Ibanescu Bogdan“Iba”

Ultra running demands more than just legs — it demands a body that can absorb 30+ hours of continuous load. Bogdan's S&C routine is built around injury prevention, functional strength, and power transfer from the gym to the trail. Two to three weekly sessions focus on posterior chain work, single-leg stability, and core bracing.

The goal is never aesthetics — it's resilience. A strong hip hinge, stable hips, and a braced spine are what keep him moving on hour 28 of a mountain race. Bogdan approaches the weight room the same way he approaches race day: deliberate, patient, and with a long view on what the body needs to last.

Between training blocks, Bogdan manages Olivo Coffee Culture — a specialty coffee bar in Bucharest built around origin-forward espresso, careful extraction, and a space where people actually want to stay. The menu changes with the seasons, the beans rotate, and the approach never wavers: no shortcuts.

Managing a café and running 100-mile races turn out to require the same thing: showing up every day, caring about the details, and building something that holds up under pressure. Olivo is where Bogdan channels the same discipline off the trail — one cup at a time.

When he's not on the trail, Bogdan trades running shoes for a 4x4 and heads deep into Romania's Carpathian backcountry. Overlanding — self-sufficient, vehicle-based travel into remote terrain — scratches the same itch as ultra running: solitude, self-reliance, and landscapes that remind you how small you are.

A rooftop tent, a week of food, and no signal. That's the reset. Whether it's the Transalpina ridge at sunrise, a forest track in Vrancea, or a river crossing in the Apuseni mountains, the goal is always the same — go further than the road allows, and stay long enough to actually feel it.