Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/19
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Taiwan’s ultra-marathon runner Tommy Chen (陳彥博)
Tommy Chen proudly displayed Taiwan’s national flag after finishing Tor des Géants. (photo from Tommy Chen’s Facebook)
proudly displayed Taiwan’s national flag on Sunday after finishing 330 km Tor des Géants, which features 25 summits along the route.
Chen finished the run in 106 hours and 45 minutes and was placed 51. Even though the result is not brilliant, what matters to Chen is that he has conquered one of the 10 toughest endurance trail races in the world.
Tor des Géants, which must be completed in less than 150 hours, is a race of 330 km and 24,000 m of difference in altitude, which is around three times the height of Mount Everest.
Chen shared his experience on his Facebook page, saying that he injured his left knee after 43 hours into the race, and the pain from the injury intensified so much after he passed the 200 km mark that the idea of giving up the race first came into his mind, but he swallowed a painkiller pill and continued running. Soon after passing the 280 km mark, a heavy rain began to fall, and when he reached the last summit, the rain suddenly turned into a blizzard and it was freezing. He finally overcame all the hardship and completed the race. [FULL STORY]