I had an uneasy feeling on my way to Torino. I dislike change, and I have a hard time adapting to new situations and new places. I arrived two days prior to the race and to my surprise, I didn’t have jetlag, and I adjusted right away. My teammates greeted me with a warm welcome and all my anxieties vanished.  I already knew Aly, Traci, and Connie, but this was the first time I met with Maggie and Sky. On Thursday, for the first time, we ran the track together to get a feel for it. I also met Szilvi and Gyuri, and I felt really good seeing familiar faces. Last time I saw them it was in September at the Spartathlon in Greece; seeing them brought back good memories. Friday flew by so fast; my helpers arrived and we all went to the opening ceremony together that night.

….and the big day arrived. My goal was to keep to the rhythm that my coach advised to me; focus on the agreed speed and the heart rate. After the first three rounds, because of the turns and inclines, I knew I will not be able to keep to the agreed rhythm, so I had to adjust and find a new tempo. Surprisingly my heart rate was lower even at a faster speed. The first four hours were easy; I was talking to friends and met a few new people. I started becoming familiar with the track and getting used to it. In my mind, I worked out a strategy; during a specific section from the road leading out of the stadium which had all the upward slopes and a turn, I decided to walk to preserve my energy. I turned on the music and faded into my inner world. The weather was beautiful, but I continued to cool my body to keep it at an optimal level. After 6 hours, I took off my pulse monitor, I didn’t need it. 

I was in the happy zone for 10 hours, but than reality hit. I started seeing other runners walking and my thighs and knees started to hurt. I was thinking this is too early to feel this way, I’ve never felt this pain before. It scared me. So I decided to reward myself with stretching, and it turned out to be a great idea because I felt much better after that.  Even after the stretch I wasn’t able to get back to the zone. After 14 hours when I was asked “What you want to eat in the next round?”, my answer was “I don’t know.”. I continued to freshen up;  Judit, Tomi, Jozsi and Joshua were true professionals at helping me with this. In every round they gave me a smile, untiringly supported me, I knew I was in good hands. I was cold at night and I should’ve put on the gloves and the hat earlier, not wait so much. I was getting discouraged.

 In one of the millions of rounds, on my way out of the stadium, when I was walking upward, I saw Maggie and I asked her “What are we doing here?”.  She thought I was kidding, but I was serious.  She told me that there are only three of us left from the team. I felt embarrassed that I wasn’t paying attention to the others, I was under the impression that everybody is still in the race. And then more and more rounds were coming, the music started to annoy me, I wanted silence. I knew this was a torturous period; lots of runners were walking, some of them limping. I told myself to stop whining; it could be worse. I saw Maggie again, she was pushing it hard and she told me that we needed the miles to win because there are only the three of us left. Her strength and perseverance encouraged me. After 20 hours I started noticing others, asking where everybody else was. Traci was two rounds behind me, but I knew there’s 4 more hours left, anything can happen. I didn’t want to push myself to go faster, just wanted to keep the pace. I was hurting everywhere. I was looking for excuses to stop, like food, stretching, toilet break. I could hear Rich’s battle-cry here and there, I don’t know how he had the energy to shout and smile the whole time. In the last two hours I knew if I’m able to keep the tempo I will have the gold medal. I didn’t know how many miles I was at, but at that point I didn’t care, I just wanted it to end. I knew I had to eat and drink, but I didn’t want anything. In my imagination, I was talking to my Dad (he passed away years ago), I asked him to hold my hand and don’t let it go until the end. In the last half hour I was crying and laughing at the same time, I was in so much pain.  And finally I heard the voice “One minute left. ”, one more step and I can rest. Howard was laughing, or crying…I don’t even now.

 I did it.  Overwhelming happiness flooded through me, an unspeakable euphoria.   

I would like to highlight the importance of my helper’s professionalism. I ended up with only one blister! I had no rub marks on my skin, due to the proper hydrating. Thank you Guys!!! 

I couldn’t have done this without help, so I want to thank everybody who supported me through this journey.