"Don't get worked up. The camel does it as well"

In 2009 extreme runner Christian Schiester will be competing in 4Deserts, a race through the world’s hottest and driest deserts. The dress rehearsal for it is already tough enough. From November 25 until December 9 the 41-year-old Austrian runs 550 kilometers through the Sinai.

From March 2009 until June 2010 you want to run a distance of 250 kilometers through the deserts Atacama, Sahara, Gobi and the Australian Outback respectively. Crossing the Sinai is preparation for the project 4Deserts. What revelations are you expecting from it?

The Sinai crossing is above all a very good test for the materials. In these two weeks I’ll be testing four different running shoes and socks as well as various back-packs and drinking systems. But I’ll also be closely observing the Bedouins. They lead a very modest life; I can learn a great deal about nutrition from them.

What’s different about 4Deserts compared to your previous projects?

The great challenge is that between the individual stations there’s not much time to regenerate. Between the run through the Outback and through the Gobi desert there’s only a short seven weeks. It’s about who can regenerate quicker. In any case my goal is to be within the top three in all four of these races.

On your homepage you’ve posted the saying ‘Torment your body, otherwise it will torment you’. What’s the right way to torment your body?

I used to subject my body to alcohol and cigarettes. That was definitely the wrong way of doing things. In the meantime I take my body to the limits with running. Running is the simplest and most traditional form of movement. That’s how we managed to kill off the mammoths. My projects and the experiences I have through them really make life worth living for me. I think that humans can take more than they think. People just have to believe in themselves and try to reach their goals.

What torments do you have to deal with in order to reach your goal?

Since January I’ve run about 9800 kilometers. But of course in the weeks before embarking on such a project you have to reduce a bit. Following the two weeks in the Sinai I’ll be actively recuperating. When others are sitting in the office I’m running or doing skiing tours.

At the moment you’re training in the sauna at Bad Radkersburg. Why are you doing that?

This is part of the impulses I set for myself once a week. I have the sauna to myself and I’m able to do my training on the running machine in the sweltering heat. These tests are mainly about mentally preparing myself for the temperatures and coping with them. You have to be fit enough for that beforehand anyway.

At the Marathon des Sables you imagined you’re a camel; at the Himalaya Stage Race you tried to get across the mountains like a yak, and at the Antarctic Ultra Race you had a penguin as your role model. What animal will you have in your mind this time?

I admire all these animals because they’re all specialists and cope so well with the conditions of their regions. This time I’m going to use the camel as my role model again because it’s so frugal and can go without drinking for three weeks. Before I start complaining I think, ‘Don’t get worked up. The camel does it as well.’ This time I can compete well with the camel because I’m being accompanied by a caravan, which will be transporting some of my luggage.

Do you ever get a voice whispering in your ear, ‘Why are you actually going through with this drudgery’?

No. Being relaxed and mentally strong is the basis for getting through projects like this in a positive way. The thought of giving up doesn’t exist for me. This is what separates me from my rivals.