38 kilometers to swim, 1,800 km to cycle by bike and another 422 km for dessert – this is the full route of the 10-fold Ironman. It is a challenge that is difficult for an ordinary mortal to even imagine, and Robert Karaś wanted not only to complete it, but also to win at an amazing pace. However, the 33-year-old had to withdraw from the Swiss competition. The Pole quickly completed the pool and bike competition, but he finished the race at the 65th kilometer. Doctors forbade him to continue competing.
One day after retiring from the race, he was still the leader
“Thank you very much for this support, for the nice words you are sending. I have a short correction. I feel good. I saw that they wrote about exhaustion or problems with my spine. I had an operation, it was urological stuff. It was activated on the bike and it did not work. I have already advised to run. I felt great mentally, we were doing a great job with the team. We need to do one more operation for it to heal. See you at the next races! ” – explained Karaś on Instagram. And it’s hard to believe, but a Pole.
It is such a discipline that many starters do not even come close to the finish line, and pain is an inseparable element of this puzzle.
– Pain has many kinds, and I have known everyone. Pain can be beautiful, e.g. sports pain. And that’s the pain I love. I love it when it comes to me in hard times because I know how to turn it into something positive, my weapon. I wish everyone would try to befriend the pain. Then you can do a lot together – Karas once explained.
And when journalists ask him about the most difficult moments, he most often indicates two situations. – I remember, it was a bicycle stage. The conditions were terrible, because it was raining heavily and asphalt gravel was getting under the clothes. And he was rubbing my skin. All my balls were in my blood and I was riding a narrow saddle for 30 hours. I used to run for 20 hours with a broken arm too. It was difficult – Karaś enumerated.
He did not pass from class to class, they kicked him out of the boarding school
And here the questions may arise: where did he come from? And what did he have to do to be where he is?
Karaś was born 33 years ago in Elbląg. It measures 177 cm and weighs 65 kg. His first sport was swimming. His brother Sebastian had already gone to the swimming pool, so the parents decided that they would sign up for the classes as well. They did it against his will, but at one point he realized that he was getting good results with little effort. Good enough that he went to a sports school in Gdańsk. He did not become a swimmer – unlike his brother – however. It is Sebastian who can boast of 50 medals of the Polish championship and the fact that.
However, Robert did not want to swim. Besides, he never liked being forced to do anything. That’s probably why he happened to miss the next grade and get kicked out of school and boarding school. In short, he was a difficult child. And for a long time he did not know who he wanted to become.
His first dream for the future was to become a commander, but he quickly changed his mind and went to a firefighting school. There, he could not stand the rigid hierarchy. He had to look further. And while browsing Youtube, he accidentally hit a triathlon. He didn’t even know what it was exactly, but he liked it. And he quickly began to achieve good results. Talent is a talent, but Karaś is a titan of work. He completes 21 training units a week. Actually, it is within six days, because she rests on Sunday.
The triathlon started training in 2009, but the torn ligaments in the knee and a doctor’s mistake during knee surgery meant that he only started training seriously ten years ago. It was too late to break world records in triathlon, because he would have to face the Olympians who have a more trained body. But even they do not have as much fortitude as a Pole, so he decided that he would specialize in long distances.
Today, Karaś is the champion and world record holder in the Ultra Triathlon with a five-time Ironman distance (recently Adrian Kostera took the record away from him), a triple Ironman (2018) and a double Ironman (2017, 2019). And although now he has not completed the ten-time Ironman,.
A would-be fight at FAME MMA
Karaś has not been an anonymous athlete for several years. In addition to the unprecedented achievements on the route, he is also popular with his partner – Agnieszka Włodarczyk, an actress known for such productions as: “Morning coyote”, “Job, that is the last gray cell”, “E = mc²” or “The 13th Station”. But the real media catapult for him was to be his debut in FAME MMA. And although Karaś was preparing himself intensively, he suffered a whiplash injury just before the fight. Doctors warned that going to the cage could end tragically for him. And riding a wheelchair for the rest of your life was not the scariest scenario.
On May 14, 2022, in Krakow’s Tauron Arena, Karasia was finally replaced by Matuesz “Matt Fit Lovers” Janusz. And he was to be the new rival of Adam “AJ” Josef, a popular YouTuber from the fitness industry. “AJ” had a huge advantage in physical conditions, so Janusz was brutally knocked out. The crucian could also be severely defeated, because “AJ” measures 194 cm and weighs nearly 100 kg.
It is known, however, that Karaś wants to make his dream come true and make his debut in FAME, where he has a lot of money waiting for him. Money that is not in Ironman. The main prize in 10x Ironman is only symbolic. The entry fee itself is around 3,300 Swiss francs, i.e. over PLN 16,000. The competition is run by a non-profit organization that is based on voluntary work. The entry fee from players and the money from sponsors are only to cover the costs of organizing the competition. Therefore, the prize pool is only EUR 4,000. One thousand goes to the winner. Second place comes with a prize of 600 euros, and third place is 400 euros.
– Competitors live on sponsorship contracts rather than competitions. But I don’t look at my debut in FAME MMA through the prism of cash. Seriously, maybe it was one percent of what I did. I’ve already earned so much that I don’t have to worry about fate – he argues, and MMA fans are looking forward to his debut.
But MMA is just an addition to his colorful life. The dream, uh, goal is to complete 20 Ironman times. He didn’t manage to get the twice shorter route now, but he spoke about his plans for the future before the race. And knowing his ambitions, the goal has not changed.
Well, who can do it, if not Robert Karaś?
The quotes used in the text come from the interviews with Karas on Youtube for the following channels: “Olimp Sport Nutrition”, “Fame MMA”, “MMA keep up to date”
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
