There are people for whom running somehow changes their lives as well as makes them better.
Until 2013 Yuri was a smoker, overweight. And running, he says, sucked for him. Today, however.
Yuri, who made you start running?
A friend, Andrea. Since I was a kid, I played tennis; after I stopped, my life became quite sedentary. I had gained a few pounds and, in addition, I was smoking.
He was the one who advised me to start running, the best way, he said, to “catch my breath,” lose some weight and get back in shape.
Go figure, I told him, I hate running, it makes me sick. He told me that the secret was to alternate one minute of running and one minute of walking, without thinking that you necessarily had to run who knows how many miles.
And did it work?
Not right away. The first time I tried, I took the “scrappiest” suit I had, the ugliest shoes and went out to the park below my house. And I couldn’t do it. One minute of running and one minute of walking, I couldn’t do it.
I came home on the one hand demoralized but on the other hand more fierce than before, because I am a hard head. I said to myself, “There’s no way I can’t do that!” And so I tried again the next day and the next day again and then again until, finally, I couldn’t do it. And it got better and better from there on.
After that I threw out the cigarettes and started to really run. Once, passing through the center of Milan, I had seen people running the DeeJay Ten: there for the first time I experienced the true spirit of running, the one that makes you smile to feel good and be together with others. And I told myself that I would like to do it sooner or later, too. Three months after that first park outing, I ran my first 10K, at the Stramilano.
And you got a taste for it. So you made it to the first marathon….
Yeah, in Florence in 2014. To this day it is still the marathon I hold most in my heart, because it was the first one. If I can as soon as I can, I’ll go back and run it every year. Of course New York, in 2015, was also a great experience, because-you’re in New York!
In the last 3 marathon years you have collected 12 marathons. Then what?
And then I discovered the role of pacer and realized that was what I wanted to do.
Running has given me so much, and being a pacer allows me to give something back by giving it to others.
What did the race give you?
The smile, first of all. Running makes me feel good, but more importantly it has taught me to be more positive. I have not had an easy life and I know the pain well, but life is too short not to find a way to smile every day.
Each of us has our own problems, big or small, work, stress, relationships. Before, it was difficult for me to externalize an unease, a discomfort: running taught me how to vent frustrations and handle problems better, as well as relationships with people. When I run I have more time to think, to ask myself questions and give myself answers. I am more active, proactive, more open to change, and I wish I could infect others with my positivity.
Also in the marathon.
Yeah. I am a 4-hour pacer. I know what it’s like to turn on at the 35-kilometer mark and think you don’t have any more. That’s where I can make a difference. I know that what I do can be important to others.
Sharing fatigue, as well as the joy of an achieved goal, brings people together.
And with running, I found many friends. Just think of the ASICS FrontRunner group, of which I am a member.
Friends? Or fellow sportsmen?
Friends, no doubt. There is a good bond between us, we have created a beautiful, close-knit and determined group.
And what contribution do you think you bring to this group?
Smile. That’s what I do best. Many people don’t understand what good there is to be found in the fatigue of this sport, but the fact is that when you do what you enjoy … you don’t feel the fatigue. Running makes me feel good, makes me happy, gives me satisfaction and indescribable feelings. If not, rest assured that I would do something else.
Running with Monica, then, is even better.
I am really so much in love with Monica. I owe the person I am today to her. The difficult times we had to face brought us even closer together and she is the woman I will marry.
A year ago, I gave her a bib for the Valencia 10K, taking advantage of the fact that I would be running the marathon. I wanted to give her a goal, whatever it was. I left her free to do with it what she preferred: run it, walk it or not do it at all.
That’s how she started running, too. You know what they say, “If you can’t stop them … join them>.
A few days ago she did her first half marathon and it was great!
Next goals?
A year ago I had three on my list: the Passatore 100 km, a triathlon and the Utmb.
I did the triathlon and the Passatore is already on the agenda for 2018. Utmb? We’ll see, it’s a tough race!