REAL TRAILS
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In the middle of May 2018 I bought train tickets to Elton. The departure was on May 25, 2018. I arranged my accommodation with some local people again, and they agreed to provide me a small house for rent. I left on the 25th of May. It takes five hours to get there from Saratov. The carriage was a third-class sleeper, messy and noisy. The train arrived at Elton at 1 a.m. As soon as I got off to the platform I heard the excited and cheerful voices of volunteers. In spite of the late hour, they were waiting for us there, full of energy and joy.
A sandstorm suddenly arose. The gusts of strong wind were literally sweeping people off their feet. Covering my eyes with my hands, trying to protect them from sand, swirling in the air, I was struggling to plod to the local hut. The sandstorm was raging all night long. The wind quieted down only in the morning.
When I reached the small and cozy hut, I made myself comfortable and immediately fell asleep. It was not larger than 15 square meters, a small room with one bed. The sandstorm was raging all night long. The wind quieted down only in the morning.
The consequences of the sandstorm were devastating. All tents in the camp were either blown away or choked up in sand. The starting platform was destroyed. The steel constructions with lights fell down and broke. However, the organizers of the event managed to repair the damage quickly.
On the 26th of May I woke up in the hut, made myself a cup of tea, and at 9 o’clock went to the starting point to register my arrival and get the runner’s package. The marathon village looked busy and noisy, like a middle-east bazaar. There were shops and stalls with sports equipment everywhere. MC was entertaining the crowd. A famous chef was artistically performing in the kitchen, cooking various delicacies. People were queuing to taste his culinary masterpieces.
There was a border checkpoint in the same building where they registered the participants. Everyone who arrived was thoroughly explained about the rules of behaviour when in the border territory. There was also a room for massage and taping. The sports doctor was there to conduct medical examinations and confirm that the athletes are ready for extreme loads. It was like a perfect sports system where everyone completed their tasks smoothly.
The start was appointed for 8:15 p.m. It was right after the sunset. The time of the glowing aftermath. At 7:30 p.m. I was already near the starting point. I was doing exercises, warming up and getting ready for overloads. When the equipment was once again checked, I turned on my head torch and entered the starting zone.
The starting time was the same for two distances: 164 kilometers (100 miles) and 82 kilometers (50 miles). The MC, dressed as a shaman, was charging them up with his energy flowing from his voice and intonation. They played a very symbolic song at the start. It was called “Good night”: “Those who got to bed… good night! Good dreams! I’ve been waiting for this time and here it is”.
The MC finished his speech and announced: “May the great marathon start!”
The countdown started. We crossed the starting line in anticipation of something new and exciting. A long procession of lights went into the night.
I was running at the rate of 5 min/km for the first 50 kilometers. I only made a few short stops at the feeding stations every 15 kilometers. All I could see over these 50 kilometers was the trail under my feet and the backs of other participants. The innumerate amount of stars in the sky looked like a reflection of our head torches. But you can’t stare at the stars in the sky for a long time when you run, otherwise you will stumble and get an injury. That is why you look only inside yourself – into your own thoughts.
I felt that something went wrong after 50 kilometers. It was harder and harder to keep running. Only the night stars – and later the sun at dawn – were witnessing my struggle. Only the moon, the stars, and the head torch were lighting my path till morning. When the dawn broke I clearly saw the landscape around me. Everything that I couldn’t see at night was right there in front of me. Infinity, steppe, sand, mugwort and silence.
Apart from the rare feeding stations overcrowded by volunteers, I felt loneliness, absolute loneliness. When you look inside yourself you can only see the strong character of a fighter who rejects any thought about tiredness, weakness, and pain. I could feel this loneliness with all my body, with all my skin. It was flowing through me, through the time, further away, somewhere in the steppe…
Why did this feeling sharpen at that moment? The feeling of loneliness suddenly deprived me of my motivation. I had to concentrate on it and keep thinking about it in order to keep running; otherwise it would have overwhelmed my heart and my thoughts. I was constantly feeling tears in my eyes but they evaporated as soon as appeared. I put on my sunglasses and hid my eyes and soul from loneliness. It took me the greatest efforts to complete the last 20 kilometers of the distance. I even managed to overrun a few participants 5 kilometers before the finishing line.
I can say that the experience I got in this race was the best result I had ever had. I mean, first of all, psychological experience. Once more I learned that I should count only on myself and nobody else. I didn’t even know where I had derived all my strength from but I had managed to heat and melt my character to turn into a strongest alloy. Just one race like this is able to make a person rise higher and reach a new level of being and new worldview. I’m grateful to Lake Elton for giving me this opportunity to test myself. I’m grateful for this adventure.
I completed the distance for 9 hours and 40 minutes. The maximum limit was 14 hours. It meant that the result of my first ultra-trail was going to be registered and saved in the ITRA protocol.
I finished at 6 a.m. and went straight to my place where I had stayed. I needed a good rest and a long sleep to recover. I had no energy left. I gave my all to complete this race. Even the hidden resources of my body were brought into action.
I felt much better by the evening. When it was around 7 p.m. I went for a walk to the lake. Feeling relaxed, I slowly walked for 5 kilometers. I reached the lake by the sunset time. The sky was dark blue, cloudless and transparent. The orange sun was shining bright, colouring the smooth surface of the lake. It had been burning the steppe to ashes and draining out the ultramarathon runners all day. Out of breath, they stopped now and then and walked but there was no place to hide so they continued running.