Роман Трак 20 гаруй цаг тасралтгүй гүйж, АНУ-ын хамгийн эртний бөгөөд нэр хүндтэй хэт хол зайн “Western States Endurance Run” тэмцээнийг амжилттай дуусгалаа.
Калифорни мужийн Фолсом хотын оршин суугч Роман Трак уг тэмцээнд оролцох эрх авахаар хүлээлгийн жагсаалтын есдүгээрт бичигдэж байжээ. Тэмцээн эхлэхээс 24 хүрэхгүй цагийн өмнө өөр найман тамирчин нэрээ татсанаар тэрээр жагсаалтын нэгдүгээрт дэвшсэн байна. Улмаар Калифорни мужийн Олимпик Валли тосгонд ирж хүлээсээр, тэмцээн эхлэхээс цаг хагасын өмнө өөр нэг оролцогч хасагдсанаар албан ёсны эрх авчээ.
Тэрбээр нийт 100.2 миль буюу 161 гаруй километр замыг туулж барианд орсон бөгөөд бие махбод нь ихээхэн ядарч туйлдсан байдалтай байв. Гүйлтийн зам дээр ирээд бие нь тавгүйтэж, урт удаан хугацааны турш эрчимтэй ачаалал авсны дараах бие махбодын хүндрэлийг даван туулсан байна. Тэмцээний эмч болон бусад оролцогчид түүнд тусламж үзүүлж, тэрээр энэхүү хүнд хэцүү сорилтыг амжилттай ардаа орхижээ.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Under a full moon, after more than 20 straight hours of running, Roman Trach lifts his arms and sways back and forth, like a boxer who’s just gone 15 rounds in a heavyweight fight. “I can’t believe this, dude,” he says, shaking his head. “I want to cry so bad.”
Trach’s body doesn’t let him squeeze out the tears. He’s just run 100.2 miles to complete the Western States Endurance Run, the oldest, most prestigious ultramarathon in the U.S., and his body is broken, torn, confused. He has dark hollows under his eyes. His legs are trembling.
He doubles over and begins to puke on the red track, right in front of a booth of broadcasters live-streaming the race. One of the announcers looks over her shoulder to investigate.
“I had like 16 Mountain Dews today,” Trach says with a cough, hunched over. “Tryin’ to get rid of ‘em.”
“Want a 17th?” a friend asks with a laugh. A race doctor runs over to interrupt.
“Just thought I’d check on you,” the doctor says, before handing Trach a blue plastic bag.
Trach thanks her and limps off the track.
When I had approached Trach to ask him about his adventure on the Western States route, his eyes had grown big and spoke for him, as if to say: Get a load of this. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and recounted the bizarre journey he took just to arrive at the starting line. A week before the race, which was held on Saturday, June 27, Trach was not yet an official participant. His name was the ninth one on the waiting list to get a Western States entry. By Friday morning, less than 24 hours before the event, he had moved up to first on the waiting list after eight other runners withdrew. Despite his lack of a spot, Trach drove from his home in Folsom, California, to Olympic Valley, in hopes that another runner would no-show, granting him a spot. When a runner dropped out an hour before the deadline, Trach was added to the list.
Trach had started screaming when he learned the good news.
“You know what it was?” he tells me. “It felt like I was on the organ transplant list for six months. And I needed a new kidney by Friday, 1 P.M., and I got it an hour and a half before.”
Trach begins dry-heaving again. He then starts to shake and convulse, and he has to take a break from our interview. He wraps a plaid wool blanket around his shoulders and plops into a lawn chair while more runners come in, sidestepping his vomit on the track.
The post I Stayed Up for 24 Hours at an Ultramarathon. Here’s What I Learned About Why Runners Go Long. appeared first on Outside Online.
