Three Romanians will take part in the upcoming  6633 Arctic Ultra, which is considered one of the world’s toughest ultramarathons. It is for the first time when a quarter of the competitors in this marathon are Romanians.

Andrei Rosu, Vlad Tanase and Tiberiu Useriu are among the 12 runners in this year's ultramarathon. They train for it by sleeping outside during the freeze that took over Romania in recent weeks.

Andrei Rosu has been preparing for this tough race by sleeping on his balcony, as temperatures in Bucharest have gone down to as low as -20 degrees during the nights, according to his blog.

Tiberiu Useriu too has been sleeping outside in his yard, and has been running only in shorts, some 27 kilometers daily. The competitors try to get ready for even harsher conditions:  temperatures as low as -50 degrees Celsius and wind blowing with up to 200 kilometers per hour.

This year’s race starts on March 11 from Eagle Plains, Yukon, in Canada. The competitors can run 120 miles or can choose the longer course, which is 350 miles (566 kilometers) and goes all the way to Tuktoyaktuk, at the Arctic Ocean. Both the short race and the long one go over the Arctic Circle.

Only 19 participants have managed to finish this race since 2007 when it was launched.

Andrei Rosu, the first Romanian ever to swim the English Channel and finish the Arc to Arch challenge, is not at his first arctic race. In 2010, he ran his first marathon at the North Pole, as part of his personal challenge to become the first Romanian to run seven marathons and seven ultramarathons in two years. He also ran in Antarctica and the Himalayas.

He says he always prepared before these cold races by sleeping on the balcony and by training in cold storages. He also says that this has helped him avoid catching too many colds in recent years.

Andrei Rosu will also support a social project by participating in this race.  Before the 6633 Arctic Ultra, Rosu will also run in the Los Angeles Marathon, in February, where he will try to raise money for local charity Hospice Casa Sperantei.

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editor@romania-insider.com