Tomasz Sobania, a first-year WSB University student of Pedagogy with a specialisation in Resocialisation, has been organising charity running expeditions for years, as part of which he has run all over Poland, and has even run from Poland to Rome and Barcelona. This year, he made an even more ambitious plan - he ran from the Silesian Stadium to Athens in Greece. As if that wasn't enough, after just one day's rest, he set off on his run back to Poland and after three months of a murderous expedition, he ran back to the Silesian Stadium on 20 June.
It was on that day, in the last twenty kilometres, that Tom was joined by runners from the WSB University - AWSB Running Team (three months earlier, they had also started from the crown of the Stadium together with Tom, to run with him all the way to Gliwice). - This was invaluable support for me, as at that moment I had already completed 80 kilometres. Yes, on the last day of my trip I ran as many as 100 kilometres, and all because I could not miss the concert of my favourite band KISS in Krakow," says Tomasz Sobania. - So I went with my team to the concert, then returned to the camper, put on my running shoes and ran for the next fifteen hours without sleep," he adds.
Such extreme feats are only possible thanks to incredible training and decent logistics. Tom was accompanied on the route by a team of two: Bartek, a physiotherapist, and Agnieszka, a driver and cook. - The three of us lived in an RV for three months, covering the route through Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, North Macedonia and Greece. There was no shortage of dangerous situations, such as the one when, at night in one of the car parks in Serbia, some people tugged on the camper's door handles trying to get inside. Fortunately, it didn't end up like during the Run to Barcelona, when my team and I were mugged and robbed," recalls Tomasz.
Similar stories, in addition to the extreme effort and difficult living conditions, are things that are typical of this kind of expedition. So what is the point of it? - For me, it is first and foremost about fulfilling a sporting dream and seeing the world from a perspective that no car ride or plane flight can provide. But there is an overriding sense to it - every expedition is an opportunity to do something good," explains Tomasz. In the media and on the Internet, Tomasz publicises charity collections and in this way converts the interest in the run into concrete help. In total, more than 200,000 zlotys have already been donated to people in need thanks to these collections.
Tomasz has just returned from one expedition and is already planning another. - Next year, like Forrest Gump, I will run across the entire United States from Boston to Los Angeles,' laughs the WSB University student. - I will prepare for the whole year and then go to the USA for six months. I am not giving up my studies, because studies can be combined with fulfilling dreams. Even extreme ones. And only the WSB University in Dąbrowa Górnicza offers such opportunities! - adds Tomasz.