The Trail Run, by Martin Gaffuri

« I cross the finish line, walk few meters and lay down on my back : Here I am, I went through it till the end, I said to myself, I did it.

Few seconds pass by, I try in vain to stand up, my legs can’t carry me any more. I realize that this is only thanks to my mental strength and the psychological help of my team mate Glen Redpath that I could achieve this final stage.
I look up to the sky and try to step back to think about what I have just accomplished.

Glen comes to me, smiles and pulls me up. I weakly stagger to reach a bench and sit there.

The runners arrive, in teams of two, some yell their joy, other hold their kids who came with drawings celebrating their parents’ effort and few even cry of happiness.

I try to step back and clear my mind but I can hardly think at the moment. One by one, all the stages of the race come to my mind, I picture myself running through the landscapes and having good times with the other runners and people of the organisation at the several camps but I also remember the doubts and the moments of physical pain I had to undergo at some points.

After few minutes, I hear my name, Glen comes and pick me up. We are gathered by the speaker for the podium.
Hands in hands, the six of us rise our arms in the air and I finally realize that at the age of 22, I have just finished 3rd of an international Trail Running race in Colorado, and that all those sacrifices and hours of training are finally paying off... what a reward. »

Aspen, 20th of September 2007, we are in the finishing area of the first edition of the GORE TEX TransRockies Run , a 5 days stage race of 167km race across the Rockies, Colorado.



The Goat