Founders

 

Kovács Ferenc Soma (Co-founder)

I first got involved in competitive running in third grade, when Gyula Egri, a youth coach, noticed me during the Kerekdomb race in Törökbálint. Under his guidance, on my very first training session, I completed five 1,000-meter intervals on the 250-meter track at Hermann Ottó Primary School in Budaörs. Fortunately, the challenging workouts (along with the positive atmosphere, great team, and youth successes) deepened my passion for running, which has remained unwavering ever since. After spending six and a half years at the Budaörs Students' Sports Club (BDSE), I briefly trained with Csoma Ferenc’s long-distance running group. Then, with hopes for future success, I moved to Veszprém to train under Anikó Tóthné Stupián, alongside outstanding domestic long-distance runners like Gergő Xavér Kiss and István Dániel Szögi.

Thanks to the high-level training at the Veszprém Sportolj Velünk Sports Club (SVSE) and the quality education provided by the teachers at Illyés Gyula High School in Budaörs, I was accepted to Harvard University in 2023. While in the United States, I was impressed by the popularity of running and athletics, as well as the sport's well-functioning systems (media, talent development, competition structure, etc.). Afterward, my good friend Darius and I decided we wanted to actively contribute to increasing the respect, prestige, and popularity of the Queen of Sports in Hungary.

Danubius Track Club is not just an excellence-driven team; it is a passionate movement! Be a part of it too!

Silaghi Darius (Co-founder)

Let's start with the question that most people ask me: why is my name so unusual? I am originally from Transylvania, so my name might sound unfamiliar to Hungarian ears. My father was also a national-level marathon runner in the '80s and '90s, during the golden age of Romanian athletics. He tried to introduce me to running when I was about 4 years old, but serious training didn’t start until later. As a child, I also practiced gymnastics, and in 2013, at the age of 8, I began competing in athletics with BHSE (Honvéd) colors. I received general athletic training from Kriszti Molnár, sprint and movement development training from Irma Könye, but I officially first encountered long-distance running training under Ferenc Csoma. I achieved my first significant results here, and later as a student of Zoltán Káldy, but an injury—a herniated disc—changed my life and put my athletic dreams on hold for an uncertain period.

In 2023, with renewed energy, I ventured into unfamiliar waters and wanted to apply my more than 10 years of experience: I decided to become my own coach, though this expression is far from precise... My daily work is not only supervised but also greatly assisted, managed, and analyzed by my former runner father, who is now a sports enthusiast, the rest of my family members, and my strength coach Francisco Escalante, the founder and owner of Smasher Training.

Since my herniated disc set me back by more than a whole year and this happened during the university application period, I didn’t have the opportunity to enter the NCAA system. However, thanks to the high-quality education at Eötvös József High School and a wonderfully successful graduation, I decided to continue my studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences at ELTE. I have known Soma for a long time—since we were 10 years old, we’ve been both rivals and friends. We want to create something lasting, bring together the Hungarian and European athletics communities, and make it even stronger. The sky's the limit!