This year’s Transylvania 100 sends runners through some of Romania’s most stunning and challenging mountain terrain, but this year’s event became a rescue-heavy day in the Bucegi Mountains, with biting winds, icy slopes, poor visibility and multiple cold, injured runners becoming stuck on the course. The three most serious cases involved people who fell into a ravine–one sustaining multiple injuries, while another was reported to have hypothermia. A third was initially described as conscious, but with a pelvic fracture, traumatic brain injury and right upper limb fracture.
Transylvania 100 attracts large international fields each year and is known as one of the toughest mountain events in Eastern Europe. It offers race distances of 30K, 50K, 80K and 100K, with the 100K runners climbing approximately 6,444 metres over the distance.
15 incidents on course
As reported by Romanian media, the mountain rescue service Salvamont Braşov reported 15 incidents during the 100K race. Three of the cases were described as more serious, but all of the injured runners were eventually stabilized.
An update shared on Salvamont Romania said eight people were recovered from the trail, three were recovered from a ravine with various injuries and four others refused medical evaluation and continued the race.
Conditions on the course were difficult, with persistent snow and terrain that became treacherously slippery. Earlier reports said a rescue helicopter could not assist because visibility was so poor, although later updates said one injured person who required helicopter intervention was transported to a nearby city. A bear was spotted on one section of the course, but officials said the animal was driven away.
Falls near Țigănești
Salvamont Romania’s VP, Sebastian Marinescu, told Digi24 TV that incidents had been reported in 13 different locations. He said 12 of the cases involved people slipping on ice and falling tens or hundreds of metres.
Marinescu also said those who needed help were equipped for mountain running, but not for the conditions that developed in the field. According to the reports, mountain rescuers had recommended postponing the event because of the weather, but the race went ahead with extra rescue personnel.
Runners raise safety concerns
Romanian ultrarunner Costel Rotaru, who holds the national 24-hour record, was competing in the race and criticized how it was handled in an Instagram post.
“Transylvania 100K left a bitter taste in my mouth,” Rotaru wrote. He said the longer-distance runners had to traverse the most exposed terrain. “In such competitions, the safety of the participants should be the absolute priority, especially on the high-risk segments,” he wrote. “Ropes were needed in the dangerous sections.”
Scandinavian runner Anna Simone also posted about the race, sharing that she stopped when she reached the third icy section. “It’s easy to try to find someone to blame, but I think it’s really hard to decide whether something is too dangerous or not because the range of experience and confidence was so big,” she wrote. “I don’t know who I think is ‘responsible’ but I surely took responsibility for myself, and that’s the most important.”
The race continued despite the incidents, according to Romanian reports.
In recent years, some race organizers are exercising more caution around extreme weather events. In 2025, the Minotaur Skyrace, held in Crowsnest Pass, Alta., was called off after a special weather alert was issued. That same weekend in Palisades Tahoe, Calif., the Broken Arrow Skyrace 46K was cut short, nearly seven hours and 163 finishers into the race, due to persistent lightning.