Today, I'm going to talk about sport.
But not only about victories.
Not only about the winners.
But about the positive side of sport.
A kind of sport,
that gives us the strength to carry on, the strength to believe.
That's me running, because I like to run.
Here I was in Namibia.
This was the first stage of a long trip.
A 104 km long trip, that later became 106 km.
I had run 2 km more, because 104 were not enough.
No, I did it because 6 is an important number.
The 6 is a recurring number
in this story.
That's me at the end of the race,
with all the runners,
in spite of the running,
and straggling to win,
we arrived all together, after these 106 coveted kilometers.
The trip required a big effort.
We landed in Windhoek, here in the map.
After seven long hours,
we arrived in the Namib desert, the oldest desert in the world.
An amazing desert,
I choose to run through this desert
for his peculiar features.
And look at my participant number.
The number I was given is number 6.
A recurring number,
this is an important number for me.
This is the first stage of the running, this is a nocturnal stage,
15 km long, so it is an easy one.
We run for 15 km, as in a typical training.
But the desert and, broadly speaking,
running is a metaphor of life.
As in life, you're doing something
and all of a sudden, something unexpected happens.
In running, unexpected happens as well.
If you want to complete a challenge,
against the time or something else,
you need to go on, and react to the unexpected.
You can always react.
I had a problem after 3 km,
It was cold --
the sun was setting
look how beautiful it was --
I'm a bit touched.
I didn't know it was so amazing.
Thanks everyone,
you had sustained me.
I'll do it.
It very hard but I'll do it.
OK?
I never give up.
Right, I couldn't give up.
Because we were running for
a fundraising initiative,
to help children
an important initiative,
to raise funds to challenge neuroblastoma.
Neuroblastoma is a a type of cancer frequent in children.
Unfortunately, many children suffer from neuroblastoma.
I didn't know this disease,
before this experience.
But there are many children who are suffering, right now.
I had to run 106 km
and raise founds to give hope to this children.
When you run in the desert, and it's not easy,
because of the sand, the high and low temperature.
In Namib desert, in December there are 61 degrees.
In Namibia when there are 61 degrees
is not like in Italy,
there's not moisture.
But there are still 61 degrees.
During the 42 km marathon,
where I had been running for seven hours,
I had arm problems, burnings, abrasions.
But it was OK.
Because we had to finish the race.
When you are running you are alone.
This was the second stage, a bit longer, 21 km.
Not so difficult,
but it made me think.
I started to notice the dry soil,
because of the hot weather.
The desert taught me a lot.
Taught me that we often --
in our day life,
during all day, we feel invincible.
We feel strong.
[Respect the desert, and it will be your teacher]
When you are in the desert, you realise how small you are.
You are a speck of dust in the universe.
I had run for 15 to 20 km in the desert.
and all around me there was the void.
I realised how small I was.
The most beautiful things in life
are not your mobile phone, your new clothes.
Many think that to be happy, you need the last generation phone.
I learnt this from a bus driver.
Once in the desert, we were driving,
the bus driver stopped, got out the bus, in the middle of the desert,
took a leaf from a bush.
He gave us the leaf and says: "Smell it."
It was a leaf of sage.
He was happy because with the leaf of sage
he could cook.
And with a leaf of sage he could make drugs.
He was happy because of the leaf.
We don't need to be happy only for leaves,
it's right be happy for several reasons.
We must be conscious that we are lucky.
Do you know why I choose the Namib desert?
Because in that desert,
there is the highest dune in the world, more than 300 metres tall.
When you are there,
we run to the top,
you can see there,
is the little flag, and get down from the other side
it's like it was touching the sky.
Because in the desert there aren't clouds.
When you are there, is an unbelievable feeling.
Going up to the dune is not easy. I run slow, better, I walked slow.
When I arrived on the top of the dune,
I had already run 100 km, there were still 6 km.
I had run 100 km,
and I was on the highest dune of the world in Namibia,
and I succeeded.
Now...
Sorry.
