Beyond the limit

Some people find it extremely rewarding to push their boundaries. One of the ways to do that is a seemingly simple activity - running. Certain runners have decided to use this passion for constant challenges to help others. Tomasz Sobania, a Polish runner, set himself the goal of running the marathon distance every day to finally cover the distance from Poland to Italy to help the ill girl.

It started inconspicuously. His adventure with running began because he went everywhere at the last minute and had to run to make it on time. In high school, he ran so as not to be late to school or for the train. He also dealt with sport thanks to football, played by his dad and brothers, and thus also Tomasz.

“I think I was a bit lucky. Because I have already had contact with sports before, it was easier for me to introduce myself, start running and training. It seems that it is most important at the beginning of your running adventure to find what you like. I found such beautiful moments of complete freedom”, explains the runner.

It turned out that Tomasz not only liked running, but was also good at it. So he started to run longer distances, including a 300-kilometer run to Santiago de Compostela, achieved in 7 days. He had been planning his trip to Rome for a long time. This year, he finally made his dream come true.

The runner started his run in Częstochowa, Poland. The goal was to reach Rome, covering the marathon distance by day, which is 42 kilometers. The entire route was almost 1,500 kilometers, the sum of 35 marathons. Tomasz wanted to collect money through his run to help a little girl. Because of that, it was easier to reach Italy.

He shares: “When it is difficult, I know that I am not doing it just for myself, and then it is becoming a little easier. During this run to Italy, I didn’t realize what was happening. I still feel it even now. There were such wonderful moments when I really felt that I was alive and that it was worth doing such things.”

However, preparing such a run, both logistically and physically, is not an easy task. It is connected with persistence in exercises, as well as hundreds of phone calls and e-mails exchanged daily. Tomasz ran through several countries, which also required finding sponsors who could cover the costs. Therefore, the run itself was not so stressful for him.

“I had freedom and joy all the time, which was mainly related to the fact that I did not have to deal with all these organizational matters. It fell on my team, on three people who were with me: Kasia, Mateusz, and Paulina. They helped me a lot, and they relieved me so that I could only run and not worry about anything. That was the freedom: you have to run a marathon every day, and you don’t have to think about anything, about any problems. This is really cool.” he says.

Every runner knows that running a marathon distance is related to enormous physical effort. Tomasz decided to cover this distance not once but many times, every day. It is clear that there are moments of crisis during such a physical activity. He explains: “It is difficult to deal with crises, and I don’t have any remedy for it, but it helped me a lot that I knew why I was doing it. I knew this was my dream. Besides, I was waiting a lot for Rome for this goal of mine. It gave me strength and the fact that I ran for charity. The fact that I was running for someone, not only for myself.”

After 35 days, Tomasz ran the whole distance. In total, it was 1,485 kilometers, which is almost two million steps. Thanks to this run, he managed to collect 45 thousand polish zlotys, equivalent of 10 thousand euros. Satisfaction after the run is still with Tomasz. To some extent, he still cannot believe that he has achieved his goal. However, he explains that it is natural to already think about the next expeditions.

“Setting goals is a natural process, in my opinion. If it turned out that I got somewhere, I don’t have another goal, and I don’t want to set it, then something is wrong.” he ends.

Anna Marek