It will run 850 km throughout Poland. Has a special reason

A unique mission before Rafał Domański. Within 16 days he intends to run 850 km – from south to north of Poland. Every day he will cover 55 km, so a distance longer than the marathon. However, this is not only a sports challenge, but above all a charity. The goal of the run is to support the Cancer Fighters Foundation, which helps people struggling with cancer.

Anna Mokrzanowska, Wprost.pl: There is probably no person where the 850 km running distance is not impressed. Where did you get an idea for such action?

Rafał Domański: I had people in my close environment who struggled with cancer. My good friend was 22 years old when he got cancer. I saw with my own eyes, which was why the patients had to pass. I am after an injury myself, I had to undergo surgery and I couldn’t train for two years.

In addition, sport has always been present in my life. When I was a child, my parents sent me to basketball or swimming classes. I trained a lot in the gym, but at some point these trainings became too monotonous. They stopped making me happy and give me satisfaction. One day I went to run and surprised.

The beginnings were heavy – I started by making 5, 10 kilometers. However, my trainer saw the potential in me, he said that I was a “titan of work”. I thought it would be nice to use this potential to help someone selflessly. From the beginning I knew that it was to be a charity.

Preparations for starting in a half marathon or marathon last many months and these are incomparably shorter distances. What does it look like with such extreme effort?

I am preparing to start for nine months. Recently, my life has changed completely. Both professionally and privately, I had to subordinate everything to training and preparations. I haven’t been working since April. Although sometimes there are hard days when I feel muscle pain, leg fatigue and immediately after getting up I dream about lie down again, I didn’t even regret for a moment that I took up this challenge.

I do six running training a week, in total at least 100 kilometers. In addition, there are four strength trainings. I try to run about 20 km, because it is such a distance during which you can make fun at the pace. These are completely different preparations than for a marathon. Start in the competition is a one -time, maximum effort and here I have to prepare the body for long -term effort so that it does not refuse to obey on the route.

Let’s not hide that this is a physically difficult challenge. It sounds trivial, but everything is in your head. A lot depends on our approach. I approach the whole action very seriously and devote myself to it 100 percent. If I do not make a training plan, I will deceive myself. I am fully determined and I try not to look for excuses. Although it is known that we live in Poland and the weather is not always conducive to this.

Although you devote yourself to the preparations in 100 percent. These are situations that cannot be predicted. What are you afraid of the most?

First of all, I’m afraid that the body can disappoint me. I am afraid that, for example, on the second or third day I will have knee problems. I am not a machine and such situations can simply happen.

It would be extremely difficult for me because I know that a lot of people are counting on me. I am also afraid that something will happen on the route and I will disappoint not only myself, but also the kids I would like to support. I don’t care about the assessment of people.

Support is priceless when long -distance running. What support can you count on?

There are two people in my team. My friend who trains with me a bit and will accompany me every day for 10 km of run. This is my “head medicine”, a person who will know how to help me if a crisis appears during the run.

I will also have support from a physiotherapist who will be responsible for preparing my body, but also for uploading social media reports so that Internet users can “virtually” be with me on the route and follow me on an ongoing basis as I go.

You planned the beginning on May 27. All routes are ready?

The routes are still polished, my safety is a priority. I run and I have to ensure safety, especially since I run along the pavements or streets.

I start in the south of Poland, in Krynica-Zdrój. I have good memories with this place, because since I was a child I spent holidays with my parents in nearby Muszyna. From large cities on the route include Nowy Sącz, Krakow, in which I currently live, as well as Warsaw, Gdańsk and Gdynia.

In addition to the sports challenge, your run is primarily a charity. Why did you decide to support the Cancer Figthers Foundation?

Initially, I was thinking about supporting a specific person, but here there were problems, because not all patients’ families accepted the fact that this would be associated with the publication of the whole case in the media. However, I knew that he wanted to direct his help for children, because I am very affected by the fact that such small beings already have to fight for life. That’s how I came across the Cancer Fighters Foundation.

I plan to run 850 km. This is no effort compared to what cancer and their families have to face. You can prepare for the run, you are never ready for illness. I have a huge motivation, which strengthens the extremely positive reception of my action. He gets a lot of support signals, which confirms my belief that it was a good step.

When will you be able to tell yourself that you feel satisfaction with what you did?

I will feel fulfilled when I manage to collect as much as possible to help the charges of the Cancer Fighters Foundation and of course how I manage to finish the run in full health. I want the collection to end with the highest result, but it’s hard for me to give a specific amount as much as “a lot”.

I would also like to gather a team of cool, motivated people around me. Perhaps my example will motivate someone to play sports, to start running. This run also shows that although we will not always go in our lives professionally or privately, if we do not give up and work hard, we can deal with everything.

Let’s run a little into the future. Are you planning another run of this type, will it be a one -time action?

I would like it not to be a one -time action, but I can’t reveal the details for now. The most positive scenario that appears in my head assumes that I run 850 km in 16 days, then rest two weeks, and then start preparations for the next run.

This time the action would be not in Poland, but another, slightly warmer country in Europe. Much also depends on whether I can find sponsors, because let’s not hide that the organization of this type of run is also associated with costs. One thing is certain that the next run will also be a charity, thanks to which I will want to support the Cancer Fighters Foundation.