After over a month of anticipation, the carefully prepared “I Am a Giant – TECNICA 2012 Tor des Géants Sharing Session” by TECNICA was held on the evening of October 29, 2012, at 7:30 PM at Jiamai Cinema in Sanlitun. The four giants who triumphantly returned from the Tor des Géants race—Gao Qing, Wang Zichen, Yang Jianguo, and Yu Lei—shared their experiences and insights with the attending runners. The participants also enjoyed an exclusive 40-minute film edited and produced by TECNICA.
Just how tough and grueling the 330-kilometer Tor des Géants is could be felt through the promotional video of the race. A total elevation gain of 24,000 meters and a 150-hour cutoff time are all challenges to the limits of human endurance. Yet when each of them was asked about their experience, it was hard to sum it up in just a sentence or two. However, regarding their physical conditions and psychological changes during the race, the runners actively asked questions—not only learning about their hardships but also understanding the complex mental struggles involved in enduring pain to finish the race or making the difficult decision to withdraw.
Just how tough and grueling the 330-kilometer Tor des Géants is could be felt through the promotional video of the race. A total elevation gain of 24,000 meters and a 150-hour cutoff time are all challenges to the limits of human endurance. Yet when each of them was asked about their experience, it was hard to sum it up in just a sentence or two. However, regarding their physical conditions and psychological changes during the race, the runners actively asked questions—not only learning about their hardships but also understanding the complex mental struggles involved in enduring pain to finish the race or making the difficult decision to withdraw.
To produce the exclusive 40-minute documentary, TECNICA spent a month collecting, organizing, editing, and producing footage, presenting the entire race journey of the runners to all attendees.
From the footage, we saw the professionalism of the Tor des Géants organizing committee, the enthusiasm of the Italians, the dedicated and tireless attitude of the volunteers, and above all, the images of over 600 athletes challenging the tough course and their care that transcended status and nationality. Perhaps this is the unique charm of the Tor des Géants.
Our four team members also went through very tough phases. Yu Lei vomited four times in the first stage due to dietary issues and even slept on cold rocks; Yang Jianguo hallucinated multiple times during the race and used medical tape to fix his broken glasses frame; Gao Qing, exhausted, accepted a warm drink from a local and “floated” through two sections… But they all persevered to the end. In Gao Qing’s words: “Pain is nothing, as long as the parts still work.” Meanwhile, Wang Zichen suffered a recurrence of a leg injury around the 100-kilometer mark and had to withdraw. In the film, we saw his disappointment and tears, but he told us he would be back—he would challenge the Tor des Géants again.
If running is a sport, it is even more fitting to say it is an attitude toward life. Joining the race is a way to test whether that attitude is resolute. And the Tor des Géants made us feel that it elevates life on the course, turns experiences into brilliance, and keeps passion shining brightly regardless of the passage of time.
In the 2013 Tor des Géants, we will create more miracles.