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.
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