We are happy to share with you an interesting, brief report on Nike Breaking2 by Human Tecar Specialist Paolo Malpeli, who was there with our crew:
It’s been over six weeks since a very special Saturday dawned over the leafy expanse of Monza’s parkland, in Italy. Our alarm clocks were set for three in the morning, we breakfasted at four, and were up and running by quarter to six, as we had been every morning for the past week. And when I say “up and running”, I do mean it metaphorically in my case and in the case of the other Human Tecar sports physiotherapists present… The phrase, though, is totally literal where Eliud Kipchoge, Zersenay Tadese, Lelisa Desisa and thirty pacemakers – the likes of Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat – are concerned: top Nike athletes we’d been supporting that first week of May, who were about to set off on the Monza Formula One track in an attempt to break down the 2-hour marathon barrier. Breaking2.
The Saturday in question was May 6th, 2017: 63 years to the day since Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4-minute mile. As everyone is aware by now, the attempt in Monza came a mere 25 seconds short, yet was an amazing achievement nonetheless: Eliud Kipchoge ran the marathon in 2:00:25, a good 2 minutes and 32 seconds faster than the world record (when skeptics had foreseen there could be no more than a 30-second gap).
Over and above the actual results, what made the week one of the most thrilling experiences in my thirty-year career was the clockwork organization, synergy and teamwork across the board, not only with the Nike people but within the Human Tecar crew.
The collaboration and unity of all physiotherapists with each other, with Mario Scerri and Professor Tranquilli, was on a par with the runners’ own, in itself extraordinary: track & field and cycling are wonderful in that way, they incarnate pure sport, selfless and collaborative, where the majority does its utmost to get a single individual to win. The Human Tecar crew, in turn, was focused, united and on target: day by day, work was organized together, fine-tuned based on what each athlete needed to do that day and that particular moment; we kept each other in the loop, pooled our resources and established common strategies by the hour. No easy task, when you think we had an average of 40 treatments a day between us and applied the entire range of Human Tecar technologies, techniques and products, and that numerous athletes were so excited with the results they had us treat them several times a day.
I remember one of the runners in particular: at the beginning of the week, he was suffering from inflammation and the pain was so severe he feared he wouldn’t be able to run. He came over to the Human Tecar hospitality area three times a day at first, then twice a day, right up to the actual race – the pain disappeared and he made it to the track that sixth of May. That day, not one of the thirty-three athletes was in less than top shape.
It’s hard to gauge the exact measure of the impact our work had on the event. Judging from the Nike runners’ gratitude, how much our treatment was in demand, how contractures and fatigue seemed to evaporate after each session of Human Tecar… I can safely say the beneficial impact was considerable.
As for the impression left by this incredible experience on each and every one of us, it is extraordinary, enduring and profound.
