From City Streets to Mountain Peaks: Preparing for the Toptash Trail

After earning three medals for completing 10-kilometer races in Prilep, Kicevo, and Bitola, I am now preparing for my next challenge: a 10-kilometer mountain run near Prilep, the Momata Rock Trails – Toptash Trail (https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ECQHmeDsb/).

The race is mountainous through the slopes of Selecka Planina. The start and finish of the 10-kilometer race are in front of the monastery MONASTERY "ST. DIMITRIJA", SELCE, PRILEPSKO, from where you can enjoy the beautiful view of the city, Prilep. The monastery is located in the village of Selce. The monastery is situated in the immediate vicinity of the city of Prilep, which is why it is often visited by the citizens of Prilep, from whom an asphalt road leads. It was built in 1933 and consecrated the same year by the then Bishop of Bitola, Nikolaj (Velimirović). The monastery is located in a forest area on the Selecka mountain, a few kilometers from the city of Prilep. The race is held on November 9th, and the name of the race is based on a rock that looks very much like a girl with a traditional headscarf, painted in profile, looking at the horizon. The people of Prilep call the rock "Chupata", while some also know it as "Indianka". According to assumptions, the rock is 400,000 years old and is as high as 67 meters. Some scientists believe that this rock is not just a work of nature, but that people many years ago recognized the shape of a girl and decided to reshape the rock, which they treated as a deity. This will be my first mountain (trail) race. The weather conditions in Prilep at the beginning of November cannot be predicted with certainty. Last year, November 9th was a beautiful day, actually the last sunny day with temperatures above 15 degrees Celsius, so I can only hope for similar conditions this year for my mountain debut. These days I will start with a few weeks of a training plan that will still take place through the city streets of Prilep, and on run4.me. After the race, you will be able to download the GPX route of the course itself, so once you are in Prilep, you can run it, get a gift from our partners as a souvenir or enjoy lunch or events discounts, and of course support a local charity!