There are still 4 km, but I'm running for 2 more.
We are raising found, I'm happy.
I want to thank you all, who is supporting me.
Now I'm going.
- Ready? - Let's go!
I hope not to fall.
[What makes the desert beautiful is that it hides, somewhere, a well.
The Little Prince]
In the desert I found a quotation.
This morning, I was talking about The Little Prince and my well.
I met a lot of people, and together we shared emotions.
We were 26.
It was a challenge.
26 people were running with me.
They could have stopped at 104 km,
because 104 km was the finish, but they run until the end.
And upon arrival, an incredible magic happened.
As you see, we were all agile at the start.
because the leg weren't tired.
And this is the end.
Do you know what the organisation did?
A kilometer before the finish, they placed a flag,
in order to finish officially the running,
then come back, run one kilometer,
and go back to the finish, running 106 km.
Why? Because the initial goal,
was to run for several kilometers,
but with a 6 inside the number.
It's interesting that we finish
the fundraising
on December 20th, 2016.
If you sum the number, the result is 106 km.
If you multiply 106 by 2, the result is 212.
I have not always been like this,
don't worry, there's hope for everyone.
You can run too.
I was fatter, I had 40 kg of overweight,
I didn't practise sport,
I used to smoke,
running for 100 meters was difficult.
I was not alone.
Sorry.
(Applause)
I had a wife,
and two children.
Riccardo, today is 17.
and Pietro, six years old.
Pietro and Riccardo,
Pietro was 3 years younger that Riccardo,
this is the first day of school.
Riccardo was in the fourth year, and Pietro on his first year,
they were young.
I don't know why Riccado was thumb up
and Pietro thumb down,
maybe he knew everything --
[Life is unexpected]
And sometimes life is hard,
and the same way you do while running,
you must react.
That's what happened.
This is an intracranial hemorrhage.
This is a CT scan of an intracranial hemorrhage.
Pietro had an intracranial hemorrhage,
in November, during the first days of school.
The intracranial hemorrhage
was caused by an arteriovenous malformation about it we didn’t know
when he was born.
And he struggled fiercely.
This is his last smile.
When everything seemed to be normal,
on February 18th, we were called
because he had a heart attack because his body was tired.
We named the Marathon Taran 106.
Pietro. Now you understand why 6 is an important number.
Clearly,
I don't want to give a bad impression, but ...
[The sun rises, even when we can't see it]
You can't give up, but ...
[The sun rises, even when we can't see it] (Applause)
You must go on,
support those who remained,
because remember that problems are always of those who remained.
Riccardo keeps on living,
He helps the other two new arrived.
Emma arrived.
She was born on June 29th, on Saint Peter day,
and then 18 months later, Michele was born.
It was absolutely necessary to be positive, I could not give up.
What did I do?
I tried to make my life better,
and my body better.
Not only from the outside,
but also from the inside.
To make people stronger.
To be stronger.
I started to run.
I took this picture,
when I run my first half marathon in Milan,
and one year later,
my first marathon in Verona.
Until I run for this marathon.
In the Namibia desert,
when I run 106 km,
and I won this medal,
and help a lot of children that were in need for care.
Do you see the t-shirt, and that sketch?
I made a tattoo. It's me and Pietro.
That's why I wanted to find 21,000 euro,
because I didn't run alone in the desert.
I will never run alone.
In November,
I will run 165 km in the desert of Oman,
here again the number 6.
165 km, totally in a self-sufficient way,
I will be given only water.
I hope to run until the end.
The desert is different, but the goal is the same.
A raising funds running,
to help children to fell better.
Today I'm giving you a lesson.
Despite problems,
big or not,
there's always hope,
to do amazing things and go on.
Life is like a pinwheel.
(Applause)
[We all have
running shoes, and can start running.
We all can set goals,
big o small goals,
and try to reach them.
I did it. I run in the desert]
(Applause)
[Thanks]
Today we are here.
Today is 6-17, 2017.
Three times six, you can relate it however you see fit.
Thank you.
(Applause)