After topping the world in the 4 Deserts Race Series in 2016, Taiwanese ultramarathon runner Tommy Chen could easily be considered a conqueror of nature, but after having run more than 1,800km in the intervening eight years, the ultramarathon veteran says the extreme mileage has taught him to be “humble” in the face of Mother Earth.
“You may think you’re gonna conquer nature, only for there to be a blizzard,” Chen said in an interview with the Central News Agency ahead of the Montane Lapland Arctic Ultra, scheduled to start tomorrow.
“You must learn to be more flexible so you can commit yourself to it,” he said.
Photo: CNA
To prepare for the 500km 10-day race in the wilderness of Lapland’s Overkalix, Chen arrived in Sweden on Feb. 18 and participated in a 30km event at Vasaloppet on Friday last week.
Daytime lasts for about nine hours a day and the sun sets soon after 4pm, making the darkness not just one of the major difficulties to deal with, but the beginning of a series of challenges, Chen said.
“You hear no sounds with all your senses being augmented, and the night ahead looks just endless,” as a result of which many runners suffer post-traumatic stress disorder or claustrophobia, he said.
Even without the darkness, runners might feel pain in all of their muscles due to the route.
“It’s like being electrocuted,” Chen said.
Sometimes, a runner might have to pull a sleigh weighing 20kg and always remain alert so as not to trip over on a slope.
“Sometimes losing your footing causes you to fall, so you have to stay calm in making each step,” said Chen, who was suffering from stomach flu during the interview.
Since his first ultramarathon in 2009, Chen, now 37, has devoted himself to the sport for about 15 years.
Asked what it means to him to keep running, Chen said the race is also an inner journey that serves as “a way for me to find my place in the universe.”
Most Taiwanese grow up receiving compulsory education and then find a job, but “that does not leave much to the imagination,” Chen said.
Through ultramarathons Chen is cast into the wilderness and gets to learn about himself, he said, referring to ultramarathon running as a sport that forces people to address extreme situations alone.
Chen said that he has never been good at getting along with himself, but the long races have helped him cultivate the ability to do so. Now he can set a fire in the wilderness and sit there for six hours or enjoy being alone in the mountains for several days.
Compared with his younger self, Chen said ultramarathons have made him a much calmer man who rarely yells or feels the adrenaline pumping in difficult times.
As he approaches the twilight of his career, Chen said his primary goal in Lapland is to finish the race, regardless of where he places.
However, that is not to say he does not care about the result, because “it is still a race, not a recreational activity.”
“As an ultramarathon runner, my job is to try my hardest for the best performance possible, and let nature take care of the rest,” he said.
Novak Djokovic on Sunday described his shock third-round elimination from the Internazionali BNL d’Italia by Alejandro Tabilo as “concerning,” two days after he was hit on the head by a bottle, which he said has caused nausea and dizzy spells. Djokovic’s bid for a record-extending 41st Masters 1000 title was ended in just more than an hour by Chilean Tabilo, who is ranked 32nd in the world and claimed his first win over a top-10 opponent, 6-2, 6-3. The 24-time Grand Slam winner said that his subdued performance on a court where he has won six titles might have been due to
Caitlin Clark on Thursday walked into her new home arena with No. 22 shirts and jerseys peppered from floor to ceiling. She left as a first-time WNBA winner. A late-arriving, but louder-than-usual crowd roared during her official introduction to Fever fans and again when Clark made her first basket, a layup with 7 minutes left in the first quarter. The cheers grew when she completed a three-point play a few minutes later and hit a crescendo when she finally made a long three-pointer from the edge of the fieldhouse logo late in the third quarter. Clark successfully navigated the city’s most anticipated rookie
Andre de Grasse, the reigning Olympic champion in the men’s 200m, and many other top-class international athletes are to showcase their talent in Taipei at the Taiwan Athletics Open early next month, according to the event’s official Web site. The Canadian sprinter, who clocked 19.62 seconds to top the podium in Tokyo in 2021, is to compete at the Taipei Stadium after the two-day event was upgraded to a leg of the World Athletics Continental Tour. The elevated status of the Taiwan Athletics Open means participants can earn more ranking points, making it possible for the Chinese Taipei Athletics Association (CTAA), the
TO REAL MADRID? Kylian Mbappe informed PSG privately in February of his intention to depart when his contract expires, but this was the first time he acknowledged it publicly French soccer player Kylian Mbappe on Friday confirmed that he is to leave French champions Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season, with Real Madrid widely expected to be his next destination. The announcement brings an end to a prolific association with his hometown team, which began when he signed from AS Monaco in 2017 in a deal worth 180 million euros (US$194 million). “I wanted to announce to you all that it’s my last year at Paris Saint-Germain. I will not extend and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks,” Mbappe, 25, said in a video