When running saves a life: 4 athlete stories that take your breath away

Overcoming kilometers, overcoming yourself – this motto perfectly suits our heroes… Each of them has his own struggle: injuries, oncology, congenital diseases. But all of them are united by inhuman fortitude, sport and ZaBeg.RF.

Artyom Aliskerov, Tver

Artyom has been involved in sports since childhood: running, soccer, gym. Five years ago he was diagnosed with leukemia. And it began: three years of treatment, 31 chemotherapy treatments… And then: four world records, 71 marathons in 71 days and a huge number of lives saved! Artyom runs with a sense of purpose: with his projects he promotes bone marrow donation. And his running history began with “ZaBeg.RF”.

Artyom Aliskerov

world record holder, ZaBeg.RF ambassador

“I found out about my disease at the end of 2018. Then I was just preparing for IRONMAN and suddenly began to realize that I had some kind of constant weakness. There was simply no strength left for the second half of the day.”

On December 31, I celebrated New Year’s Eve, and on January 1, I woke up and realized that I couldn’t breathe. My nose was bleeding and it wouldn’t stop. The diagnosis was leukemia. Next began treatment that lasted almost three years. During this time I underwent 31 courses of chemotherapy.

But I didn’t give up sports. During the treatment, on support therapy, I became an ambassador of “ZaBeg.RF”. That’s when I ran my first “ten”. One morning I went through chemotherapy, and then I went to a half marathon. I ran with my doctor, under his supervision and practically under his arm.

I made the decision to run the race right after therapy for one simple reason. The doctor told me that the chemo comes out with the kidneys. More activity – faster blood circulation. It was 2020. My friend was organizing ZaBeg.RF in Tver. I was already blogging by then and told him, “Register me, it will be motivation to get ready.”

How did I feel at that race? I felt great! I wanted to do it so bad! I had a very slow run, but I didn’t stop once. It was a victory for me. I got to the finish line, took a step and passed out.

My story began with “ZaBeg.RF”. And last year this hobby grew into a large-scale project: 71 marathons, 71 days and 72 cities.

Every day for two and a half months I ran 42.2 kilometers. I was inspired by Dean Karnazes, an American athlete. He had a project: 50 states in 50 days at 50 kilometers a day. I thought that after treatment I would like to do something similar. I started counting cities. I got 72 logistically.

It was important to me to run every day. So I chose cities that weren’t too far apart. I ran every day, and recovered in the car while traveling.

The start was in Ulan-Ude, and the finish was in Arkhangelsk. I ran the whole Siberia, the Urals. After that there was the north: Petrozavodsk and St. Petersburg. Then the Caucasus. After that – the way to Moscow. From there I flew to Arkhangelsk and finished the project there. I had only one flight during all this time.

Why 72 cities and 71 marathons? One of the segments of my way connected two settlements at once: Nazran and Magas. So it turned out that there was one more city.

We organized the project together with the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA). No one believed that I would be able to do it, but I did.

Of course, it was hard. The turning point happened in Petrozavodsk – the 36th city, exactly in the middle. I realized that I didn’t want to. Even then there were problems with eating and sleeping. I woke up in the morning and told the guys: “Let’s go home, I’m tired, I don’t want to run, I want to go home”.

The weather was terrible too. A strong wind was blowing, then a hurricane started. A tree in front of us was uprooted. I realized it was a sign to stop. But I had a lot of support from the team. The next day I arrived in St. Petersburg, where it was very sunny. And I was met there so well! We recharged and ran onward to all the cities.

The treatment changed me. My goal is to show that there is life after oncology. It depends on you. You can lie there and suffer that life is over, or you can say, “Let’s go!”

On the 11th day after discharge, we went to Elbrus. I set a world record by becoming the first person in the world after treatment for leukemia to climb that peak. To be honest, I had no intention of climbing.

After discharge I was invited to Elbrus to have a rest, to switch over, to breathe the mountain air. But somehow I passed the whole acclimatization with the guys. One day at dinner we were asked: who is ready and who is not? One member of the team had hypoxia and refused to go up. I agreed to go instead of him.

I climbed Elbrus last, in tears. A billion thousand times I wanted to turn around and go home. But there was a different motivation – I knew that a huge number of people with the same diagnosis were following me, and I realized that it was for them. You just can’t turn around.

