He started running when he had 110 kilograms and now participates in 176 kilometers mountain races: “Nothing is more inspirational than a man trying and faces one who never tries”

“Radu, are you ok?!” – The question that gives the title of Radu Restivan's documentary is, in fact, much more than a joke on account of a 176 -kilometer race and 10,000 meters difference in level. It is an sincerity exercise that the former sports journalist transformed into a personal challenge and then into a story that hopes to inspire people beyond the world of running. In an interview for the public Hotnews, Radu Restivan speaks to exceed the limits and about the need of each of us to live our own dreams, not others.

• “We often cut our destiny according to what others want from our lives, which leads us to an area where we get to work for the dream of others, not for ours,” explains Radu Restivan one of the springs that pushed him to run in mountain races.

After first putting his running shoes in 2015, in an attempt to lose weight and become more consistent in sports, Radu Restivan discovered not only the joy of movement, but also the power of the community. That's how he was born 321Sportthe group that for over a decade brings together experienced beginners and runners, people who want to exceed their limits with support and encouragement.

Last year, Restivan took his relationship with running to an extreme level, signing up at Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) – the “everest” of mountain running. A race of almost two and a half days, without sleep, through France, Italy and Switzerland, an experience on the human limit, but also the perfect time to raise a mirror in front of the public. About what it means to film and live such an adventure at the same time, about the community that changed life and the message behind the documentary, I spoke with Radu Restivan.

“I was upset that I had 110 kilograms”

– You were a sports journalist, then you decided to pass “on the other side” and run. What was the moment you said, “I have to make a change”?
– Radu Restivan: Two things bothers me about 11 years ago: the fact that I had 110 kg and the idea that I never managed to be consistent in sport. Although I wanted to lose weight, I wanted to be consistent in sport most, so in 2014 I started running and since then I have not stopped.

– How did the 321sport community appear and what did it mean for you to move from the lone runner to the community leader?
– The 321sport community came out of the personal desire to give a safe place for anyone who is at the beginning of the road and wants to run: in short, I thought as if Radu has 110 kg, he never ran and he wants to go with a group where no one laughs at him, even if he runs slowly, stupid and non-stop.

On February 7, 2015, it was the first running of the community, and since then – week by week – 321Sport has become the house of the running community as we know it today. Although some people began to run and later finished or won very heavy races, one thing has never changed: the community was, is and will be about beginners, so the focus is to constantly recruit new people who do not have the courage to start, and the community 321Sport will be that support group that supports them every step.

“Thousands of runners donated blood due to the campaigns we made”

– Looking back, what did you run in all these years, beyond results and races?
– Even though it may sound trivial, the running has shown me that the power of the community is phenomenal. We all know this – theoretically – but when you realize that a running community is not about someone, but what we can do together, then you understand more easily as absolutely sensational things happen close to themselves.

Some examples: thousands of runners donated blood due to the campaigns we made, saving lives; We have contributed to dozens of social projects in different fields (education, culture, health, environment), managing to use community energy and sponsors' help to really change the world around us.

Personal, running taught me much more than the classic education I followed. I do not know if I am a better man because of running, but I know that I manage to see things clearer and stay on the waterline when things rinse.

I would like to say clearly and sparked that running offered me some of the best friends in this life, people with whom I have shared some extraordinary moments. And when I say extraordinary moments, I am not just referring to the end of a race, say, 100 kilometers, as many moments that really marked me: completely unexpected friendship gestures, which helped me in certain moments where I didn't even dare to ask for help. In short: very good people that I am glad to join this life.

-Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc is considered the “everest” of mountain running. What do you push to say “yes” to a 176 km race and 10,000 m level difference? And how did you get ready?
– UTMB is a dream for many of those who run, I always thought about this race, and I was even watching the live broadcasts and I was fascinated by the atmosphere there. It is the most important competition of its kind in the world, supporters are incredible and give you an energy that you cannot find elsewhere.

Because I am not a professional athlete and I do not live from it, I even spend all day in a chair in the office, the only thing I can do in Bucharest is to run quite a lot, and when I manage … to go to the mountain to accumulate a level difference, which consumes a lot of time because of the agglomeration on the roads.

Specifically, for this competition I ran 100 kilometers a week with at least 1,000 meters positive difference in level, even though sometimes I had to make this level difference in the park next to the house, climbing and lowering stairs until my headphone and brain ended.

