”Tear streaming for one of my biggest achievements ever“
SALLUSTRO, Davide Andrea Rongji, @davidearsallustro Finisher of 100km Trailwalker
Looking back, I still am unsure how I managed to not quit, and finished the race even if it took as long as two days. My knees were agonising over every step since about 40km in, and I would’ve likely quitted at the halfway point if I could’ve.
Apart from the physical pain, there was also a lot of frustration and desperation, knowing how much better I could’ve done if it weren’t for this one injury.
A struggle was then to ‘lose’ my pride, but keep the motivation. My knees were begging me to quit right away, but my mind thought 36 hours is my minimum target, and beyond that is just pointless suffering.
Fortunately, with the help of words from Coach Eddie, my desire to persevere came through. I was able to convince my pride that finding a way to walk without pain is the ‘exciting’ new obstacle I had to overcome, rather than aiming for a time.
Dragging the event to two straight days was a different challenge however. Sleep deprivation was starting to take a toll and I was seeing things out of the corner of my eyes on the second night, when I had any visibility that is. Otherwise it just felt like the mist was trapping me on an island all by myself, alone. Yet, no longer having any self-doubt, this part did not hit me as hard as the middle section did. I was focused and I knew, one step after another, I’ll do it, no matter the time.
The Chinese name for Oxfam Trailwalker is 樂施毅行者. 毅 stands for perseverance. I wouldn’t say you can always break your limit. Instead, I always thought I push to my limits and stop, leaving no room for regret. This time, the slightest bit of desire, the strongest bit of my want, kept me holding on, and eventually, one step after the other, persevered. Persevering through my limits made this personally my biggest achievement, the very first time I cried after successfully achieving something.