Dozens of university-affiliated teams, including two relay teams of two (Team Jász and PirCsi), successfully completed the 211-kilometer distance of the 16th NN Ultrabalaton. The 13-member team of the Semmelweis University Medical Imaging Centre, the Száguldó Fotonok (Speeding Photons), ran around Lake Balaton in less than 20 hours.
This was the first time that the team called Semmelweis Sports Heart from the Városmajor Heart and Vascular Center had taken part in the ultra running race in this line-up. The team included participants from the Department of Sports Medicine, the Department of Cardiology, the Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology and the 1st Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research.
“The training was individual, everyone chose the distance and speed that suited him or her. In beautiful weather, we had a real fun run with great experiences! Our time was 19 hours 01 minutes,” said team captain Dr. Hajnalka Vágó, Associate Professor at the Városmajor center.
The Department of Surgery and Interventional Gastroenterology was represented by two teams at this year’s Ultrabalaton.
“This year we had the largest number of participants at the long distance race, which was completed for the third time. A total of 26 runners and 4 cyclists accompanied by athletes from our partner university institutions, such as the Central Pharmacy and the Department of Orthopedics, completed the course. There was complete harmony between our teams (‘Let’s go for it’ and ‘STéG’), with relay teams finishing just 3 minutes apart after 20 hours of running. It was a good opportunity to make friends and get to know each other better. We’ll be there next year!” promised Dr. Dávid Bárdos, specialist candidate of the Department of Surgery and Interventional Gastroenterology.
The Mental Pride team from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy completed the course in 20 hours 12 minutes.
“We have reached our 21-hour target, and we are very happy about that,” reported Dr. Fanny Kupcsik on behalf of her team. “Our team members included psychiatry residents, trainee specialists, medical specialists, nurses and PhD students. We also organised a fundraising event for our Ultrabalaton run through the Moravcsik Foundation, which is affiliated with our clinic, with the aim of creating a Bird Friendly Garden at the clinic. This fits in well with the Green University approach, and our aim is to open up a more welcoming environment and potential new employment and leisure opportunities for the patients of our Day Hospital,” she added.
13 doctors from the Department of Urology of Semmelweis University also ran around Lake Balaton for charitable purpose, completing the ultra distance as part of the 10 Thousand Steps Programme to help prostate cancer patients.
“We always tell our prostate cancer patients that it is important to take their medication accurately, attend check-ups and regularly monitor their PSA tumor marker, which can predict recurrence, but it is also important to lead a healthy lifestyle and exercise regularly. A growing body of international scientific research is coming to the same conclusion: men with prostate cancer who continue to be physically active as part of their daily lives after diagnosis, can live significantly longer and with fewer complaints,” said Dr. Péter Nyirády, Director of the Department of Urology at Semmelweis University, adding that by entering a team competition, they are also sending a message that prostate cancer patients are not cured by a single doctor, but by a team of professionals.
Another team from Semmelweis University, called OrthoProtko, completed the distance in 21 hours.
“Our 11-member team included doctors from the Faculty of Dentistry, the Institute of Pharmacognosy, the Department of Pancreatic Diseases of the Városmajor Heart and Vascular Center and the Department of Neurology,” said team captain Dr. Gergely Lőrincz, resident of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics.
The UBókay team is made up of staff, relatives and friends of the 1st Department of Pediatrics and has participated in every Ultrabalaton since 2015, except for one year.
“People often ask: what’s so great about people running in the heat, cold, rain, wind, night and day, encouraging, accompanying, waking up, getting tired and surely exhausted by the end? The answer is that doing it together – running around Lake Balaton – is a very uplifting and collective experience that is rare,” said Dr. Péter Krivácsy, head of the Emergency Patient Care Unit of the department, team captain.
The team called ARccal előre (Face forward), whose only female member is Dr. Réka Bálint, a specialist of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, ran around the lake in less than 15 hours: with a time of 14 hours 54 minutes and 3 seconds, she and her civilian teammates took 11th place overall.
“My fellow runners, the 7-strong humor mafia, as I call them, struggled with me all the way, motivated me, supported me and once again made this fantastic night a super experience. Alongside them, my enthusiastic bike and car companions were also a huge source of strength, to whom I am also very grateful”, emphasised Dr. Réka Bálint.
The teams of the Department of Internal Medicine and Oncology of Semmelweis University and the 13-strong contingent from the Center for Health Care Management Training also took part in the race.
Many university citizens also took part in the two-day event of this year’s 37th Telekom Vivicittá Running Festival. Under the organization of the Recreational Sports Department of the Semmelweis University Sports Club, 41 runners completed the distance, including Vice-Rector Dr. Péter Ferdinandy and his team, as well as Dr. Gábor Gerber, Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, head of the Recreational Sports Department, and his wife Zsuzsanna.
Edited by Éva Fekete-Obreczány, Bernadett Bódi,
Translated by Gábor Kiss
Photos: made by the teams
