Running Ambassador

Interview with a "running ambassador".

A couple of years ago I started entertaining an idea of running a marathon but wasn't quite sure. You know, it's a long run. Then I've heard about noble efforts of the Slovenian Ambassador to the United State Samuel Zbogar to raise funds for rehabilitation of young victims of land mines by running marathons (read more about that at www.ambassadorruns.org.)

That inspired and motivated me so much that I decided to "join" the ambassador at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington. On one hand I thought that would be the least I could do to support the ambassador's cause, on the other hand, it felt like I had a running partner, even if only on a mental level.

That's why this interview is about running.

How was the Boston marathon?

Boston was a beautiful race. That was one of the best days of my life. You can't believe it. It was amazing. They drive you by bus 26 miles out of Boston and then you run into the city. There are thousands of people along the way, and they are all cheering and offering food, water, tissue, or whatever you need. Then you come to Wellesley College, which is at mile 14 or 16. All the women come out, hundreds of them, and they scream really loudly. There's one book which states, "You hear Wellesley women even before you can see them." They scream like you are one of the Beatles and try to grab you with their hands. It's amazing. That just gives you a huge push for the next few miles. Then you have those four hills that everybody talks about that end with Heartbreak Hill. That’'s at the mile 20, which is the worst mile. And you have those three hills and then the big one. Turns out it is not so big; it's like the one from here up Massachusetts Avenue to the Cathedral. I was pretty afraid of it, you know at mile 20 you have negative thoughts: how nice it would be to quit, why I am doing all this, whose idea was it, and then there is this hill but it was not so bad. I was expecting worse.

It was a very nice, sunny day, and there were so many people. Everybody was in a good mood and it was a special feeling. That was the best race.

Had you been a runner before or was it the fundraising project that got you into running?

No, I wasn't much of a runner. I did run a bit but was never a serious runner. It was a stress reliever. I used to have headaches and running helped. But I only ran two to three miles, maybe half an hour altogether.

Then I came here and everybody was running. So I said to myself, maybe I should try one day, too. Then I visited my doctor and he said that my cholesterol and blood pressure were high and suggested that I do something in that regard. So I started running a bit, and then in the summer of 2006, I started running a few times a week and later participated in the Army Ten Miler. That was my first race. I liked it so much-the atmosphere at the race, the feeling. It's hard to explain but you are a runner as well and know how it feels before and during the race. It's a great feeling.

So, after that race I decided I wanted to do more of those races. I thought along these lines; I travel a lot around the U.S. on weekends and maybe I should do something for myself while I am away. Maybe I could run, find myself a race.

That was just thinking during my runs. I do a lot of thinking while running, many good ideas come up then.

In addition, I thought, if I run, maybe I should do something more. And it clicked, maybe I could do fundraising. But if I were to ask people to trust me enough to donate money, then I should demonstrate to them that I personally care for the project. I decided to make a sacrifice on my part and committed myself to running marathons. I'd never before thought about running a marathon because that was just beyond human capabilities.

That's how it started. I ran my first half marathon in Austin , Texas in February 2007 and then Knoxville. In May of last year I had my first marathon in Cleveland. I started liking it. In Cleveland I did a much better job than I had thought I would. My time was 3:47. I started thinking that maybe I could do 3:30 to qualify for Boston. Not really to run there but to qualify. I trained really hard over the summer of 2007. I followed a rigid program, I did speed work and everything that needs to be done. I don't know if I could train as hard again as I did for the Marine Corps Marathon, where I qualified for Boston.

The fundraising project was a great success, wasn't it?

It was great. At the beginning we sent out letters. I think we needed 33 or 34 thousand dollars. It started very slowly, and I was a little worried because I'd never done anything like that before. But then it just opened and kept going and going. There were a few big donors: KSKJ, which involved all their lodges. They collected money, and the KSKJ headquarter matched their amount. Their checks came in all the time. Then SNPJ donated a lot of money and Melania Trump. After that there were many people who gave me money. Everybody was important. In the end I think we collected 70 thousand dollars. It was big.

Is this project still going on?

No, we decided to close it at the end of last year, even though checks are still coming in. We send those to MLI (Marshall Legacy Institute, SlovInUS News note) and they send it to ITF (International Trust Fund for Deming and Mind Victims Assistance, SlovInUS News note). We've been talking to the ITF about how to spend the remainder of the money. There were six children at the beginning for whom we started raising money. But since we raised more money, they were able to rehabilitate two more children. These children also came to Washington and stayed here for a few days.

If people want to contribute can they still do that?

They can definitely contribute directly to ITF. I am a supporter of ITF, but we had to bring our project to its conclusion.

