Slađana Stamenković: “Old age will ask you where your youth was”
Slađana Stamenković is the women’s winner of the 2021 Subotica Half Marathon. As she says, she would give everything she has for her physical fitness, and she became a runner through a trade: she offered to take a friend to chess, and the friend took her to athletics. The rest is history…
According to Slađana, running has brought her many benefits. Besides physical endurance, work habits, good habits and psycho-physical resilience, there is what she calls something specific: endurance at speed. “And while we’re on the personal side, besides fun, running has brought people for life into my life, and I am immensely grateful for them.” Like everything we devote ourselves to, running, or physical activity, carries a certain kind of sacrifice that we have to bear, especially when it comes to good fitness and physical readiness. On what she had to sacrifice, our interviewee says: “Running demands commitment, like most things we want. Personally I never sacrifice anything; if I have chosen someone or something, it is because that is exactly what I want. But, like many athletes, I have managed to make a sustainable system out of my running. If I hadn’t, I’m sure common sense would have taken me down a different path. Like many athletes around the world, I am ready to give everything I have for my physical fitness.”
Asked what decided her to choose running as the sport she would actively pursue, our interviewee points out that she realised that wherever she went, she could take running with her. “I realised that nothing in life would escape me and that I have time for everything if I make a smart plan, and that I should do running when it is the best time for physical ambitions. Why running? I don’t know, they say I was born a marathoner, and I do it because it makes sense to me. And no, don’t fool yourselves, my starting position was zero, you could even say minus. Does that sound familiar for our athletes?” Slađana says that for her, besides walking, running is the basic form of movement. “Please understand if you see me running for the bus every day instead of leaving earlier and walking; I don’t like moving slowly. I’ll calm down a bit after 35, and until then we have some quality results to run.”
Our interviewee triumphed in the women’s 21.1 km race in 2021. She takes only good impressions away from Subotica, but adds that she did not enjoy the race itself because she had a serious rival. “The organisation of the half marathon is at a high level. The culture of Subotica? I enjoyed it, but only after the race. I was invited to a famous pastry shop for cakes whenever I wish. I will never forget the constant cheering from a nearby tavern, and the architecture… I don’t know your taste, but that style would lead me through the city every day in training. Isn’t that the course of the Subotica Half Marathon? To me it is beautiful. The whole race is a story about the significance of Subotica in every era it has lived through and lives in, and I truly congratulate the organisers on that. I still owe you the story of why I didn’t enjoy the race itself. I competed against a well-known Subotica woman, a physicist who is over-talented, I really am not exaggerating. The racing was hellish. And literally, it was hot. In the coming years all eyes will be on her.” She has only words of praise for the organisation of the Subotica Half Marathon and believes that the City of Subotica has done this sporting event well, as witnessed by the large number of people who come to the city on race day. “That is what every city needs, to live life to the full.”
Finally, we asked Slađana what she would say to everyone planning to register for one of the races this year, what advice she would give them about preparation and what motivational messages and words she would send them. “I am sure that every one of you who doesn’t run now has someone around you who will. If you are wondering whether that is a good thing, as someone who has been running for 15 years and grew up in an athletics club alongside an exceptional sports expert born in ’52, I have this to tell you: it’s not just a midlife crisis, you need to move, you need to run, live, take care of your health, nutrition, body, training… you’ll be fine, just be careful and don’t overdo it. She stresses that marathoners are special people. “A half marathon is something serious, don’t take it lightly. 10 km is a real challenge and not at all easy; up to half an hour every other day, or every third day, is, as they say, for health. I am sure everyone knows what is best for them. A special message for the young is this: why run slowly when you can run fast? Sporting ambitions! Whoever’s have fallen asleep, wake them up; old age will ask you where your youth was. Goodbye, because Subotica is on 31 August!”