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| Get ready for the first edition of the tRUNsylvania International 10K Cluj! Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 8 June: The first edition of the tRUNsylvania International 10K Cluj, powered by Joma, will take place on Sunday 28 June in the centre of Cluj-Napoca, Romania’s vibrant second city and the unofficial capital of Transylvania. The World Athletics Elite Label Race, with separate events for men and women, is part of the inaugeral Cluj Running Festival which takes place throughout the weekend of 27-28 June and features top-class distance runners from nearly 20 countries. Situated on the international calendar just under a month before the qualification deadline for the 2026 European Athletics Championships, the race has attracted many athletes looking to secure their place at the continental showpiece as well as runners from further afield looking to make a name for themselves with fast times on the flat city-centre course. Amghar the attraction Leading the men’s entries is Morocco’s Hicham Amghar who is familiar with both Romania and Transylvania having won the 2024 tRUNsylvania 10K in Brasov in a personal best of 27:09. Norway’s Zerei Kbrom Mezngi, the 2022 European Athletics Championships 10,000m silver medallist, will also be on the start line while the Netherlands’ Filmon Tesfu will drop down distance after his personal best of 2:06:40 in the recent Rotterdam Marathon. Local star and 2024 European Athletics Championships half marathon silver medallist Joan Chelimo Melly will have the spotlight shone on her in the women’s race and not be short of support around the streets of Cluj-Napoca.  However, Great Britain’s Samantha Harrison, who has been close to medals over 10,000m on the track at recent European Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games has the fastest 10km personal best among the women with 30:51, one second quicker than the Romanian. Also eyeing victory will be Virginia Nyambura, part of Kenya’s gold medal-winning mixed relay team at the 2024 World Cross Country Championships. Nyambura has never ran a competitive 10km on the roads but in April ran a half marathon best of 1:08:31 in Japan and last month set a 10,000m personal best despite racing at altitude in Kenya. Live streaming in English and Romanian The tRUNsylvania International 10K Cluj races will be live streamed with English-language commentary via the European Athletics YouTube channel and available with Romanian commentary via the event website. “I’m very excited and proud to bring top-class distance running to Cluj-Napoca which, in addition to being Romania’s second largest city, is a beautiful location for our event,” commented the Event Organiser Daniel Santa. “After the success of the Brasov Running Festival over recent years, with that event taking place in the autumn, it was a natural extension for us to look for a spring or summer venue that would give new opportunities to the domestic running community and also bring top-class international road runners back to Romania. Dreams can come true “I’d like to thank everyone who has supported us, especially Joma and the public authorities, in making our dream come true by being able to stage this event in Cluj-Napoca. “The idea was initially to make the elite races predominantly European to provide a late opportunity for international standard runners to qualify for the European Athletics Championships “That remains true but requests to run the tRUNsylvania International 10K Cluj from elsewhere were much greater than expected – endorsing my feeling that this event has huge potential – so we have expanded our horizons. “I look forward to some thrilling battles and fast times in Cluj- Napoca once the guns fire on 28 June,” added Santa. The leading entries (with 10km personal bests) for thetRUNsylvania International 10K Cluj are: MenHicham Amghar (MAR) Zerei Kbrom Mezngi (NOR) Filmon Tesfu (NED) Samuel Barata (POR) Duarte Gomes (POR) Moses Cheruiyot (KEN) Seare Weldezghi (ART) Noah Shutte (NED) James Whelan (AUS) Pol Espinosa (ESP) Women Joan Chelimo Melly (ROU) Samantha Harrison (GBR) Fiona Everard (IRL) Manon Trapp (FRA) Niamh Allen (IRL) Robe Dida (ETH) Maor Tiyouri (ISR) Lilla Bohm (HUN) Cristina Espejo (ESP) Netsanet Desta (ETH) Virginia Nyambura (KEN) 27:0927:3927:45 27:54 28:08 28:09 28:14 28.1928.2628.47 30:52 30:51 31:58 32:21 32:25 32:27 32:2932:41.41 (track) 32:52debut, 1:08:10 half marathondebut, 1:08:31 half marathon The event website is here: https://www.clujrun.ro The two-day Cluj Running Festival 2026, powered by Joma, also features a series of children’s races for all ages from 800m to 3km as well as a mass/community race over 5km. The above photo of Joan Chelimo Melly is embedded but free to download and use with the accompanying credit: Cluj Running Festival 2026 organisers. |