ST. PAUL – The sky barely hinted at dawn as John Zappitelli’s breath came in controlled rhythms – the cold air stinging his lungs.
It was Oct. 5, and Zappitelli joined about 200 other runners at the starting line of the Iron Horse Ultra in St. Paul, including just over 50 runners attempting the 100-kilometre run.
It’s a daunting task. A challenge that tests even the most seasoned athletes. Zappitelli, who is from St. Paul, had never attempted an ultra-marathon before. This would be his first.
But he was confident. He had been training for months, pushing his body to its limits in preparation.
Training
Zappitelli’s training for the Iron Horse Ultra began earlier this year, sometime in February. It began with a simple dedication to his job but evolved into something much more.
As a personal trainer in St. Paul, he recalled having a client wanting to improve their stride in their run. But Zappitelli had no background in running.
He researched ways he could help, but research can only help so much, he says. He wanted to better understand the sport, and he thought at the time, “Maybe I should experience it myself.”
In February, he signed up for the 100-km run with the Iron Horse Ultra. While many people complete the task as a team, each taking on a leg of the route, Zappitelli opted to run the entire length solo.
He had no intention of underestimating the run. He had to prepare the best way he could and hired a running coach from Arizona in March.
“Training was pretty intense,” as it should be, says Zappitelli.
“There was one day in March . . . it was like -37C with the wind chill," he recalls. The brutal conditions were not a one-time thing, given the weather in Alberta. But he braved the elements, from frigid, wind-whipped cold to running in the blistering heat.
And under those conditions, he kept training. He was logging 50 to 60 kilometres per week, training on his feet for six to nine hours at a time.
Having never trained for a marathon in the past, he knew that the odds were stacked against him.
At one point, he realized just how physically demanding running could be. Running is hard on the joints and the tendons. “It’s hard on a lot of aspects of the body,” he says.
“I did have a couple of setbacks during training where I pulled my hamstring,” explains Zappitelli, so he had to train a bit lighter. He had to preserve his body so he could work outside training.
He trained smarter.
Motivation
Motivation was also a challenge during training. And what helped him, training-wise, was setting specific goals. For example, running about 30 kilometres for a set amount of time helped him push on.
For Zappitelli, the physical challenge was only half the battle. The pain and the hurt were not enough to dissuade him from giving up. Giving up was never on his mind.
The other half of the challenge is in the mind and for him, the thought of giving up was a dangerous thought. It was a thought he could not afford, because he had already done so much work.
He was no longer training just for himself. He was training for his family and friends, and all those people who had chosen to support him on this journey.
And that drive to keep going was made even stronger in the wake of a recent personal tragedy – just about a week before the race.
He lost a friend.
It was a tragedy that impacted him greatly, given his struggles with mental health in the past. “I’m an advocate of mental health and I’ve had struggles myself with mental health,” he says, and losing his friend gave him “more of a drive to accomplish this.”
“I'm doing it for myself, for my family, my friends, and anyone that struggles with mental health.” He wanted to run “for those who lost the battle, and for those who have been given a second chance.”
The race
On Oct. 5, as he stood at the starting line, adrenaline coursing through his veins, Zappitelli knew this would be no easy feat. And it was not.
During his training, his longest run was 30 kilometres. And when he got to the 35 kilometre-mark during the marathon, “I felt like I couldn’t continue.” But the sight of his support team waiting at the aid station reignited his determination.
“Knowing that my team was there, and that the support was there, I was able to push on.”
The third leg of the race, a 25-kilometer stretch with relentless hills, proved to be the most challenging. “The pain aspect of things, it wasn't going away,” says Zappitelli, and it became a battle of the mind to keep the thoughts of pain away.
“The last 20 kilometers for myself . . . it was torture. My body was definitely experiencing some shock,” he admitted.
But with the support of his dedicated pacer and friend, Alicia McFarland, he crossed the finish line – completing his first-ever 100-kilometer race. It took Zappitelli 19 hours.
“Preparation is definitely something that will get you across that finish line,” he says.
Zappitelli says he owes the achievement to those who supported him through it all.
He also thanked the Iron Horse Ultra for the experience and opportunity, as well as the fellow runners he met on the way.
He admits he underestimated what runners go through and endure when running long distances.
“You can be in the best shape of your life,” but eventually, the physical aspect wears off, and the run becomes a mental test.
It’s a test that every runner must pass in order to cross the finish line.
“I have new respect for running,” says Zappitelli.