I dreamed of running the entire Lake Baikal and I did it. I covered 770 kilometers in 16 days. I ran among the volcanoes of Kamchatka. It was very beautiful. Now I want to run a marathon in every country in the world. It’s my dream.

For 2.5 years I have participated in 140 marathons, and I don’t count the distances below. I ran in Russia and abroad. Once in South Africa there was a funny case. Penguins were running in parallel with me.

This year the bar is being raised. On July 1, I will start a huge project in Luzhniki: 20 marathons in 10 days. That is 2 races every day. And then I’m going to do something that no one has ever done in the world. I’m going to run 5,000 kilometers in 50 days. You’ll have to cover 100 kilometers each. So 50 days – from Baikal to Moscow.

Through my projects I attract people to bone marrow donation. While we were running 71 marathons, more than 30,000 people joined us. We count our projects not in kilometers, but in lives saved. We’ve already got eight of them. These are people who found out about donation through my project and were matched with each other.

A woman and her son came to the race in Tyumen to give me a hug. They live 170 kilometers away from the city. I realize that I am in my place now. And it all started with ZaBeg.RF.

You see, the limitations are in your head: all the pain, fears, abilities and the impossible. We all have a dream. If someone tells you it’s not too good or impossible, they’re right. In their world, it’s unrealistic. And in yours, it’s up to you to decide.

Pavel Krysanov, Moscow

Pavel is an ultramarathoner. He has more than a hundred races of varying difficulty on his account, and his personal kilometer counter has passed 4000. Running, Pavel overcomes not only a new distance, but also himself every time. He has a severe form of cerebral palsy, and due to complications he has almost lost his hearing. At ZaBeg.RF Pavel will run 10 km. For him this distance will be a recovery distance between two half marathons.

Pavel Krysanov

ultramarathoner, ZaBeg.RF ambassador

“In my school years I was exempted from physical education and indifferent to sports. I came to running already in my student years. Studying was a stressful experience for me. I spent a lot of time in reading rooms and libraries, I did a lot of extra work. Running became my salvation. But my interest in sports was unstable for many years.

At the age of 45, I met coach Ilya Kovalyov on the Internet. He convinced me that in my physical condition it was possible not only to do sports, but also to take part in races.

I got involved gradually. First I mastered the 5 km distance in Park Run (now it is 5 miles in Russia), then I reached 10 km, half-marathons and marathons. In recent years I have been trying my hand at ultramarathons as well. I ran 50, 90, 100 km. Now I train regularly. On average I run 60-70 km per week. Just recently I returned from Pyatigorsk and Kislovodsk, where I spent three weeks training on mountain roads and paths at an altitude of 600-1000 meters above sea level.

According to my physical condition, running is an accessible sport. But it’s also a way for me to overcome stress. Every time I go out for a running workout, I know that I will come back a reborn person. Running has made me more confident, well, and much happier!

In just eight years of running races, I have cumulatively run about 4000km. However, it’s actually much more than that, because I never counted my workouts. I have 40 half-marathons, 30 marathons and 10 ultra-marathons in my bank, as well as many 5-10 km races.

I ran not only in Russia, but also in countries near and far abroad. Now I am developing my own project “Running in the republics of the former USSR”. I have already participated in races in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, Ukraine, Estonia and Azerbaijan.

I have also run routes in foreign countries: the Denver Half Marathon in Colorado in the USA, marathons in Belgrade, Paris and Athens.

A year ago I ran the “Road to Lavra”: 120 km in two days from the zero kilometer of the Kremlin to Sergiev Posad. I covered this distance as part of a charity project from the MoreWhatYouCan Foundation, which promotes inclusion in sport.

Each of the marathons is challenging and unique in its own way. The most beautiful, perhaps, was in Alma-Ata and near Lake Issyk-Kul. There the route is surrounded by high mountains with snow-white caps. And most of all I remember the night trail run for 90 km in semi-desert conditions around the salt lake Elton in Volgograd region.

My goal is to improve my time in competitions as much as my own health allows me. My dream is to run the marathon in 4 hours and 30 minutes. This would be a great achievement for me. I run marathons on average in five hours. So far my best result was in Kazan. There a few years ago I ran a marathon in 4 hours and 45 minutes.

For people who can’t start exercising, I advise them to start small. Slow running alternate with walking in a park. Gradually increase the load. Also remember that it is not necessary to participate in marathons to be healthy. At first, it is not the pace that matters, but the time: 30 minutes is good, one hour is fine. And it is also important to realize that as you get older, it is more pleasant to run on the paths of the park than in hospitals.

