Information

Every village in Croatia today has its own race, so why wouldn't Svinjarevci? And we believe you've heard of that village with a symbolic name.

So before we start about the race, a little about the history of the village with a symbolic name...

"Although most people associate Svinjarevci with pigs, their name almost certainly means something else.

As with most Slavonian settlements with names that seem strange to us today, which were named after personal names (Jankovci, Mikluševci, Tompojevci, etc.) it is probably the same with Svinjarevci.

One of the earliest traces of Svinjarevci can be traced back to the 14th century in the parish of Sveti Martin. The parish of Sveti Martin (Szent Marton) comes from a description when the papal legate collecting taxes (1333-35.) visited that parish. However, the name of the parish does not necessarily mean the name of the settlement.

There is no precise data on how this name originated, nor is it recorded in known medieval documents. We can assume that, although the former village may have been called St. Martin, one of its regional settlements could have been called Svinjarevci, which was the only one that survived through the Turkish era. Svinjarevci would then have inherited the aforementioned titular St. Martin. This is supported by local toponyms "Selište" and "Svetinje," which would indicate the existence of an old church and settlement nearby.

The name Svinjarevci could also come from the form of the name de Zwynna, the name of a noble family in Slavonia. An analogy to such a solution can be found in Davor on the Sava, i.e., the fortress of Svinjar (Zwynar), from which some experts conclude that it could mean "Bell-ringer."

Nor should we completely exclude the possibility that it is a corrupted form of the title St. Martin, from which "SviMarti" could have emerged, hence Svinjarevci. In the Middle Ages, the relative proximity of the castles of Slakovci, Berak, and Mikola placed this small place at a crossroads. We can see that it was not until the arrival of the Ottomans that the parish of Szent Marton disappeared and Svinjarevci emerged, so Svinjarevci could derive its name from the Aramaic "Zweena," which means "beautiful."

During Ottoman rule, the proximity of the Catholic parish in Laze kept this place under the Ottomans. During the Ottoman rule, Svinjarevci were located in the kadiluk of Nijemci. In the defter from 1570, they are mentioned as "Isvinarevçi" with 20 households.

The visitation of September 23, 1754, mentions a church of St. Martin in Svinjarevci made of wood with one altar, with pictures of its protectors. Indeed, on the map of Svinjarevci from 1733, we do not find a church, which would indicate that the village was moved and the church was built relatively late.

In the vicinity of Svinjarevci in 1880, a hoard of gold and silver coins from the 15th and 16th centuries was accidentally excavated, but as the peasants thought to keep something for themselves, a total of about 200 pieces were preserved.

In all likelihood, the money was buried in ceramic jars during the Ottoman period and is not later than 1567. The hoard contained gold and silver coins, talers, and forints of various rulers, bishops, and archbishops, German, Austrian, Turkish, Hungarian, Venetian, etc.

As an archaeological site, Svinjarevci became famous thanks to Nuber's excavations of the old Croatian cemetery (Bjelobrd culture - 11th century) at the end of the 19th century. In some graves, Hungarian denars of kings Bela I and Ladislav I from the 11th century were found.

Svinjarevci are actually a kind of corrupted form of the word for something completely different, which definitely needs further etymological research."*

*text taken from the Facebook page Vukovarska utvrda Vukovo

...and the history of the race itself...

The Svinjarevačkih 1200 race originated based on the length of the loop in Svinjarevci, which the fastest Svinjarevci woman, also a representative of Croatia in ultramarathon, used to run. When she started working in the running school, she imagined that length as the first test of functional abilities, so from 2019, all Sljeme running school participants undergo this test after about four weeks.

• When do we run? May 25, 2024, starting at 3:00 p.m.

• Who can participate? Anyone who can walk/run 1200 m

• How can I participate: by paying a registration fee of 1200 cents via the Race Mango application. In the payment description, be sure to specify Svinjarevačkih 1200 + the name and surname of the person it applies to. In the case of group payments, list the names of all runners. Registration is possible until Friday, May 19, at midnight or until the quota of 30 participants who receive a hoodie with the race logo is filled.

• Awards: The top three in the women's and men's categories receive sponsored prizes. 1200 g of chocolate, 1200 dkg of handmade pasta, 1200 ml of alcohol. Certificate of appreciation for all participants.

• Announcement of winners: 4:00 p.m. at the finish line, lunch after the race at 4:30 p.m. in the organizer's courtyard.

• Timekeeping: Race Mango

The primary goal of this race is to promote the village and popularize running in small settlements or to initiate sports activities to show that anyone can be a runner. Therefore, we appeal to fair play, and any form of unsportsmanlike behavior will be condemned and will be punished with disqualification.

If you have any unanswered questions, you can always send an email to info@panona.hr, and we will respond to you promptly.

After running, send us your photos at info@panona.hr to publish them in a large photo album on the organizer's Facebook/Instagram and this page.

Register and leave your running mark in Svinjarevci!