A few days before ALPIN8 2024, Tanja found out about our event by chance.
A friend saw a post on Instagram and knew straight away that this was something for Tanja.
Not because she is a trail runner (no, she doesn’t run) or is always at events (no, she has never taken part in a running event), but because Tanja is incredibly strong-willed.
And that’s no coincidence.
A few years ago, Tanja had a serious accident on her mountain bike in which she shattered several vertebrae, among other things.
In the hours after the accident, not only was her ability to walk hanging by a thread, but literally her whole life.
She was admitted to a specialist clinic with severe spinal injuries and underwent countless operations.
At that time, no one thought that she would ever be able to stand on two legs and walk again.
No one except her doctor and herself.
It was clear to Tanja that she had to walk out of the hospital on two legs because she had two children for whom she was responsible.
There was no other option for her.
Her attending physician also believed in Tanja from the very beginning and motivated her time and time again to work on herself and make progress. She remembers how he challenged her to get back on her feet so well within eight days of her last major operation that she could walk to his office. That spurred Tanja on and she did it in less than eight days.
You can hear Tanja’s gratitude at being reasonably healthy again in almost every sentence she says. The way she talks exudes pure joie de vivre, “because life can end so quickly”. She says with conviction that she is grateful for every single day that she is able to live, walk and breathe. That’s not just something she says. When Tanja says it, you believe her.
The experience of the accident and the long healing process has left its mark on Tanja. The experiences have left their mark. Titanium in the body, daily pain, sometimes worse, sometimes less. But it also made Tanja incredibly tough. The accident has brought out a strength of will in Tanja that she might never have discovered otherwise. She knows: “If you tell your head that you want to, then the rest of your body doesn’t stand a chance! Then you achieve what you set your mind to.”
Before Tanja signed up for ALPIN8, she spoke to her doctor, who is now a good friend, and asked him for his opinion.
And although he normally always encourages and motivates her, he was skeptical and reluctant in the case of Everesting.
This reaction unsettled Tanja.
Nevertheless, she made her way to Brandnertal two days later.
On the car journey, he called her and said: “I looked at the event on the Internet. Do it. Definitely do it!”
And on Saturday, he came all the way from Zurich and completed two ascents with her.
“That was so touching! The person who saved my life walking up the mountain with me. It was so incredible”.
Of course, Everesting was difficult for Tanja. She hasn’t done much sport in the past 12 months and has been on maybe three hikes with an altitude difference of 1000 meters each since the beginning of the year. Looking at the ALPIN8 training plan certainly made her nervous – because she certainly doesn’t have this level of fitness. But what Tanja does have: Stamina. And that’s what you need for Everesting.
From the second lap onwards, Tanja has massive pain in her sciatica, also an after-effect of her accident. However, she quickly forgets about the sciatica when she starts to feel pain in her Achilles tendons on the ninth lap. Because her heels hurt more. At times, Tanja runs sideways or backwards to take the pressure off her heels. “I wasn’t sure whether I should carry on,” she says and talks about how her physiotherapist, who was on site, advised her. “Then I decided to carry on.”
Tanja not only keeps going, she also motivates other participants she meets along the route.
She likes to adjust her pace so that she can run together for a few kilometers, chat and take her mind off the monotony and the pain.
“I’ve met some great people! You don’t talk about your job, you talk about life and that was wonderful!”
There was one participant, for example, who was about to quit after round 12 because his wife and their young child were waiting in the hotel.
She said to him: “There were three of you here, you’ve been preparing for this challenge for a long time, you’re in the 12th round – you can’t stop now! They can do it for a few more hours without you!”
He goes to the hotel, sleeps for a few hours, comes back the next morning and finishes his Everesting.
Tanja also manages her Everesting. The last lap is even the fastest of her entire career 17 ascents. “There was such an adrenaline rush in my body when I started the last lap! I’m not built close to the water, but tears welled up in my eyes at that moment. Out of respect for myself.” The Eversting showed her once again what you can achieve when you tell your head that you can do it. wants. Keine neue Erkenntnis für Tanja, aber eine erneute Bestätigung.
Fortunately, her Achilles tendons recovered quickly after the event. And now Tanja is curious to see how long it will take her to complete the Everesting with the right preparation!
Text: Saskia Bauer
Images: Marius Holler, Sportograf, private
