Fifty years ago, on this day, the mausoleum in Lovcen was opened. But this is not a story about a mausoleum, but about Nikšić mountaineer Mileta Božović, a man who marked every important date, the days of the liberation of many cities of Montenegro, national holidays, unveiling monuments, with a race, because his goal was to promote the marathon and attract as many people as possible. young people to play sports.
Everyone passes, but the people stay
Milet likes to have coffee with his friends on the terrace of the "Onogošt" hotel, to remember the races when he was beating himself, the accidents and incidents without which not a single marathon or half marathon could pass. It was the same this time. In the company of his friends, Primarius Radovan Rac Mijanović, journalist and publicist Maksim Vujačić, and the signatory of these lines, who had the privilege of hearing and recording some of the stories, Milet talked about the race to which he was accompanied by several thousand fellow citizens.
"I went with the company to Nenad Bućin (president of the Republican Socialist Union of Working People, ed.) and we presented him with a plan that we wanted to mark the opening of the mausoleum with a run from Nikšić to Lovcen. He gave us permission and we made posters and informed the people about the planned race".
The people, because the man whose life was marked by long stripes always ran for the people. The people, not the municipal officials, saw the posters about the race, so Mileta was sent off by her fellow citizens as befits. He admits that he was surprised when he saw several thousand people from Nikšić, because he had never been followed by so many fellow citizens before or after that race.
"We were surprised when we saw that several thousand citizens were waiting for us in the city center. There was no one from the municipal officials - they practically ignored us. Even from Rastok to the city, on both sides of the street, people were standing and greeting us. It was July 27, 1974. Exactly at 20:XNUMX p.m., we started for Lovćen - me running, and my friends in the car, as an escort".
The 130-kilometer-long track, due to the large differences in altitude, qualifies as one of the most demanding in Europe. But not Milet, who already had thousands of kilometers in his legs.
"When we arrived in Cetinje from Njeguš, from Njeguš's birthplace, we had to wait for them to tell us when to leave for Lovćen, because we had to fit into the program. It was forbidden for small cars to go up that day. Only the most important dignitaries arrived up there with two or three cars, and my escort was among them. When they announced that the marathon runner was coming, there was great enthusiasm among those present. I felt really beautiful," says the first Montenegrin to run a 100-kilometer ultramarathon.
He ran around the globe five times, was an athlete with the biggest heart (volume 1.850 cm3), "went" to work while running...
Although it was a wonderful feeling when so many guests applauded him, program participants wanted to take photos with him, local and foreign journalists to take a statement, Mileta says that it was much more emotional at the farewell, because the people followed him.
"And he felt especially good when 15 thousand spectators at the 'Sutjeske' stadium applauded him when he entered the stadium," adds Maksim Vujačić.
"I cannot complain about the citizens of Nikšić. They always welcomed me. And that is the most important thing. Everyone else comes and goes, but the people stay".
The team that accompanied him, in addition to Doctor Rac, were journalist Ljubo Tomić, who never missed Mileta's races, Momo Bošković, the athletic trainer of "Sutjeska" and Božović's friend, and Vojislav Bijelović, the driver of the Željezara official vehicle.
When there is a crisis, Doctor Raco runs
"It was a real pleasure to follow Mileta. I also followed him when he ran 100 kilometers in Switzerland. No one ever helped him, but we always managed and went to those races without much fanfare. We also went to Switzerland with our money. As much as he was respected both in the city and in the republic, neither the city nor the republic ever turned to Mileta as much as they should, so I felt an additional need to be by his side", says Raco Mijanović, who once knew, in the crisis moments of the race, to run a few kilometers along Mileta.
Even he, he says, will never forget the feeling when several thousand people from Nikšić came out to see Mileta off.
"We are moving and going through the crosshairs of the people. Mileta runs, and they make way for us to pass in the car. That was really extraordinary. And when we were approaching Lovcen, we thought we would have to run with Milet, because they didn't let anyone in a car. Everyone leaves their cars downstairs, and when we showed up, we were told that we could pass. When we got there, there were only three or four cars and ours among them. And when they started taking pictures with Milet, then they also asked to take pictures with us, they took statements from us", says the doctor with a smile, for whom, as he says, every race with Milet, in a human, sports, and medical sense, is , was an honor and a pleasure.
Athlete with the biggest, man with an even bigger heart
Mileta and Raco like to tell an anecdote related to the race at the opening of the mausoleum.
"When we arrived in Njeguše, I told them to go upstairs and wait for me, and I would come by them. They left by car and parked at the end of the road. When I came by them, I gave them a sign that I was fine and that we should continue. I saw the light in the car and them, but I didn't peek. And they all fell asleep. I reach Bajice, but they are not there. I meet a man there and tell him to tell the escort who is in the car by the side of the road that I am going to Cetinje and that I am waiting for them there. When that man came across them, he woke them up and shouted: 'Your man has already arrived in Cetinje.' And they follow me faster and faster," says the marathon runner who has run many marathons with a smile.
He is especially proud that he did not deviate from the track of that human marathon.
As a voluntary donor, he gave blood more than 80 times, was a member of the PSD "Javorak" and the Mountain Rescue Service, worked as a manager in the Construction Workshop of the Ironworks, where he earned a pension, as well as the Order of Labor with a Golden Wreath. He was a participant in labor actions three times, from where he returned with striking marks. He gave the entire property in Miločani to refugees from Bosnia and Kosovo without compensation, and later to poor families.
Now he has donated the land, about 1.400 square meters, to the regional department of the school in Miločani.
"Children in Miločani do not have a single square yard to play on, only asphalt. I gave them the land to make a nice playground for the children. They promised from the school that they would build a playground. I hope to see it through," says the man who had his five minutes at the Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo in 1984.
After the ceremonial closing of the Olympic Games, Lepa Brena sang for 15 minutes, and then a half-hour show about Mileta, made by Rajko Banović, which received first prize at the Yugoslav level, was shown.
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