{"id":175768,"date":"2025-04-19T18:00:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T16:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=175768"},"modified":"2025-04-19T18:00:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T16:00:41","slug":"born-in-serbia-returned-to-lika-the-remarkable-story-of-the-narancic-brothers-who-came-back-to-their-ancestral-homeland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/born-in-serbia-returned-to-lika-the-remarkable-story-of-the-narancic-brothers-who-came-back-to-their-ancestral-homeland\/","title":{"rendered":"BORN IN SERBIA, RETURNED TO LIKA: The Remarkable story of the Naran\u010di\u0107 brothers who came back to their ancestral homeland!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Among the top runners at this year\u2019s Belgrade Marathon<\/strong> were five brothers from the Naran\u010di\u0107<\/strong> family. These fast and resilient young men came from a village in Lika<\/strong>, though they were born in Serbia after Operation Storm<\/strong>. They returned to the ashes of their family home\u2014now teeming with life once again. The two youngest brothers, Dragan and \u0110or\u0111e<\/strong>, are members of the Croatian national athletics team<\/strong>, but the dream of all the brothers is to one day run for a club in Serbia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt one point, I looked back and saw more than four thousand people behind me. It felt like an entire city from Croatia! My brothers ran the half marathon\u2014over seven thousand participants. It was something incredible. When we sent the video to our coach, he was thrilled,\u201d says Nemanja Naran\u010di\u0107<\/strong>, who finished 15th in the 10K race. His brothers also placed well in the half marathon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Naran\u010di\u0107 family\u2014Aleksandar, Nemanja, Arsenije, Radmila, Stevan, Zoran, Goran, Dragan, \u0110or\u0111e<\/strong>, along with parents Mira and Du\u0161an<\/strong>\u2014comes from Doljani, near Oto\u010dac<\/strong>. Only the eldest, Aleksandar<\/strong>, was born in Croatia. The rest were born in Serbia after the family fled during the war. They lived in refugee centers<\/strong>, moving from Vrbas to Srbobran<\/strong>, then to Crna Trava<\/strong>, and finally settling in Kolare<\/strong>, a village near Jagodina<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust when we\u2019d get used to new friends and schools, we\u2019d have to move again. Constant adaptation. In 2008, we returned to Lika. We were offered a house renovation. Nostalgia pulled Dad back. We had to quickly adjust to hard farm work\u2014agriculture was our only income. The village was burned, with no infrastructure. Politicians promised a lot, but barely ten percent came true,\u201d Nemanja explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brothers began farming, built barns, bought livestock. Today, the industrious Naran\u010di\u0107 family operates three registered farms<\/strong> on a single estate, managed by Nemanja, his brother Arsenije, and their father<\/strong>. They raise sheep, cows, pigs, and donkeys<\/strong>, and produce meat<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to farming, all the siblings work jobs<\/strong>: the twins manage warehouse logistics, Arsenije is a carpenter, two brothers work in construction, the sister is a shop clerk, and Nemanja specializes in waterworks. They work from dawn to dusk<\/strong>\u2014and five of them still train regularly<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brothers run for Sports Club Oto\u010dac<\/strong> and also compete with Athletics Club Grobnik<\/strong> from Rijeka. Despite being in the sport only two years<\/strong>, their results are outstanding. Right after the Belgrade Marathon, they competed in Biha\u0107<\/strong>, where Dragan placed first, Goran second, \u0110or\u0111e third, Nemanja sixth<\/strong>, and Zoran seventh<\/strong> in the 5K race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn high school, we started attending competitions. Coach Mandari\u0107 noticed us and encouraged us to sign up for a race in Oto\u010dac in 2022. We did great there and again the following year. But the breakthrough came in a race in Gospi\u0107, when Dragan beat national champion Ante \u017divkovi\u0107<\/strong>. He saw our talent and invited us to his club,\u201d says Nemanja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, the Naran\u010di\u0107 brothers have brought home over 300 medals and trophies<\/strong>. They compete almost every weekend<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe got good running genes from Aunt Mira and our mom Radmila, n\u00e9e Radakovi\u0107\u2014they were excellent runners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past year, the brothers have been coached daily\u20142.5 to 3 hours per session<\/strong>\u2014by Andrej Maras<\/strong>, and the results are evident. The youngest twins, Dragan and Goran<\/strong>, joined the Croatian national athletics team<\/strong> last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGoran receives a scholarship\u2014\u20ac150 a month for one year\u2014but Dragan, who\u2019s even better, gets nothing, just a place on the team. They recently performed well at the Balkan race in Romania. We hope to gain more sponsors so we can work less and train more. Our coach says we have great potential for marathons and long-distance events,\u201d Nemanja says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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