Silvar Rückenberg and the 180 km walk

Silvar Rückenberg set out to walk 180 km from Tartu to Tallinn. What followed was no picturesque travel diary, but a story of blisters, sleepless nights, reaching breaking point and one brother keeping the other going.

Silvar Rückenberg and the idea behind the journey

Since I was part of this crazy undertaking too, I want to say a few words about this historic journey. From Tartu to Tallinn on foot. 180 km. With as little delay as possible. Honestly, there aren’t many people in Estonia today who would even attempt something like this, let alone finish it.

Hats off to Silvar. Give him a medal, a monument and a certificate of honor while you’re at it. I was originally supposed to join him for 11 km, from the Vägeva junction to the Kapu junction. But without telling Silvar beforehand, I had an idea: I’d stay with him for as long as I could. Perhaps even to the finish, if I could hold out.

I had my doubts from the start. I’d only just finished a tough diet phase. If I’d gone all the way, my share would have been 120 km. That hardly sounded like a breeze. Still, I wanted to try.

Why go any farther with him at all? First, I felt a duty to give my younger brother moral support. Second, a little stroll like this was a good opportunity to reverse the weight I’d gained since finishing my diet. At least, that’s what I told myself.

Silvar Rückenberg on the road from Vägeva to Aegviidu

The start was enjoyable. I admit that even at 20 km, I was thinking: guys, what blisters are you talking about? As the meters added up, that thought quickly changed. The first blisters appeared quite suddenly after 30 km, exactly as the walkers who’d started in Tartu had predicted.

The blisters never stopped me, although the pain was considerable. I can ignore that kind of pain. My hips, especially my left hip, and my lower back became much bigger problems. They don’t just scream briefly. They gnaw away at you all the time.

For me, the real drama began as the night from Friday to Saturday drew to a close. We still had about 80 km to go to Tallinn. It must have been 5.45 or 6.00 when we all got coffees at a roadside gas station. We were utterly exhausted. No one was smiling anymore, and conversation had dried up long ago.

We’d kept up a good pace through the night. It was the early morning stretch that everyone found hard. Silvar perhaps coped best out of all of us, having worked night shifts. That night was particularly brutal for me. I’d returned from the European Championships in Moldova just 2.5 days earlier, after not getting a proper night’s sleep the entire time I was there.

The most moving moments came after the coffee stop. From the gas station, it was 9 km to Jäneda and 16 km to Aegviidu. We started trudging along, numb. Each of us had our own thoughts and troubles. For some it was blisters, for others their hips or lower back.

I was really struggling before Jäneda. I slowed down and told Silvar and Jüri to go on ahead at a faster pace; I’d catch up in my own time. In fact, I never really fell behind. I kept easing my way back up to them, and we stayed together.

Breaking point in Jäneda and a difficult decision

Getting to Jäneda seemed to take forever. The breaking point came at the local bus station, where we sat down for a brief rest and to take a photo for the forum. Jüri’s feet were already in a terrible state. Nothing could give him any relief anymore.

After some attempts to treat his feet, Jüri said, exhausted and defeated, that he could no longer put any weight on them. He couldn’t walk another meter on those feet. The blisters on his soles were that bad. You could see how much he was struggling physically, but perhaps even more so mentally. He’d already covered so much of the distance.

The decision came quickly. Jüri stayed behind at Jäneda bus station and was to catch a train to Tallinn from there. I later learned that Jäneda train station was some 1.5 km from the bus station. It took Jüri 45 minutes to walk it. That’s how bad the pain was. Even getting off the train at the final stop in Tallinn was difficult.

Leaving Jüri behind was a wrench. In a way, it felt as though we were in battle. Your friend gets wounded beside you, but there’s nothing you can do. You have to choose whether to keep moving toward your goal or drop out yourself. It wasn’t easy for any of us. We’d barely been speaking toward the end anyway, but the weight of that moment needed no words.

Jüri gave us his remaining essentials: water, painkillers and anything else that might help. Silvar and I carried on. I could tell that Silvar was perhaps feeling the loss even more deeply than I was, because he and Jüri had been together right from the start in Tartu.

We moved along quietly, limping. Before long, Silvar began to pick up the pace. He was in front, I was behind. At one point, he rubbed his eyes, sniffled and searched his pocket for his sunglasses. I realized he was fighting back his emotions, trying not to burst into tears. He had every reason to. He’d been through 2 sleepless nights and walked about 110 km.