Anton Surovtsev, Krasnoyarsk

20 years ago Anton could neither walk nor chew his food. He slipped unluckily on the ice and hit his head. The trauma provoked a severe disease – hepatocerebral dystrophy, the consequences of which Anton is fighting to this day. Sports helped him to return to a full life.

Anton Surovtsev

half marathon runner, ZaBeg.RF ambassador

“When I was recovering from injury, I had a big goal: “I don’t want to be different from healthy people, because I am an equal among equals.” Now this goal has been achieved.”

Before the injury, there was no sport in my life at all. It is thanks to it that I am now living and recovering. Sport has developed in me a habit such as discipline. Constant and systematic repetition of movements led me to a normal, full life.

I still remember my first 5 kilometers. I had a stabbing pain in my side, and my leg muscles ached after the race. But when they put a medal around my neck, I immediately forgot about everything. I was so proud that I was able to run despite my health limitations.

In eight years of sports I have covered more than 40 half-marathon distances. I took part in half marathons in Tomsk and Novosibirsk. Now I dream of running in Moscow. But the most difficult for me was my first half marathon, because I didn’t know what and how to prepare myself for. At that time, running schools were not so popular.

In my hometown, Krasnoyarsk, they call me the Siberian Mowgli. They gave me this nickname because of my character, my daily overcoming of my own abilities and struggle with myself.

I do not only run. I managed to set three world and all-Russian records for standing on boards with nails – Sadhu in the “team” category.

Sports is my physical development. Nails I use for meditation and spiritual development. By ignoring pain, I temper my character. Moreover, it is good for health: it strengthens immunity, relieves stress and fatigue.

In addition, I participated in setting the All-Russian record for mass dousing with cold water, I run in winter competitions, and two years ago I swam in the Yenisei at -32°С!

I have also tried my hand at bodybuilding and fitness. I successfully performed at Russia’s largest multi-sport festival Siberian Power Show.

Everything I do helps me in rehabilitation and getting back to life: running, nails, hardening. I train in the gym, go jogging three times a week, participate in races. Very soon I will overcome my favorite distance – 5 km – at the half-marathon “ZaBeg.RF”. This is an event in which I have been participating since its first year!

Dmitry Yushchenko, Pskov

In 2014, Dmitry lost his leg. He learned to walk and run again. Already on a prosthesis. A few years later, he got a sports model. And last year he became the first person in Russia to run a marathon on a prosthesis. Dmitry, the ambassador of ZaBeg.RF, calls himself a “man of steel” and sets new sporting goals for himself.

Dmitry Yushchenko

member of the Moscow Paralympic cycling team, ZaBeg.RF ambassador

“I took my injury hard and for a long time. At one fine moment I just stopped feeling sorry for myself and started practicing sports. I saw like-minded people running. So I started running. I decided for myself that I would run. But it’s impossible to do it in a regular prosthesis. You need a sports model for running. I didn’t get it right away, but after 3 years.

The first thing I did was to run 1 km. I set myself a specific goal that I would run 5,10, 21 and 42 km, triathlon and so on. There was a desire to overcome myself. Not to prove anything to anyone. Just to show myself that I can do it. And I’m still doing it.

I’m the first person in the country to run a marathon on a prosthetic. The only other marathon I’ve run bigger than that was a 52-kilometer triathlon. Now I’m training for a trail run. In general, I am professionally engaged in cycling, and at the amateur level – in running. I realize that it is necessary to combine them, so I started doing triathlon as well.

In cycling I play for the Paralympic team. In a short time I became a two-time winner of the Russian Cup on the cycle track and recently took gold at the Moscow Championship.

I run for socializing, motivation and myself. It is impossible to compete with a healthy person on a prosthesis and take first place. I want to compete with amateur athletes, because they are fun and healthy. But a professional athlete is much more serious. He only has a start and a finish. In amateur sports, it’s more soulful. You can recharge, socialize, everyone supports you.

I became a ZaBeg.RF ambassador because I like to communicate on equal terms and not think that I have any physical limitations. In Pskov I participate in the race as a pacesetter.

On May 19 I am going to run the maximum distance. It is 21.1 kilometers. I always set myself the highest bar and take the longest distances!