BIGFOOT 200 ENDURANCE RUN – RACE BEYOND THE BOUNDARY OF EXTREME #4
18. 09. 2019
After crossing the finish line, I limped at a snail's pace into the car to pick up my spare clothes and wet wipes for cleaning, as there were no showers at the finish line. In the toilet, I underwent a very painful procedure of cleaning, which, especially in certain parts that were quite raw and even bloody in some places, forced tears into my eyes. It took me about 20 minutes and when I came out, I was feeling a bit more human, even though it was still far from being perfect. I sat back in my armchair and watched the other runners cross the finish line with a beer in my hand. For each of them, the finish was very emotional. I could see Szilvia coming closer and closer at an extremely slow pace. It took her hours to beat the few remaining miles. Finally, she appeared on the track. Wearing the Hungarian flag, walking slowly, obviously completely on the verge of exhaustion, she crossed the finish line and was carried to a deck chair unable to move. Her feet were swollen to twice their normal size.
My attention turned to the last team member, Jirka. According to the computer, he had passed the last checkpoint and he had the final half marathon to the finish line ahead of him. I knew it would be a matter of minutes whether he would make it in time or not. Suddenly one of the organizers suggested that I took a car and went to support him. If only I had thought of that before. Swearing at my stupidity, I got into the car, with at least eight, albeit partially digested beers in the blood, and went to meet Jirka. I got lost a few times because the way in the opposite direction looked a bit different, but in the end, I finally found him. Jirka had been driven by sweepers, i.e. organizers who were finishing the race for miles and maybe tens of miles. There was no Bus of death like in Spartathlon. I rolled down the window, turned the volume up, got out of the car accompanied by Rammstein songs and shouted words of encouragement with loud applause. It obviously enlivened Jirka. He started running! Just like me after 300 km. I drove another half a kilometre, chose a different motivational song and, together with the sweepers, we approached the finish. The atmosphere was electrifying. I naturally cheered at the other runners around Jirka as well. The pace was good and it was soon obvious that Jirka would meet the limit by a quarter of an hour. Two kilometres before the finish line, I left him to prepare his glorious arrival - I had to tap two cold draught beers as promised. It was certain that he would be the final regular finisher, and therefore, as he reached the finish line, all the finishers who had gathered in the meantime created a tunnel out of their hands. In cheering and applause, Jirka crossed the finish line, we embraced and I fulfilled my beer promise. No wonder that he drank it bottom-up.
Then we sat, chatted and exchanged our experiences. We went on smoothly into the afterparty. After eight o'clock in the evening, we had our feet treated and then all three of us got into the car as we had 75 minutes' drive to the hotel ahead of us. The journey was pretty adventurous as I was so tired that I could hardly see the way while driving. I had to take a twenty-minute nap once, but everything went well and we were back at the motel before midnight. After a shower, we did not go to sleep yet. Instead, we had a beer. We did not have a very long sleep, though, as Szilvia had to be at the airport early in the morning. We woke up early and surprisingly without any problems, and before heading to Portland Airport, Szilvia invited us for breakfast.
In the end, I would like to add a classical but heartfelt thank you. I would like to thank Jirka Hálek for his active spirit, with which he found and arranged the participation of the whole three-member team in this event. Many thanks also go to Kilpi brand, which supported us all with its products - everything worked out well and even in the most difficult moments I could rely on their equipment: compression knee socks, Hosio outdoor pants with detachable trousers, Ninja T-shirt, functional Merin functional T-shirt which successfully replaced Ninja in the second part of the race, the Wilke sweatshirt, and finally my ace in the sleeve, the Hurricane jacket, an indispensable tool of the modern man.
