On October 6, students, faculty and staff gathered in CCE-101 to meet Sobania. He began his speech by offering his running T-shirt to President Marie Hardin as well as a student he met during his first time at Quinnipiac as a token of gratitude to Quinnipiac for welcoming him. 

Sobania shared three stories with the audience, each highlighting a different experience that shaped him. 

His first big expedition was his run from his home country, Poland, to Rome, Italy, which he did to honor a young girl battling brain cancer. This run was incredibly meaningful to Sobania. 

After four years of training and three years of organizing the run and raising funds for it, Sobania felt ready to begin his journey. 

“I was going to run 1,000 miles and it was a couple of countries in Europe, but it was also a mission to bring a letter from a girl who was sick with brain cancer to Pope Francis. Her biggest dream was to meet Pope Francis, but she was sick,” Sobania explained. “Organizing a meeting with the pope was not easy either.”

During his run, Sobania faced a challenge that nearly ended his journey. He explained that his mission was too important to him to give up. 

“Three weeks and 21 marathons into the run, it all came to a point where I just couldn’t run anymore,” Sobania said. “I had a fever; I was so frustrated. I tried to recover for three days and it didn’t work. I decided that if I couldn’t run then I would walk — and that is what I did.”

After walking for three days and getting healthy enough to begin running again, Sobania completed his run just in time to meet Pope Francis. He explained that he had to run the distance of two marathons on the last day to make it. 

He is still close with the young girl he ran for and her mother.  

“The fundraiser worked out and we raised all the money she needed for her recovery,” Sobania said. “The year after my run, she went to Rome and visited the Pope herself. That is what I am really, really proud of.”

It took Sobania running 60 marathons in 63 days to get to Rome, but this was just the beginning of his running journey. 

He had a dream he “couldn’t let go of,” which was to run from New York to California, where he would run a marathon a day. 

“I went from New York City to Philadelphia and then to Washington D.C. where I was given the freedom flag.” 

His experiences along the way fueled him for the next marathon. He said he met many wonderful people along the way. 

“All the Polonia and Polish communities in Chicago welcomed me greatly,” Sobania described. “I had some rest there, but then I started running again, this time on Route 66. It was my home for two months.”

He faced injuries and the want to quit during his journey, but he found it within himself to carry on. Upon his arrival to Los Angeles, California, Sobania learned about the California wildfires. 

“When I learned about that, I decided that we’re going to do a fundraiser for a family that lost their house in the fires. We raised $65,000 in a short period of time.”

Sobania completed his run in San Diego, California. He ran 3,300 miles in 149 days, which is the equivalent of 125 marathons.

Audience members were particularly moved by Sobania's drive to overcome adversity. 

"It was incredibly motivating and inspiring how Tomasz wanted to give up, but never did," one audience member, Abigail LoNigro '29 said. "He proved that even if you feel like you can't, you still can."

"Tomasz showed me that nothing is impossible," Emma Shannahan '29 added.

The final story Sobania shared was what broke a world record. 

“I have a final story, which is my 50 states, 50 marathons in 49 days run,” he said.

The standing record before Sobania completed this run was 50 states, 50 marathons in 50 days.

He described the unreal feeling of running in Alaska, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Yellowstone National Park, and all the other beautiful landscapes in between. He even got to run through Quinnipiac’s Mount Carmel Campus with a student, Ava Tjornhom ’30, MHS ‘32.

Sobania completed his run in Times Square.

“I just cannot describe how happy I was at that moment," Sobania said. "After all these moments of doubt, I finally went through all the states.”

Sobania shared an emotional video with the audience of him finishing the run, leaving everyone inspired. 

One audience member, Ava Carpenter ’28 said, “Tomasz Sobania’s speech was extremely inspiring. I didn’t know it was humanly possible to achieve what he did. What he does it for makes it have an even bigger impact.”

"In a world where countries are so disconnected, it was very inspiring to see how Tomasz Sobania used his talents to connect people and run for a good cause," MacKenzie Babine '29 added.

Audience members posed for photos and even got some autographs from Sobania following his presentation. More than that, they left feeling inspired.