A word from the President of the Polish Association of Knights of Malta

The IRONMAN FOR RESPIRATORS campaign is an example of our faith in the positive completion of difficult obligations and actions. In the beginning many wondered whether this was a sensible undertaking, and later whether it was at all realistic to cover such a distance, for example, 2 hours under the time limit. Others quite rationally believed that it would be impossible to collect the amount of 120,000 zloty in the middle of summer. We all know the final effects – they are astonishing and wonderful. Tomek’s result has earned respect even among professionals, journalists and fans, and we are all astonished at how many people actively joined the initiative and over 260 provided financial support!

I give you all my sincere thanks, in the name of the Polish Association of Knights of Malta, the Foundation of Malta and the hospital in Barczewo, but also in the name of those we will not meet, but whose lives we will help save.

Aleksander Tarnowski

President of the Polish Association of Knights of Malta

ENG: translation Anna Meysztowicz

I crossed the finish line over a month ago, my gear has long since been washed, the bike returned to its owner, but you continue to support the hospital with your donations – thank you. Once again, together with the Foundation, I have updated the payments upon receiving an email with the declaration of a significant sum of money from the partners of a law firm from Poznan – Wierciński Kwieciński Baehr (WKB). A day later I received a message from Xavery Konarski – of the law firm Traple Konarski Podrecki: Tomek, please let us round up the sum so that it reaches 200,000 zloty, let me know how much is missing.

Therefore, the matter has become much more simple and we are able to announce that

It has received financial support from approximately 260 people as well as organisational and consultancy support from a dozen or so more – with Zdzichu among which was a guide to triathlon . Each donation has made a difference, however, I must mention those, thanks to whom it became realistic to collect the sum, and that at a time when the campaign was not yet popular – the Anonymous Entrepreneur from Sopot, Rasabelle Tarnowska, Jerzy Kobyliński – whose round bet of 1,000 zloty per 15 minutes generated the highest single payment of 14,000 zloty! And Jerzy Jankowski, who guaranteed 12,000 zloty regardless of the end result. We know that, had it not been for you, the final picture would have looked different – heartfelt thanks.

The presence of the media greatly helped us spread the information both about our principal goal, as well as the quality of the work of the hospital in Barczewo. We would like to thank the television stations of TVP Olsztyn as well as TVN and TVN24 and the Gazeta Olsztyńska newspaper for their many reports about our project. The papers Gazeta.pl, Dziennik Bałtycki, Nasz Dziennik, Nowy Dziennik from NY, Gość Niedzielny weekly, Radio Olsztyn, Radio Gdańsk, Radio Wnet and Radio PLUS, as well as the websites; mmtrojmiasto.pl, biznesnafali.pl – for press materials. We would particularly like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Rzeczpospolita daily for sponsoring our campaign.

Referring to the very beginning, I will end the same way.

I am 48 years old, even a month ago I believed that it was 30 years less. Over ten weeks of difficult, non-stop work, I came to know my limits but they kept growing – finally I became a triathlon athlete and an Ironman. I have many friends and acquaintances but I did not know so many of them trust in me – thanks to you, we managed to buy the respirators. You did this for a hospital in which you will never be treated, for complete strangers – this commands respect and is probably called goodness.

This campaign is now history. Thank you all very much. Tomek

ENG:  translation Anna Meysztowicz

We are still waiting for all the pledged payments, at the same time I am happy to report that the Foundation’s account has been credited with a total of 176807 zł.

I plan to send you the final settlements on 10 October, which does not mean that this is the last call for payments, because the account is still open.

I have received two entries, one from Wojciech Ratkowski and one from Zdzichu Wojtyło.

Wojciech Ratkowski – one of the world’s best marathon runners of the 1980s, Polish champion of 1984, with a time of 2 h, 12 min. http://zakonmaltanski.pl/ekstremalnie/2014/08/07/

My congratulations, admiration and envy.

Because what can I, a marathon runner, whose efforts last less than three hours, say about your achievement. Ironman after 10 weeks’ preparation! This is truly difficult to imagine. And I know something about training. What you have done can only be achieved by few who, like no one else, believe in what they are doing and have character. Without these features there would be no such result. What won here, in my opinion, is above all the psyche of an athlete. It is often stressed that this component in particular is quite likely the most important for a competitor. The body can be trained but the psyche, you probably need to be born with. And you have this gift. This bodes well for all your future undertakings. It is just a shame that there are so few of you. And here is a warning for those who may want to follow in your footsteps. For other things yes, for Ironman not necessarily. Tomek, I sincerely hope that you may fulfil all your future plans and perhaps we will meet once again on the forest trails.

