A DREAM REALIZED
Il Passatore 26 – 27 May 2012
I will try to describe the emotions that I felt running and crossing the finish line of the 100 km of the Passatore.
I state that the idea of participating in an ultra race had started flashing in my mind for the first time in November 2011; in the following days I had continued to think about this idea, going from moments of euphoria, to the thought of this new adventure, to moments of discouragement, to the thought of how to prepare it.
For me it was a new experience, I did not know any training method, I then began to read up, but I found scarce material, then I decided to enroll in the Treviso marathon as if to break the long six months that awaited me. The marathon was almost a passage for me to then aim for Faenza. Without wanting to, I managed to beat my staff in a marathon of 14 minutes. This gave me even more power in moving forward. Then came the day when a friend of mine brought me an article explaining how to prepare the 100 km. I didn’t want to, I couldn’t pull back anymore;
my dream would come true in Faenza.
“It’s a race like any other” – I said to myself a thousand times to try to convince myself.
The week before the race and the last night were terrible, in the half-sleep I did nothing but think about the hours that await me, how to stay awake, the countless crises that would certainly have occurred during the race, at the thought of retiring , to hear the comments that would certainly follow the abandonment, “what he wanted to do, who he thought he was”. Finally then the day arrived for about six months, now I could no longer withdraw, the bet made with myself was at stake.
An hour before the start of the race I looked around for the gaze of the other adventure companions and in all of them I noticed a certain anxiety, we all seemed ready to go, but into the unknown. Finally, then the starting shot removed all fear, indecision, also removed all intentions regarding the pace of the race, the alleged objectives, I felt more free as if that shot had swept away all my fears.
The first three hours passed quickly, but suddenly the thought of the hours that I should still have passed assailed me, they seemed many, too many. Then luckily these moments of despair disappeared and I went back to running in a serene way, without thinking about the aftermath, setting the evening as an immediate goal. I needed to create short-term goals, which I would have had to create new ones for.
The dreaded crisis came at the sight of the 60th km, I began to think that almost a marathon was waiting for me, I also began to feel aching left knee, it was impossible to reach the finish line in those conditions, I felt empty, without strength, I could not go ahead, at the sight of the refreshment I then started walking, here I ate two sandwiches, my willpower pushed me to resume the race almost waiting for the crisis to pass and diverting the mind setting my new goal: the next refreshment. When there were 10 km left at the end of the race I began to think that the race was over, instead the hardest hours began, the sore knee prevented me from running, several were my attempts to resume the race but I had to give up contenting myself with reaching the finish line walking quickly. The satisfaction of having reached such a goal is certainly greater than the efforts that I faced in preparing and completing a race of this kind. It is certainly a demanding race but it is equally true that with an appropriate preparation and above all with the conviction of wanting to face it, you can complete it with great satisfaction.
I want to take a consideration as I consider it a message to be sent to anyone wishing to undertake such an adventure, I have prepared to face this 100km in particular in the last three months covering almost 1000 km, I have collected the fruit of my long and tiring work, it was not an improvised race at the last moment but also studied at the table in detail, training and testing my legs on paths similar to the race course and also simulating moments of severe tiredness, change of shirts and socks, front bulbs, special patches for blisters, k-way on the belt for the cold of the night, and many other small details have contributed to the success of the company. I remember that in the various meeting points located along the way, the organizers had set up real tent cities as field hospitals for retreats.
Here dozens of runners slept in camp beds with blankets over their heads in the silence of the night, a ghostly scene never seen before, certainly a strong visual impact photographed by my mind, not least then the meeting in the various overtaking of the irreducible and undeterred who with obstinate steps have persisted in reaching the goal so dreamed of, those with their hands folded to look at the sky, those who advanced in a zigzag and therefore making even more road, others with the hallucinated gaze fixed in the void.
This is not the way to run the passer. These are not races to improvise.
I left with the awareness that I had to arrive, time was the least of my thoughts, I ran with my legs, my head and above all with my heart, that heart that in the end enjoyed an emotion so great and intense as to think you can’t control it. I wanted to arrive without trauma and with a shiny head to try to understand what I had done, become aware of what I was and what I have now become. I can assure you that despite the training done you are never sure that everything will go in the right direction, because the inconveniences can occur at any time. 100 km is not a walk, quite the opposite, I am sure and I only say it now that I have made them “the realization of a dream” built with months of effort, sweat, training after training. The help of friends, their cheering, combined with my desire to get to the end, did the rest! For a long time I watched that kind of races on television, participating was certainly different because it is only you who fight for your dream against him !! For this I can say:
NEVER STOP DREAMING
BECAUSE
DREAMS CAN BECOME REALITY
IS
REALITY is LIFE !!
by
Graziella Fortuna
