Conquering the impossible…running!

Vassilis Krommidas, athlete and coach for over 30 years in triathlon and endurance sports, has been my helper in this endeavor since 2018. With his guidance, slowly but surely, simple running started to become a love, a hobby, an addiction. That's why I sought the above step, for improvement and development in what began to win soul and body. Specifically when I started, my times were 2 hours and 13 minutes in a half marathon. The coach came and showed me everything I was doing wrong, from the equipment I had amateurishly supplied to my wrong eating habits during matches and training. With his encouragement, I changed my diet, many technical questions were solved, I got the right advice and most importantly, my competitive improvement was obvious, since I was now able to run faster and farther with less heartbeats. My endurance increased, the distances increased, my times decreased until I was able to run a half marathon under 2 hours.

When I reached the level to support longer races, more kilometers, more endurance, that's where my new running dreams were born. And every time I saw that one goal was achieved, another one took its place.

My first running lesson for me was my first marathon, at the 36th Athens Authentic Marathon in 2018. My time was disappointing and I struggled to finish, due to inexperience, fatigue and severe muscle pains in my legs. But I didn't panic.

The training and hard work continued and other Half-Marathon and Marathon races followed with better results, as for example in the Alexander the Great Marathon from Pella to Thessaloniki where I finished with a time of under 4 hours. The foundations for longer distances began to be laid and about a year later, in 2019, my first ultra-distance race followed, Aethlios: 62 km race Levidi – Ancient Nemea. I started from Levidi and reached Ancient Nemea after 8 hours and 28 minutes. The route was difficult as it is a combination of asphalt and dirt roads. The mountain itself is a difficult and dangerous place to ride, even more so this particular one, as it was very rocky and difficult, with dangerous ups and downs that demanded my undivided attention. After all, it was the first time I was asked to run on essentially uneven ground.

All these racing experiences made me more excited and motivated. There I realized that when you really want something, nothing and no one can stand in the way of conquering your dream. And now I had achieved my own running dream; to complete the 6 World Marathon Majors, but at the same time to compete more in ultra-distances.

The training sessions were many and systematic; gym, running, swimming, exercises, everything that was needed to achieve the goals. Daily and unobtrusively, systematically, methodically and consistently. The sacrifices even more. Especially those related to my family obligations as I was deprived of moments with them. Financial sacrifices, especially in bad times, more difficult. At the same time, I had to combine these efforts with my intense professional obligations.

And the moment of implementation has arrived. 6 World Marathon Majors in Berlin, Chicago, Boston, London, New York and finally Tokyo, where I managed to finish with a time of 3:19 and thus became a "6 Star Finisher"!. A goal that at first seemed like an elusive dream, was completed in Tokyo on March 05, 2023. I became the 16th Greek to complete this undertaking and the first to do so within 525 days!

6 endings all so different, in 6 different cities of the world, but at the same time so common, since in each of these endings I felt the same incredible feelings. What runners feel when cutting the thread in every Marathon race. Emotions that wash from end to end of the whole body, causing all the cells to participate in this delirium and causing indescribable joy and pleasure. It is the moment when you cry and laugh at the same time, it is the physical and spiritual atonement, it is the culmination of all the efforts of the previous months. 3:19 is my best time. The goal is now to finish the marathons in less than 3 hours!

The thirst for setting new goals and achieving them never ends. During the last years, I practiced even more in long distances, after I managed and finished successfully in other races, such as twice "In the footsteps of heroes" from Thespies to Thermopylae, a distance of 102 km, in the Euchideion Athlos from Delphi to Plataeus, a distance of 107, 5 km and to Cicuit on the Serres highway, where in 12 hours I did 112 km.

As another Jason, characterized by his persistence in achieving his goals, I also had to conquer my next goal: to finish on the 11th Olympic Road. The route for the 180km, 28-hour Olympic Road was set from Ancient Nemea to Ancient Olympia, with twenty main refueling stations and is a combination of asphalt and dirt routes. So on May 19-20, 2023 after 25 hours and 39 minutes!, I managed to reach the finish line, qualifying for the Spartanathlon draw.

Having participated in all kinds of road races from simple half marathons to ultra distance races I realized that ultra races are my favorite challenge. These are races where at no stage of preparation can you simulate the real running conditions, nor your physical and mental strength. These are the races that test your limits. They are related to self-control, the patience to endure situations, the tolerance of any disappointment, which are undoubtedly essential elements for success and the enhancement of personal development, to your flexibility to judge and change strategy along the way. Patience is built through long distance races and leads you to success, inner peace and maintaining hope.

I would call these races "overcoming races". It is a spiritual process, a soul and body experience. The internal struggle is huge. You are called to manage physical pain and fatigue. Your internal battle is greater than ever; the body says: 'Stop!', but the mind refuses. Physical pain is very strange. You feel dizzy, sweaty, legs, body, muscles are shaking, cold, strained, timid. And when you say: 'Now I'm going to fall, now I'm stopping, at the next fuel station I'm going to give up', the mind projects and brakes you from defeatism. And then you realize that everything starts from the mind! All the 'I want', the 'I can', the obstacles we put on ourselves, have the mind as an instigator and brake. This is the driving force towards the top but also this is the 'Mercury' towards resignation. In the race of the Olympic Road, where the fatigue flirted with the pause having the pain as an aid, the mind came to impose itself on the body and make it forget, put aside, for as long as it decided, any annoying pains.

That's why I love these races; it takes a lot of courage to get to the starting line and even more strength to reach the finish line. It is a deposit of soul that leads to the realization that, when you believe in yourself and your capabilities, you always come out victorious. With the help of good race nutrition, the ability to adapt to the situations ahead and a willingness to change our strategy or our goal, the finish line in an ultra-distance race is closer than we think.
After conquering the Olympic Road, the next goal was set: my draw in the 2024 Spartathlon and the conquest of this great International race!

As a culmination of all the above, in 2022 came the creation of the unique Greek Podcast for Greek runners, "Everything is a road" which is available on all known Podcast platforms, but also through the website www.olaeinaidromos.gr, every Thursday morning at 10.
The purpose of the Podcast is to bring all of us running enthusiasts closer together, through a multifaceted approach, with advice and information on various topics that concern us. We approach running short distances up to Marathon and Ultramarathon, based on knowledge from personal experiences, a lot of study, advice from ordinary runners as well as professionals who move either indirectly or directly in the space of the running community. The goal is to get even better and to motivate and inspire even more people to take up running.

In closing, I want to testify that there is no goal for a person that is not possible. But it takes determination, risk and great inner strength to succeed. The main consequence, patience and perseverance and everything is possible!! Goals are to be achieved, dreams to be realized and peaks to be conquered. So don't stop dreaming and don't hesitate to set new goals.

And as I say at the end of every Podcast episode: "Be well, be healthy and always do what we love and what makes us feel good."

George Savvidis
Runner