Sincerely, Wojtek

Zdzichu Wojtyło – veteran of the Polish triathlon http://zakonmaltanski.pl/ekstremalnie/2014/07/

Since 1994 I have actively participated in triathlons as an amateur. I specialised in preparations for long distance, which I completed for the first and thus far only time in my fifth year of preparations in 1999 in Roth (Germany) with a time of 11:04:28 h. I stress here that in my fifth year of active training, I undertook a challenge of this distance. That is why I am examining Tomek’s effort from this perspective.

From the very beginning, when Tomek asked me for help in carrying out his plan, which was a charity activity, I observed his initial preparations with a large dose of concern and often doubt. The dynamics of his progress within time began to disperse my doubts as to the end result. The bet that I took on the day before the start was on Tomek “breaking” 13 hours. Until the last day before the start, Tomek underwent two and a half months of extreme preparations. Few people realise how it is possible to reconcile work, family commitments and exhausting training taking up 2 to 6 hours a day. And what is worst for the external observer, the families, and most valuable to us triathlon competitors, is the battle with the pain, lassitude, apathy, despondency and finally with the doubt caused by contusions or overtraining.  The threats are authentic: collisions and falls on the bike, twisting joints and falls in cross country running, numerous threats on the open water – I once collided with a tyre that was drifting just beneath the water’s surface and my friend got caught up in a poacher’s net – fear can do a lot out in the open water – finally the inevitable overstraining.

Triathlon is a lifestyle and a way of life and Ironman is a hell of a long distance. Nothing before or after is the same. It changes everything about you. From your body to the depths of your soul. It teaches humility and patience, you become a better person. In fair play you battle for your position in this astonishing group of people deriving joy from selfless physical effort. You are helping others. After years you leave this path, making room for newcomers. You pass on your knowledge and motivate the weaker, you encourage novices, together with them you again listen to the swoosh of the bike, the crunch of the path, the splash of the water – you want them to come to love it too.

From the start to the finish line, you will be carried by the strength and power of the kilometres clocked up during training.

The day before the start you feel tension and unrest. Every tiny detail can stop you from reaching your goal. The air conditioning in the car, a small infection, trivial tripping up are all potential threats. The starting condition is a state of imbalance of the organism. You are only good at what is next. But this trained organism, seemingly very strong, is fragile.

And finally the day of reckoning. Will I manage? There are no more questions.

You enter the water and you don’t feel the cold. You stand in a group for 10 seconds. 3, 2, 1 – you’re off. A washing machine – a great vortex of swirling, foamy water. There is no good method here – only to accelerate, and exit the “washing machine” as quickly as possible. For the first 200-300 m you battle to survive. The distance has no meaning, you must catch your rhythm, calm your breathing, you see the first buoy, you turn around, the “washing machine” once again, and more of the same – you “spear” to the end.

The cycling is time to yourself. You are alone on the trail aside from where groups of fans, with their cheering, force you to pedal harder. After a few hours of “stomping” in a difficult position, the festival of pain begins. There is nothing as good for the pain as even worse pain. You lose feeling in the back of your neck, your back, shoulders, arms and finally your hands. Only your legs are happy, turning their wheels.

The long-distance marathon run (42 km 195 m) is a race about which nearly everything has been written. From the perspective of the distance travelled by bike, the swim is just a prelude and now the gates to hell are truly opening. The pain is constant and only looks manageable at the beginning, later you stop trying to ease it, you must accept it. With each subsequent step you experience astonishing conditions. From extreme exhaustion, where you can only hear your blood pulsing in your temples, to euphoria when the endorphins pour in like a river. At the end of the run, the final 2 km, when the end of your ordeal is within your eyesight, you notice the limits of your abilities. The endorphins propel your final shaky steps before the goal. Physically you barely even exist anymore, you are but your mind and your soul.

The finish line.

What inspires people to put themselves through such an ordeal? I think that, aside from the pride in the obvious successful completion, it is the state of “weightlessness” that accompanies you for the entire time. A time when the phone doesn’t ring, when the plastic world of appearances cannot reach you. All that matters here is reaching the finish line.

Ironman is a time of meditation and retreat.

The challenge that Tomasz took on had a noble aim. It resulted in authentic help in saving human lives – a notable goal. A goal worthy of a Knight and an Ironman.

Congratulations Tomek.