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It sounds like a Sylvester Stallone’s movie subject: an unpretentious Italian guy, challenges the super-athlete “Mister America” and … beats him.
There is a guy, Dean Karnazes, world-wide famous for his enterprises, his best-seller book, his acknowledged values by world press as “one of the sexiest sportsman of the world” or even “the fittest man in the world”, but most of all as the only man who ran 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days.
But from April 13, 2008, the good guy had to give up one of the aforesaid titles, since in the city of Turin (Italy), a forty-eight-year-old not a statue-like body-shaped entrepreneur, a “standard man” as he likes to define himself, Enzo Caporaso, by finishing the Turin Marathon, accomplished his fifty-first marathon, run in 51 consecutive days. The previous 50 races, have been run on a specially built ring within a city park with a length of 2009,283 meters so that with 21 rounds one could perform a marathon race. The ground and any single race have been approved and daily monitored by Fidal (the Italian Federation of Athletics) with a large employment of race judges daily witnessing the record attempt.
He accomplished his engagement without interrupting his job duties: he was in office from 9.00 o’clock a.m. till about 10.45 a.m. Then he moved to the nearby park where ha ran for about 4 hours, that is also his average time for the 51 races. Afterwards, he returned to office for a shower and then again to his desk. Enzo is now waiting for the Guinness World Record acknowledgment.
Q- Don’t you fear that someone would try to beat your record?
A- Records are made to be broken, therefore if someone would try to beat mine, he is welcome and I wish him good luck.
Q- What did you want to prove in pushing your body up to such an extreme effort?
A- I would like to make clear that it wasn’t a challenge to nobody neither to Karnazes that I respect and admire, but it’s been a challenge to myself, according to my life theme.
Q- And what is this theme?
A- If someone can do it, then I can do it, too. Therefore, if I am to launch a message, then I do hope that the outcome of my attempt can be of help for those discouraged people that risk to lose self-esteem. To these people I say: “Please believe it: nothing is impossible in life, nothing you can’t face and overcome thanks to will-power. Do believe it.
In his life Caporaso has been an excellent professional boxer and rugby player. Then, for ten years has been running as an amateur, most of all in order to stay in good shape.
Then it is worth believing him when he says “A bit of passion and a good deal of will and … all can be champions”.
The new record holder, during his performance, wearing four pairs of shoes out, has run for 2.152 km for a total time of 12.956 minutes corresponding to about 216 hours. He run 1050 laps within Ruffini Park. Curiously, Caporaso’s best performances have been done at the end of his attempt as his last lap of his fiftieth race has also been the fastest one (9'.13") and he concluded his fifty-first and last race, Turin Marathon, in an excellent time of 3h.45'.12".
Web site: www.51marathon.com.
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