in Western Europe in the 80s (including a silver medal from the European Championship in 3 km distance running in hall in Grenoble in 1981). From 2016 Ignatov is the main force behind the International Free Spirit Run ”Giurgiu-Rousse” – a sport event, which permits each autumn its participants to pass the distance between the centers of Giurgiu and Rousse (15 km). It is organised by the municipalities of both cities and by the two light athletics clubs – ”Dounav” Rousse and „Dunarea” Giurgiu. Every even year the main organizer of the competition is the Bulgarian party, it starts in Giurgiu and ends in Rousse, while every odd year its main organizer is the Romanian party, it starts in Rousse and finishes in Giurgiu. The run passes „The Bridge of Friendship“ between Rousse and Giurgiu.