A run like a new life - three years after the cancer diagnosis

The European Championships in Munich that have come to an end have written many shiny and golden stories.

The championships were a very special experience for Angela Dylakiewicz from Starnberg.

The 57-year-old completed a ten-kilometer run - three years after her cancer diagnosis.

Starnberg – start number 146 made it.

After ten kilometers over the marathon course at the European Championships in Munich, Angela Dylakiewicz crossed the finish line at the Odeonsplatz in Munich, waving and with a smile on her face.

1 hour, 26 minutes and 28 seconds mean place 746 in the women's hobby run with a total of more than 2000 starters.

But neither time nor placement really matters.

Car number 146 has something completely different meaning.

Because three years after her cancer diagnosis, the 57-year-old from Starnberg showed herself and the whole world: I'm still here.

"If you've survived three years, you're doing relatively well," says Angela Dylakiewicz in an interview with Starnberger Merkur.

"That's why I gave myself this race." And with her story she wants to encourage other people who are also seriously ill.

A Starnberger at the European Championships in Munich

Shortly after the diagnosis and the shock that followed, she drew up a project plan for herself, says Angela Dylakiewicz.

It included her doctors and therapists, for example, but she also set targets.

"It was very structured and built up step by step," reports the 57-year-old, who moved from Leipzig to Starnberg in 2013 and has been a member of TSV Starnberg since 2017.

"I wanted to be able to walk an hour again."

The fact that there were phases during the illness in which she could barely walk ten meters at a time, that she went through "a really hard time" at times, could not dissuade her.

"I've always been active.

If I couldn't walk, at least I walked.

Sport gave me a lot of strength.” That's why Angela Dylakiewicz is also convinced: “The result is no coincidence.” What has always helped her is her fundamentally positive attitude to life.

“Sport has given me a lot of strength”

Of course, the way you deal with cancer is not a blueprint for other people.

"I realize that's not for everyone," she says.

But without a personal project, without a goal of his own - "I don't know if I would have made it then".

But the ten-kilometer run on Monday a week ago was like a reflection of the past three years for Angela Dylakiewicz: “You start, sometimes things go very well, then you fight your way step by step, and in the end you come to the finish."

"It was indescribable," she describes her impressions.

The cheering of the audience, who had previously cheered on the marathon runners along the route, was incredibly motivating.

After reaching the finish line, she felt an incredible amount of happiness, endless adrenaline, was way up there.

A week later, this moment gave way to the feeling of having achieved “something really big”.

"It's going really deep now," she says.

"And that will carry me for months, if not years."

Next project: Running group for disabled people

Incidentally, the story between Angela Dylakiewicz and the European Championships did not end with the run itself.

Because she still had time, the 57-year-old applied without further ado to become a so-called volunteer and helped organize the rowing regatta course in Oberschleißheim for three days.

“I wanted to give something back and support the event,” she says.

The Starnberg resident has already started the next project.

Since moving nine years ago, Angela Dylakiewicz has been working as a group leader in a residential home for people with intellectual disabilities in Starnberg, for whose support she is very grateful during her illness.

And she is in the process of setting up a disabled sports group with the residents.

“Bunte Haxen” is the name of the – of course – running group.

"Let's see how we get there."

It could be the next action that brings strength and luck.

For car number 146, one thing is already certain: "This is a wonderful summer for me."