Article by Remus Dinu – Published Thursday, October 16, 2025, 3:09 p.m. / Updated Thursday, October 16, 2025, 3:10 p.m.
Ultramarathonist Andrei Roșu, 49 years old, endurance athlete entered the Book of Records thanks to his performancesentrepreneur, motivational speaker and social activist, told extensively, in an interview given to Gazeta Sporturilor, how his experience as a reservist quickly mobilized before the MApN for the exercises that are taking place these days in Romania went.
- CONTEXT: More than 10,000 reservists, including the last generations of conscripts and ex-professionals of the Romanian Army, were untimely called to military units for training exercises and shootings, Libertatea notes. “Mobex 2025 Bucharest-Ilfov” started on Sunday, October 12, and lasts until October 20.
Former member of the band “Gaz per foc”, Andrei Roșu is the first man in the world to complete 7 marathons and 7 ultramarathons on 7 continents.
Roșu became the first Romanian to finish an ultratriathlon, in Mexico, where he swam 11.4 km, cycled 540 km and ran 126.6 kilometers. This summer, he entered the Book of Records again after an absolute record of 30,000 squats performed in 24 hours.
A few tens of minutes after he left the gates of the military unit where he had received the summons order, Andrei Roșu accepted Gazeta's invitation to reveal how his visit to the barracks in Leaota street no. 2 showed, first of all. The athlete had found out just two days ago that he had to report to the garrison where he was assigned.
“You can't send the order two days in advance! That frustrated people”
“Always when I write something about the authorities, I don't write to express my frustrations, but for them to improve their services, because the role of civil society, of those who pay the State, is to suggest how you can improve the services you have. I talked about what is happening in other countries and how things can be done better.
For example, a lot of frustration and confusion could have been avoided if there were some additional details on that subpoena that are common sense, they didn't require a major investment…
Write to show up at 08:00 – 20:00. What does this mean? That I can come anytime during this interval or do I have to be in front of the unit at 08:00 without five? This matters a lot, because from today's experience I noticed that everyone came around 08:00, there was a huge queue. At 10:00 or so when I left, no one was there. So whoever came at 10:00, 11:00, 12:00 theoretically waited less.
It takes a long time to get in there, so. Basically, what are you doing there? My guess is that these things could be done online or over the phone! There was nothing that required, realistically speaking, physical presence. In addition, this organization in which you call people from Sector to Sector 6, given that Bucharest is not the friendliest city in terms of distances and traffic… I did 50 minutes there and 50 minutes back…
And, another mistake… It wasn't an exercise, as it said there. You probably have a template that you use in any situation. It said “exercise/training”.
When you read this, you think that you are going to do something physical, it didn't say that “we are calling you to record you or take measurements of your clothes”. I didn't know how I should dress, if I should dress thickly, if we go to the field, if we go to the range, if it's at night or during the day, do I have to get food, drink?! Or is it something spartan, is it fasting?
Those who also did exercises said that they were given two sandwiches… Well, if I'm intolerant to something, to gluten, to lactose, if I'm on a vegan diet, what do I do?
And when you call the reservists… The reservists are people 40, 45, 50 years old. It is assumed that they may have a job, a company, that they may travel, have arranged meetings…
You cannot send the order two days or one day before! And that counted in people's frustration! Send it 14 days in advance! Or at least 7, because it's not an emergency, it's not a war. Even though we are near a conflict zone, there was no need to panic people.
Plus the Police come to your door! Two policemen come to you, knock on the door, you ask them: “What's the problem?” and I tell you: “We're not telling you, come on down!”. The police rang the door, luckily I was at home!
You have children, you have to take them to school, you have to take the dog out… You have to look for the military booklet, I couldn't find it, for example. I probably should have gone to get him from his parents, because he's over there, but I didn't have time to go.
Likewise, you had to present yourself with your military certificate, even if no one asked me for it. Of course I had, I do my tests every six months, being a sportsman”, Andrei Roșu explained.
