Lithgow’s Florentina Dulceanu has won the 100 kilometre run at the Hume and Hovell Ultra race in Southern NSW.
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Dulceanu ran the course in 13 hours and 32 minutes despite never having run the course before.
The track is a mixture of constructed walking track, single trail and fire trails.
Going into the race Dulceanu had a sore leg and just wanted to get out of the race in one piece.
Lithgow man Hilton Brown also competed in the 100 kilometre race, coming in 15th. Dulceanu and Brown both did a couple of training runs together.
“I was so excited and to have a friend like that, that I could share this experience with,” Dulceanu said.
Dulceanu and Brown are both coached by La Salle PE teacher Wes Gibson through his UP coaching.
“I have been super impressed with their commitment in the lead up to the race,” Gibson said.
“It was a great day for Tina [Florentina] after such a long build up. Very rewarding and deserved indeed.”
For the last six months Dulceanu has been training hard four days a week working on endurance, strength, hill reps, long runs and having fun at parkrun.
“It’s been an incredible journey to do my first 100 kilometres,” she said.
“It was a dream to run this race, run strong, and be confident and Wes’s training and guidance offered that for me.”
The race was quite mentally challenging for Dulceanu as her body started to ache in all sorts of places.
“You have to be able to cope with that and keep going and just tackle the different sections with confidence,” she said.
Ducleanu led the race from start to finish and said the support she felt was incredible.
“People were just cheering me on and telling me how well I was going,” she said.
Dulceanu’s passion for running is clear as she speaks about struggles of running such a long distance.
“I love it, can’t get enough, your body is aching, mentally you are struggling, the terrain is hard, you have a 15 kilometre hill climb, you are running out of water but that’s all part of the fun,” she said.
“Running for me brings me close to nature and it’s the most incredible feeling to be out there exploring these beautiful trails, seeing wildlife, it’s something I will always be doing.
“Racing just challenges my body, pushes it to its limit, seeing how far I can go, and the mental strength you have to have. I hope more people jump in and want to do it.”
The last competition Ducleanu participated in was the Mudgee Marathon, in which she finished fourth.
“I wasn’t disappointed that I didn’t place, I was overwhelmed by how fast I ran it and the support I received,” she said.
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Ducleanu hopes that as a single parent she can inspire her kids.
“They’ve seen me train hard, seen my struggle and passion and I hope I can inspire them and continue to be a better Mum for them, because everything I do is for them,” she said.
Ducleanu’s youngest daughter has been asking her for a lyrebird feather for a while now and Ducleanu was overwhelmed when she found one on the track.
“I couldn’t believe I found the feather on the run and I stopped to pick it up not caring if I got overtaken by anyone because my daughter wanted this particular feather,” she said.
“If your six year old wants one you better bring it home, so I ran with the feather in pack.”
When Dulceanu finished the race the first thing she did was call her two young daughters to tell them what she had achieved.
“They’re support means the world to me, I win every time I come home to my beautiful kids and see how proud they are of me,” she said.
When Dulceanu crossed the line she was given a pair of slippers to change into.
“I had blisters between my toes so slippers were the best thing ever, my feet were very happy,” she said.
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