Bieg Piastow

We talked to Managing Director of Bieg Piastow, Kaja Sznajdrowicz-Kręcichwost, about how the organizing team is preparing for upcoming winter, in order to prevent another cancellation.

After cancelling last year, are you ready to invite competitors to the Piast Run in 2025?

Kaja: We will do everything to prevent a repeat of the situation in 2024, when we had to cancel the Bieg Piastów due to very bad weather conditions. The reason was a disastrous winter – one of the warmest and rainiest in history. However, in 2025 we must be ready for such a bad winter to happen again.

How? Do you already have alternative variants of running the race?

We are already working on them. In the summer, we carried out a lot of work that allows for better and faster drainage during rain. They have already proven themselves during the powerful September rains, which caused much destruction and flooding elsewhere. Our tracks were not damaged. We have also marked out a track of approximately 20 km, which we will take extra care of from the first snowfall. If the conditions do not allow the Bieg Piastów to be held on the original 50-kilometer route, we will invite the competitors to a 20-kilometer track, which they will cover twice.

Are you able to provide artificial snow on your tracks? Today, without it, it is difficult to talk about effective replacement variants when temperatures are high.

Yes, we have already negotiated this matter with the manager of the Lower Silesian Sports Center Polana Jakuszycka (shortly in original: DCS), i.e. the arena that is the logistic base of our competition. DCS Polana Jakuszycka is purchasing a snowmaking system, which is to be operational during the next winter. In an emergency situation, we will commission DCS to produce snow for the Bieg Piastów. It can complement natural snow. If there is no natural snow at all, the Bieg Piastów will take place on artificial snow.

Will there be any new proposals at the Bieg Piastów in 2025?

For the first time in a long time, the Bieg Piastów on the main distances belonging to Wordloppet will not coincide with the main weekend of the Vasaloppet. We hope that this will enable many players who cannot imagine life without Vasa to start with us. We also know that it will work the other way round: there are competitors who always start in the Bieg Piastów, and their dream is to start in the legendary Vasaloppet.

This is very good news. However, aren’t you afraid that the March date carries a high risk of high temperatures?

For many years, the date of the Bieg Piastów at the beginning of March was ideal. We hope that 2024 was exceptional in this respect and that everything will return to normal in 2025. However, there is one more factor, specific to the Bieg Piastów, which means that we should not move the date to February. We live in a tourist region, and in Fehttps://bieg-piastow.pl/bruary we have winter holidays in Poland. Tens of thousands of people come to us from all over the country. When there is no snow in the lower areas, they come to see it on our tracks. Unfortunately, the vast majority do it without skis. This causes dangerous situations and reduces the comfort of skiing. We do not have legal tools to eliminate this phenomenon. We ask people to walk without skis elsewhere, we try to educate pedestrians, but our arguments do not reach the age of people. At the beginning of March, after the end of the winter holidays, we are able to guarantee that the competition will take place in safe conditions, whereas previously we were not able to. That’s why we’re sticking to the March date.

When will registration for the Bieg Piastów in 2025 start?

In October. We will announce the exact date soon. We cordially invite you!