A little later, I asked: Silvar, were you crying? “I think so,” he replied. I told him: “If you were crying or you are now, you don’t have to hide it from me. Only very strong men cry!”

My brother, the pace and the last reserves of strength

Halfway to Aegviidu, Silvar’s brisk pace began to slow. When Jüri fell behind, my instincts as an older brother kicked in. I knew I had to do everything I could to get my younger brother to the finish. At the same time, I was struggling too.

From Jäneda to Aegviidu, I pushed the pace as hard as I could. Silvar kept up. A car slowed down beside us, and the driver cheered us on, wished us strength and told us there wasn’t much further to go: Tallinn wasn’t far away now.

We reached Aegviidu fairly quickly, but getting through it seemed to take forever. The road wound on and on. That was where Esta Pilt caught up with us, brought there by Margo Mändli. Having Esta join us lifted our spirits and brought some relief. A companion with fresh legs could help Silvar make it to Tallinn.

For me, this meant two things at once. On the one hand, it was a huge relief. On the other, it was a temptation to end my suffering. Aegviidu was where I faced a very difficult decision. It was difficult less for my own sake than because I felt a duty to get my younger brother to the finish.

Jüri Vilo came to meet us in Aegviidu. The weather had become unbearably muggy. Exhausted, I couldn’t decide whether to carry on. The worst part was that we hadn’t seen a single road sign for a very long time telling us how far we still had to go to Tallinn. When Jüri said, “About 60 – 70 km to go,” that was the last straw for me.

I stopped with a heavy heart. I felt awful, like a complete loser who had let everyone down. My part in the walk ended at 10.05 on Saturday morning, after 15.5 hours of walking. I put my silver chain with its cross around Silvar’s neck and prayed over and over for the Almighty to guide my younger brother to the finish.

Since we had already walked a little way beyond Aegviidu, Jüri Vilo drove me back a short distance to Aegviidu railway station. I sat down on a bench at the old station, and I believe I felt almost exactly as Jüri Juurikas had felt at Jäneda bus station.

I felt terrible when my father picked me up in Aegviidu at 11.15, and when I got home at 12.02. The walk had followed me home. Physically, I was off the route, but mentally, I was nowhere near finished.

The real emotional turmoil began at home. Only then did it truly sink in that I had left Silvar to face the battle alone. I kept in touch with him by phone, and he didn’t sound good. Before leaving, I had realized that his mental and physical reserves were also running out. Silvar’s voice brought tears to my eyes. All I could say to my mother was, “Why couldn’t I have stayed with him? He’s having such a hard time out there…”

To be continued…

Silvar Rückenberg reached Tallinn

Late in the evening of 18 May, TÜASK coach Silvar Rückenberg reached Tallinn, completing his walk from Tartu. The walk from Tartu to Tallinn took 41 hours and 26 minutes.

The only longer stops were 1h to speak to journalists and 15 min to eat and wash. They also spent a little time sheltering from a rain shower in a car. The total distance was approximately 180km, covered in one continuous walk without extended breaks.

Silvar Rückenberg completed the entire walk. Esta Pilt, who joined in Aegviidu and covered a total of 55 km, walked into Tallinn with him. Allan Nikopensius and Edmunt Pilt set off from Tartu and, as planned, walked the first 50km before returning to Tartu.

Jüri Juurikas also set off with Silvar, intending to complete the walk, but had to stop because of severe pain in his legs. He covered an estimated 115km. Silvar’s brother Janar Rückenberg, who joined in Rakke, covered an estimated 70km.

The walkers had no support vehicle. As they approached Tallinn, Eleri Ōisma drove out a couple of times to check on them and supply them with water. Thank you to everyone who offered help, provided drinks, shared food and walked with them.

FAQ: Silvar Rückenberg and the long-distance walk

How far did Silvar Rückenberg walk?

The total distance was approximately 180km. The walk began in Tartu and ended in Tallinn.

How long did the walk from Tartu to Tallinn take?

The walk took 41 hours and 26 minutes. There were hardly any extended breaks.

Who reached the finish with Silvar?

Silvar Rückenberg completed the entire walk. Esta Pilt, who joined in Aegviidu and covered a total of 55 km, walked into Tallinn with him.

Author: Janar Rückenberg

Source:Turg.Fitness.ee

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