User:Sorin.sacara/sandbox

Tiberiu "Tibi" Ușeriu ( Romanian pronunciation: [tɪberɪʊ ʊʃerɪʊ]; born 1974, Bistrița) is a Romanian ultra endurance athlete, author and environmental volunteer.

Family
Ușeriu was born to a working family in Communist Romania. As the youngest of two children, he lived the hardship times of the ending communist regime. After his parents divorced, Tibi remained in his father's custody and spent the summer vacations as unskilled worker in farming.

Career
Ușeriu studied to become a cook, but after the 1989 revolution ran in Berlin and asked for political asylum. He worked for minimum wage in an Italian restaurant. From the money raised he travelled to Spain and worked to buy a plane ticket, ending up a confidence trickster in a Shell game in Gran Canaria. In a trip to Romania, the custom officers informed Ușeriu he was drafted for compulsory military service, where he worked as a pig farmer. The next career was as bodyguard in Serbia at the end of Yugoslav Wars.

Currently Tiberiu Ușeriu is the Administrator of Tășuleasa Social environmental NGO.

6633 Arctic Ultra
The 6633 Arctic Ultra is a multi-day non-stop self-sufficient foot race in North-Western Canada, crossing the line of the Arctic Circle. In 2018, the 10th edition of the race comprised of two races of either ~120 miles (193 km) or >350 miles (563 km), the later ending on the banks of the Arctic Ocean. During the race, temperatures can drop as low as -60°F (~ -50°C) making it one of the toughest races in the world.

Athletes competing in the 120 mile race have 3 days to complete the course and those in the 350 mile race have 8 days to reach the finish line. *Fort McPherson is the finish for the ~120 mile race.

2016
Tiberiu Ușeriu started the 2016 race as an outsider, competing for the first time beyond the Arctic Circle. He won the race after 351 miles (~566 km) in 173 hours and 40 minutes. Ușeriu, 41 years old at the time, called it "the race of his life". Landing in Cluj-Napoca airport, hundreds of Romanians offered him a warm welcome.

2017
Returning in 2017 to defend his title, Ușeriu won for the second year in a row. 24 athletes competed in 3 races: 120 miles, 120+ miles and 350 miles. In the longest race, 18 athletes competed, 14 of which for the first time.

2018
Ușeriu returned to the 383 miles (617 km) race in 2018 for the third year in a row, finishing on 1st place. He became the first athlete to win 3 times the 6633 Arctic Ultra.

Detention
At age 22 Ușeriu started planning and executing armed robberies in Austria and Germany. He was caught three years later and convicted to 23 years in prison, 13 years from Germany and 10 years from Austria. Ușeriu was on the Interpol wanted list and escaped from prison twice, in 2006 and 2008.

Due to a 2006 ruling, he was released after 9 years spent in a maximum security facility. Ușeriu's criminal record is clean and he is considered rehabilitated. In his own view, the rehabilitation process was a success due to his brother and President of Tășuleasa Social NGO, Alin Uhlmann Ușeriu.

Publications
In February 2017, "Tibi" Ușeriu published his autobiography 27 steps (27 de pași, in Romanian), title inspired by the prison courtyard perimeter measuring 27 steps. The book is constructed from the athlete's race mind and how moments in marathons remind him of life events, from childhood to prison cell. The experiences are connected, the lessons that life taught him form the discipline needed to finish ultra marathon races in extreme conditions. The humourous style surprised readers, including accounts of hallucinations during the 2016 race 6633 Arctic Ultra where Ușeriu's alleged companions were Tom and Jerry."″Firstly, I wrote this book to make amends with my past and to be able to move forward, to take responsibility for my past and what I've done. I can state that I'm very proud of what I am today and I've learned very much from my past.' (Tibi Ușeriu in a 2017 interview in Romanian)"