Pavel Tsoroyev, Nazran, exclusively for VK
Ingush stayer: Runners are not aggressive
In Ingushetia, one can often observe an interesting scene – a slim old man is running along the Malgobek highway despite the heat, asphalt, dust and car emissions. His name is Visangirei Barkhanoyev. This veteran of the home front and sport devotes his more than 15-km runs to the victory over fascism. The stayer turned 80 this year.
Barkhanoyev says that he wants to rattle up the lazy society and bring it back to a natural healthy lifestyle. As the oldest athlete of Ingushetia puts it, “our main enemies are laziness and lack of will.” A recent medical examination showed that Barkhanoyev is in excellent health. He never smoked or drank and he went training for years regardless of the weather. “It is even pleasant to run when it snows or rains. I run to avoid hospitals and pills and not because I have nothing else to do,” he told VK. Barkhanoyev was a famous athlete in the 1950s and 1960s when he was nine-time champion of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic in long-distance running. Now Barkhanoyev organizes mass runs in Ingushetia and runs alone.
Several years ago he ran from Nazran to Malgobek (57 km). It took him six and a half hours. It was raining and the old sportsman was accompanied by an emergency vehicle and traffic police cars. During his life Visangirei Barlhonoyev has ran a distance equivalent to twice round the equator. “They call me a weird man, but I do not spend time on useless talk. An untrained heart makes several thousand extra beats in a day and wears out quicker. In addition, running gives you psychological stability. Runners are not aggressive,” the stayer claims.
