Survivor, scientist and marathon runner

Nary Ly he entered the race almost by chance after a lifetime devoted to scientific research and infectious diseases. He started running at the age of 37. He was Olympic at 44. He did it to honor all the victims of the genocide committed by the army of Pol Pot against its own population. And to make up for their own ghosts.

The communist utopia of Khmer Rouge marks him forever but he retaliates by showing that you can get out of the water by being a prestigious scientific researcher and, on top of that, run in the wilderness Olympic Games.

The Cambodian Genocide

Born on June 6, 1972, Nary Ly claims not to remember many things before the age of five. All he remembers is his mother’s delicious food and playing with friends from his village, in the region of Villagenear the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.

But it was from April 1975 when members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea seized power in the country by overthrowing the military dictatorship of Lon Nol, they established the Democratic Kampuchea and they established an authoritarian system based on communism that wiped out culture and cities, turning all citizens into peasants.

Enslaved in labor camps and forced to dress all in identical black with checkered headscarves, the Khmer Rouge began exterminating the Cambodian population for the sake of ‘cleansing’. The contempt for human life was evident in the death camps, mass graves, entire families wiped out and total depravity during the 45 months (until January 1979) that his reign of terror lasted. The U.N it is estimated that they managed to make around two million people disappear. Nary Ly is separated from his family, heading to a refugee camp in Vietnam.

France: a new landscape

He was lucky to have no other Cambodian children: at the age of 10 he was adopted by a French family. But it also brought a wall to cross. Language first and racial avoidance later developed the introverted nature of Nary. At school, he found his language in scientific studies: math was numbers and he was good at it.

He linked his studies in biology which led him to do a postdoctoral degree in the middle of New York Immunology became the first Cambodian to hold the title of doctor of Biology and Medical Sciences.

his first race

In 1998 he returned to Cambodia for the first time. Everything that happened in his youth came back hidden in his mind. At the age of 26, he discovered a country still anchored in a turbulent past, soothed by vegetation and wanting to restore some hope to Cambodians whose national spirit needed to be rebuilt. worked on Pasteur Institute of Cambodia and to celebrate his doctorate in Biology he organized a race to collect money for children AIDS (a topic closely related to his doctoral thesis) and began training. Her ex-husband encouraged her to continue running and she signed up for a half marathon.

Placed by fate save bald during his trip in 2014. The runner, winner of many ultratrail races, signed up for an endurance test in Cambodia and agreed to train him and guide him towards his goal: to run the marathon of JJ. YES. of Rio 2016.

The lack of preparation meant that he could not reach the London 2012 Olympicsbut following in the footsteps of other marathoners, Bald Y Ly they traveled until Kenya to train for three months at the High Performance Center of Lorna Liplagat.

The clock had to be lowered to three hours to qualify for JJ. YES. of Rio 2016. in the marathon of Valencia of 2015 achieved the lowest score.

The marathon: Start and finish

Fifteen days before the marathon test of JJ. YES. from 2016had tendon problems of Achilles. A strong pain presaged the worst. But he couldn’t give up. I will run for a country and for the thousands lost and killed by the regime Pol Pot. Grief plagued him for days. He has to run and finish.

in km. 7 noted the pain as it reappeared in the tendon but still persisted. And finish. This is the last classified (133 out of 157 participants – 3:20:20) but fun.

Retreat to Leon

Nary Ly He had to tell what he lived through in a book that served as a catharsis for him. withdrawing to lion, Spainbeside Save, is thirsty through the most difficult stages and the setbacks that appear on his way to get the fighting spirit. As a survivor, as a scientist and as a marathon runner. An example.