The documents received at home by Andrei Roșu, two days ago
The documents received at home by Andrei Roșu, two days ago
“You go into a tent where the only thing that happens is they look at your report card and your booklet”
Beyond the queues and the real rationale of such a mobilization, Andrei Roșu details how his visit to the unit in Sector 6 of the Capital was carried out. The endurance athlete was surprised to find that his visit had nothing to do with military exercises or training, as it was written on the summons:
“When they called us there, they said: 'Those who have medical problems should go to tent X, and those who don't, go to tent Y.' (medical no), prepare it, go to the doctor.
What did I actually do? I stood in line for almost an hour to enter the unit…OK, I accept the idea, I stood longer for the vote and didn't bother.
Then, you go into a tent where the only thing that happens is they look at your report card and your booklet if you have it, then you are entered in a notebook, they mark you as having come. After that they send you to another equipment tent, for equipment, something like that, where you stand in a line until you get bored.
When you enter the tent, there is none rocket science... In my case, there was a lady with a measuring tape and a gentleman with a notebook with those sheets with those who were called, to check you off. The lady measures you at the head, for the helmet, with one centimeter around the head and one around the chest. And they also ask you how much you wear in shoes and how tall you are.
The problem is that, at one point, an officer came and, seeing the queue, asked: «Would it help if two more boys come here?». And the answer was: “Well, I only have one meter of tailoring”.
This does not belong to the minister, to major investments, it's 3 lei per meter of tailoring! Or take a string, because we are still a nation of improvisers. If there were 2-3 people there, it would have shortened the queue by half an hour!
When you keep people there for a very long time, the cost to society is very high, leaving aside the frustration, speculation and other nonsense.
(…) I repeat, this action seems normal to me, I don't see it as something out of the ordinary or to scare us. And if there is no war on this planet, it still seems normal to me… Not necessarily for war, but come some calamity, some emergency, an earthquake, a flood, and you need…. So I did not see the abnormality of this exercise.
“Did they test reaction speed? Stupid!”
The athlete continues, confessing that he is confused about how MApN handled this action:
“Furthermore, I think he could have taken the opportunity to get other information, a pulse, a job, I thought something more complex was going on.
I don't know exactly what was being watched. Reaction speed?! This is foolishness! If a war starts, we show up in an hour, because we are not cretins! Those who run, run, those who come, come! It's simple! You don't have to do an exercise to see how long they come. If you issue a fine, normally everyone comes.
I stayed between two and two and a half hours in total, I didn't calculate exactly. Plus the queues and the way there.
But I could take those sizes home, I could tell them how much I wear on my shirt. Or do a questionnaire on Google Drive or ask us on the phone our height, number of shoes and chest and head circumference and if we have any medical problems. I repeat, there are things that could be solved differently, but I'm not going to attack the ministers now”, explained the ultramarathoner Andrei Roșu, in a dialogue with the GSP reporter.
“You expected the reservists to be a bit more 'broken down'…”
How did Andrei Roșu feel about the other “comrades” he met at the barracks for the procedures initiated by the Ministry of National Defense?
“Contrary to the perception you see, you expect the reservists to be a little more broken down, you expect to see only bellies and people limpingbut know that that tent for those with medical problems was a tenth of the others. It wasn't like high school with 90% of them on exemptions…
They were quite OK people, there was no one there with nerves or physically to look broken. Okay, there was another one with a stent, with a prosthesis, but they looked OK. There is room for improvement, clearly.
Probably if you made those people march 20 kilometers, crawl or climb, the problems would probably have started. But the base seemed promising, but I hope this will not be the case”, Andrei Roșu also stated.
I finished the Army in 1999 and this is the first time they ask me about my health! The first time if they ask if I still exist, if I'm still at that residence, if I still have both hands, both legs…
– Andrei Roșu, ultramarathonist
Fines for those who are absent
According to the MApN, the unjustified absence from such exercises is punishable by a fineaccording to Law 446/2006 on the preparation of the population for defense, and those who cannot appear for objective reasons must notify the unit mentioned in the order and present supporting documents.
The MOBEX exercises are carried out periodically and aim to verify the completion of military units with personnel and equipment, as well as to strengthen the cohesion between reservists and active military, the quoted source stated.
Such exercises take place annually, in various counties of the country, being part of the program for verifying and updating the data of the Romanian Army reservists, Libertatea also notes.
