Toma Coconea, 41, from Parang, Romania
Interview with the Vice Champion of the Red Bull X-Alps. The Romanian who ran 170 km, in 30 hours without stopping, crossing the highest peaks of the Swiss Alps. To me, he is the legend that flies with the eagles.
Toma Coconea is born on May 5th, 1975 - „Those born on this day will enlighten others“ - said Gary Goldschneider.
What makes Tomi’s heart sing:
To spot birds when he is flying and to fly with them
To be one with the nature, facing a bear, seeing a dear, listening to the wind
When people tell him he’s been an inspiration and helped them change their lives
He is a modest person, a guy you feel at ease drinking hot wine with and laughing your heart out by the fire, on a cold winter night. A man who hardly talks about himself. But he talks about how much he loves Nature, Animals and to inspire people into changing their lives.
And He is inspiring. What draws people to follow him and his performances are the simple ingredients he uses to achieve them:
A strong will and his love for Nature and Animals.
His life start was normal and less adventurous. He was born into a middle-class family, in the Romanian mountains, in Brasov county. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and he had two sisters and one brother. He was 14 years old when his step-father died, so Tomi became the only provider for his family. This new role was not easy, but when was Tomi scared by anything hard? To a man who breaks world records, runs injured and never stops, this was just a beautiful challenge.
From 14 to 20 he worked in the morning, then boxed in the Miners Boxing Club, attended school in the afternoon, and then went to dancing classes at night. He ran to work 24 km a day, climbing up and down the mountain. Without a bus ticket, without a ride, without calling a friend to pick him up. All he had was his pair of sneakers and his love for Nature. His colleagues were always surprised to see him arriving sweaty at work.
This was an ordinary day in Tomi’s growing years. In the weekends he was always paragliding.
How did he fall in love with flying?
It started when he was 14 years old and a French sports delegation visited their scouting club in Parang, showing them paragliding videos. When the delegation left, they gave them two paragliders as a present. Tomi knew he would never stop flying after his first paragliding session. Soon after, he became a multinational champion. He was 24 when he started competing in international paragliding races.
When flying over his home mountain peaks, he was screaming from the top of his lungs: „I will be a champion!!“
Tomi was twice Vice Champion of the Red Bull X-Alps, the hardest adventure race in the world. Only 32 athletes from the whole world can qualify to participate. Tomi is now the veteran of this race and the only athlete to have participated in every single Red Bull X-Alps edition.
What is Red Bull X-Alps all about
A track of 1038 km from Salzburg (Austria) to Monaco (France), crossing the 8 highest Alps peaks in Europe, where the participants have to carry the equipment on their backs, the whole time. The quickest athlete wins. The choice on how the athletes cover this distance is theirs. They can run, fly and hike.
Recollections of the start from the first Red Bull X-Alps race
“I couldn’t believe I was among the 17 pilots selected to participate. Only 17 high performing athletes from the whole world were on that list.
It was the 14th of July, 2003. The National Day of France. The race started from Dachstein glacier in the Alps, and the Euronews team was transmitting live from their helicopter: These 17 pilots are starting now a race which may, or may not be possible.
I was stressed because of the giants I was competing against. What changed everything was the moment I heard I was among the first four, right on the first day. From that second on, I didn’t think of the athletes I was competing against. The only thing I had in mind was that I can do it!”
What were some of the crucial moments of the races?
“When I was running on a path between two peaks in the Alps and at a crossroad, I did not know if I should go left or right. Soon I heard voices of hikers and chose to go their way. And it was the right choice.
When I ran out of water, and I was very thirsty, I stopped and listened to the woods. Immediately I heard a spring nearby. I felt blessed!
In 2015 at the Red Bull X-Alps, I had a severe accident. I was caught paragliding in strong currents and I had to force land on sharp cliffs. My nose was cut off, hanging by a little piece of skin. I had injured my back and crushed my elbow on the rocks. I was found by a little boy who was hiking with his grandmother on the same trail. Because of that little boy, I was saved on time.”
What were you thinking about in those moments after you crashed?
“I felt fear. I felt this is the end of my life. I felt death. I had a massive bleeding and I was lying, with severe injuries, on the sharp cliffs. I did not feel pain. I felt regrets. Regrets that I will die young, and that I did not have the chance to have my own children. Until the helicopter arrived, I was lying there thinking I still have so much to achieve in life.”
What makes you go on when you are at the end of your strength?
I think of the people who believe in me. I owe it to them. The race is not mine. Is ours. Because they want to be inspired and I want to give them this strength and inspiration. I think of the finish line and the landing on the mattress from Monaco. I think about the beauty of nature, the animals and all that I have seen under my feet during my flights.
How does it feel like to land on the Monaco mattress?
It is the moment I feel that I finally did it, and I think of all the challenging, dangerous moments of the race. It is a strong moment, like a relief.
What do you feel when you run up and down the hills?
I feel connected with Nature, like a bear, a wolf or an eagle.
And the moments right after a race?
When I walk through the streets of Monaco, I feel something is missing. After running for 12 days in a row, with the paragliding equipment on my back, the backpack becomes part of me. Without the equipment, I feel overwhelmed and really surprised I do not have to wear it anymore.
In Romania, 1 km away from where we are. The Jiet Gorges is a paradise at hand, here in the heart of Jiu Valley. People travel long distances, to see natural beauties like this. 80% of the Romanians living here don’t even know about it.
What are your future projects?
To start my own paragliding school and one for high performing athletes.
On an ordinary day, Tomi runs between 10 to 60 km, depending on the weather. If the wind currents are right, he flies. In the evening he swims or trains in a fitness center.
Tomi believes that sport has no age limits or any limits at all. His youngest tandem partner was 4 months old and his oldest was 97. He flew with disabled people. He flew with victims over mountains to bring them faster to the rescue teams.
There are supporters from Romania, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland that travel just to cheer him during his races.
Personally, I have rarely seen so much passion in a person. Behind this modest and discrete, quite shy man, lies a giant lion that roars and is willing to break his limits every day. Because Tomi knows no limits. Tomi knows only passion. And if there is one thing I understood from the time I have spent with him, is that he does all that he does for You. Yes you, the one reading these lines right now. He only wants us to see that overcoming our limits is possible. Every day. He shows us his giants steps so that we would trust ourselves to start with our small ones.
In the summer of 2017, he will be back for his 8th Red Bull X-Alps race and aspires to break his own record of paragliding up to 7000 m.
Would you hesitate to consider this man a legend?
Read more about Tomi here:
- the Red Bull X-Alps official page
This interview was taken on November 29th, 2016 in Parang, Romania. Tomi’s home mountains.
