More than 400 people participated in this year's ninth mountain bike event MTB race ‘Three Sides of Kopaonik’. Our colleague Alena Pajić, Hemofarm Foundation Project Manager, is one of the regular participants, who signed up for the middle marathon category on ‘Jela’ track. This track is said to be the perfect measure of true adventure. It is 33.5 km long with a height difference of 1020 meters above sea level. Besides this race category, competitors had a chance to participate also in a small and grand bicycle marathon.

‘I like competing and I’m happy when I win. This year, I haven’t managed to adequately prepare for this demanding bicycle race, but it hasn’t stopped me from signing up.😊 I remember, several years ago, the conditions for competition were inadequate – it was raining, and it was cold with mud all over the place. I didn't think even for a second to give up because weather conditions and age should never be an obstacle for us to be physically active because any time is right and good for us and for our health’, said Alena, who has ranked 5th this year in the overall ranking within women’s category and won the 1st place again in the age group 40 – 45.

‘No matter how hard it is sometimes for me to organize myself and it seems to me that I have no strength, I always find a spark of motivation inside me to go for a walk either alone or with family and friends, ride a bike, spend time in nature. It is a part of my identity, the way I was brought up and my business environment, which cares about people's health and supports us to engage in physical activity, thus taking care of our mental health as well’, Alena emphasized.

So far, Alena has been a several-time winner at the sports event MTB race ‘Three Sides of Kopaonik’, specifically in the Small Marathon in 2018, when she was ranked 3rd in women’s category in the overall ranking and 1st in women’s category in the age group 40+. In 2019, Alena had the identical ranking.

Nevertheless, she continued scoring magnificent results, so in 2020 she won 1st place on ‘Jela’ track (Middle Marathon) in women’s category in the overall ranking and in 2021, she won 1st place in the category of women aged between 40-50.