They started the race more conservatively, without being at the head of the race from the beginning. At some point along the way they met and decided to walk together for as long as they could. They were separated by two decades of age, but they fought a common battle. The 25-year-old Vasso Konstantinopoulou and the 45-year-old Sonia Tsekini took third and fourth place in the recent Panhellenic Marathon Championship in Athens. They not only had to deal with the kilometers, but also with the cancer.
“We were talking on the route and after the 25th kilometer, I fell into the rhythm and she. We were trying to pull each other and somewhere at the 35th kilometer Sonia told me “go away”. I felt bad because I wanted to finish together. If I knew she was in pain I would stay with her. Only at one point during the fight did she tell me that she could not stretch her arm to get water from the stations and I gave it to her. “Imagine how much strength he had to compete”, the young runner from Thessaloniki tells “K”. The times of both, 2:51:32 and 2:52:35 were impressive, given their recent medical history.
Sonia Tsekini fought in the middle chemotherapy, treating metastatic breast cancer. Konstantinopoulou had undergone surgery to remove thyroid and lymph nodes on the right side in December 2019 and remains under regular medical supervision. He was diagnosed with myeloid thyroid cancer, an aggressive form of the disease that does not respond to chemotherapy or radiation, and was deemed to need surgery.
“After the surgery I could not go down the stairs, run downhill, or be crowded and in a commotion, I often get panic attacks,” says Konstantinopoulou. “I had mainly symptoms in psychology, it affected me a lot. There is an instability when you remove an organ, you feel that your body is not as before. But I fight it. It’s not that I am in pain in my daily life or I can not take care of myself and those around me “.
About 40 days after the surgery he competed in the regional championship of off-road in Thessaloniki and gradually started training again. He wanted to run a marathon for the first time, he was repulsed, although his coach Antonis Stoikos was more cautious. Her weakened body may not be able to withstand the strain, the requirements in a marathon are greater than in other long distance races. However, she insisted and with careful steps they organized their training plan. At each re-examination there was a possibility that they would have to stop training, depending on the course of her health. “He is a very strong character, he has been forged by what he has gone through,” says her coach.
On the weekends, her husband, Giannis Krekas, a long-distance runner, also accompanied her on a bicycle with their young son in the back seat. “She wanted to run the marathon to feel strong,” he says. Konstantinopoulou remains under observation at Theagenio hospital, performing ultrasounds every three months and axial ones every six months. He aims to run other marathons in the future, on a more passable and flat track to see how fast he could achieve.
Source: kathimerini.gr
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