Do you have any new projects, raising money by running races, in plan?

No, nothing like that right now. I had an idea to do something here in Washington with the mayor Fenti but unfortunately didn't work out. Mayor is a runner, too.

Yes, I've heard about the Capital Challenge race.

Yes, that was Congressmen and Senators running. We participated as Team Europe, four ambassadors and one deputy. We participated as guests. It was very interesting. Senator Lugar was there, Senator Grassley, and some other Congressmen. Everyone on our team was wearing T-shirts with the Slovenian EU presidency logo. The race was a fundraising event but not related to the one I had in mind.

At one point I thought we could do some EU fundraising for Washington schools or Washington homeless people, but it didn't work out. We'll see. I am probably going back to Slovenia in the summer and should start thinking of doing something there.

Will you continue running?

Yes, I'll keep running. It depends where I'll be in the autumn. I still don't know. If I go home, then I'll run the Ljubljana Marathon. I've never run it, but I watched it once. If I stay here I'll try to do the New York City Marathon. But there is a lottery, so if not New York then I'll think of something else. There are many races out there. I think running is becoming a very popular sport.

Is there a chance that you do more than a marathon, to go to an extreme?

Have you read The Ultramarathon Man? That is quite a motivational book. Well, you always have to challenge yourself somehow. First you run a marathon, then you have a qualifier for Boston, then you maybe want to run a New York City Marathon or Chicago. You want to run the five biggest marathons: Boston, New York, Chicago, London, and Berlin. Or you want to run a marathon in Antarctica or an ultra marathon. I don't think I am going for an ultra marathon. I prefer shorter races. Plus I don't have that much time. I can't imagine how much you have to train for 50 miles.

You mentioned that when you run you think a lot. You don’t use an iPod or anything like that?

I used to use an iPod at the beginning, to listen to the music. Then at one point I stopped. I don't use it anymore. Somehow I crossed a line or something. I don't feel like using it anymore. Usually I think. You need some time before you can detach yourself from daily events. I usually run in the morning and on weekends. The best is when you forget everything, when you concentrate on something so much that you forget to count the miles. When you run a race you don't think much. No matter how much you try not to count miles you count them.

But a lot of ideas are born during my running: what project I should work on and concentrate on. For example, all the letters I sent out for fundraising I drafted in my mind during my running. Sometimes I wish I had a recorder, so I would not forget those thoughts and ideas that come up during a run.

Some call that a runner's high-when you forget the world outside and you just run. It’s a sort of a meditation when you run. That's why it's so nice to run. For me, having to work all day and having a family, running is the only time when I am alone and on my own. That's why I think I like it so much. That's the only time you don't have to think about other people or things but you are just yourself.

I remember you mentioned last year that you had lost a lot of weight. Did you follow a special diet?

Well, I gained some of that back already. That was due to a very harsh training. No, I didn't follow any special diet. I lost so much weight just because of running. I've never thought too much about food. We eat healthy anyway. The only special thing I would have was a recovery drink after long runs.

What do you think of the idea of having a Slovenian marathon in the US sometime in the future?

In the US ?

Yes, like there are marathons in New York or Cleveland; we would have a Slovenian marathon.

Well. It's possible. We already have a Slovenian marathon in Ljubljana. But you are thinking about one in the U.S. I don't know if we enough Slovenians to participate. I think the Cleveland Marathon is almost a Slovenian marathon, that's why I went there.

Maybe if you try a shorter race, like a 5K with a walking option, then more people would come and participate and that might make more sense. Then you would have to choose a date, maybe around June 26, which is important for Slovenia. It's pretty hot at that time here in Washington but you could have it in Cleveland. A shorter race, 5K or 10K run or walk, like the ones that already exist, and you would need to have some goal for where the money would go that you collected from entry fees. That money should be donated to some Slovenian-related project, maybe for Slovenian schools in Cleveland or something similar.

Can we expect you to come back to the US to race if your term ends this summer and you go back to Slovenia ?

No, I doubt I'll come back here because of the cost of airfare and the stay. And there are many races in Slovenia: in Kras, in Ljubljana, in Rogaska Slatina. I guess I'll be running there or somewhere else in Europe. However, I would love to run Boston again.

Because of those screaming college women?

No, not just because of them, but everything together. It's worth it to train to qualify. That's what I say. I did five races last year. I ran in Austin, Knoxville, Cleveland, Washington, and Las Vegas, and nothing can compare to Boston. It was really unique. And the day was beautiful and I was so happy. Of course you are happy after every race, because it's over, but this was so different. It was very different race.