– You told that sleep deprivation was almost impossible to manage. What does the mind and body of a man look after 46 hours without sleep?
– I can honestly say that I never want to get to such a moment, although it is very interesting what I “found” there. It seems impossible for me to prepare yourself for this sleep deprivation, even though I have previously taken races in which I spent a night on the route, nothing compares with the second night in the race. The degree of fatigue is so accentuated that you begin to understand all the stories with hallucinations – about which other participants speak, but you do not believe them until you live on your own skin, but especially with your own mind.

My “day” started on Friday at 10 in the morning, when I woke up and ended on Sunday at 10 pm, when I got to bed and slept … like the man.

During the race, which lasted 46 hours and 12 minutes, I think I slept, cumulatively, up to 30 minutes in three halves: two voluntary and one involuntary, when I fell on the floor and fell asleep – lucky I was awake so that I would not be excluded from the competition.

-There were times when you seriously thought about giving up?
– There were many times when I wanted to give up, telling me that there is no need to submit my body and mind to this. But the only thing that made me not give up was the idea that no matter the result, I will never take a race that involves two full nights on the route.

The hardest moment: the one in which I fell and fell asleep, completely broken by reality. I do not realize how I arrived at that point, but when I was gently awakened, I felt that I was a slap on my face and said, “Dad, do this once in my life, try to take it to the end!”

“Sometimes we get to work for the dream of others, not for ours.”

– You said that “Radu, are you ok?!” It is not about running, but about life. What is, in fact, the message you want to convey to the public?
– In the most sincere way, I would like people to have the power to constantly wonder if they are “ok” with the point where they are. Often we tailor our destiny according to what others want from our lives, what leads us to an area where we get to work for the dream of others, not for ours.

I think it is very important to have our own landmark, a kind of “personal Jesus” (that I am still the biggest Depeche Mode fan) that will always remind us that it is good to guide ourselves according to our goal, not others. We live in a society where we often fall into his net “to please others” instead of asking more often what makes us really happy.

Often the answer to the question will be “no”, but it is a good thing to become aware.

– How was it to relive the race through the eyes of the room and the team that will accompany?
– Much harder than the whole race itself.

I want to thank the three colleagues who were throughout the route (Adrian Bulboaca, Adrian Crapciu and Lucian Șuhan) and worked as crazy: they didn't sleep, they didn't take breaks, it was a superhuman effort.

“They came to run with us and a few people who had never run”

-What was the most exciting reaction you received from the spectators after the documentary projections?
– After the first three projections of the documentary, I received several messages that I saved to read on difficult days, when I will need a dash. There were people who wrote to me that they cried and felt as if they had lived the race during the movie, but also people who said they never ran, but the movie inspired it: a good example is in Sibiu, where I asked the audience after the movie if we wanted to run the next morning, and among those who came. It is a great soul joy to know that you can influence – even a little – the life of a man.

– Do you think such an effort is possible without a community in the back?
– I believe very much in the power of the community, which is why in the last 10 and a half years I have dedicated much of the energy for 321sport, a community that has grown as much as I had never imagined. Often I tell the events of the community that it is important not to forget where we left and when we see someone who is at the beginning or who torments, forget about our speed or goal and help that person – this gesture being much more important than a personal result. I am proud to have a sense of care for those around me, and thousands of people carry the philosophy of the community: to be a safe space and open especially for beginners, in which no one is judged or left behind.

I think a community can help you enormously in the preparation process for a race, but I understand the people who prefer loneliness very well.

-How did you change your life after this ultramarathon?
– I think I became more comfortable with the idea of ​​asking myself more often if I am ok in the true sense of the word. And I would be glad if people begin to do this more often and more authentic.

Otherwise, I am very happy that I can say about the film that they benefit from a national tour, organized from their own forces, but which brings the community together. Currently he has been seen in Bucharest, Sibiu and Târgu Mureș, but in the future, Miercurea Ciuc (September 11), Bucharest (September 18), Sfântu Gheorghe (September 19), Brașov (September 20), as well as other data to be scheduled in the future.

-What advice would you give to those who only now take the first steps in running and look with fear of 5 or 10 km?
– Nothing is more inspirational than a man who tries and faces one who never tries. I have all the respect and admiration for the people who have the courage to start and the ambition to continue: that's why I built the 321sport community, so that all those who do not think they can, to find that support group in which to do some things – once – just dreamed. And there are thousands of people who have managed to overcome their limits with a smile on their lips, which is fantastic.