Chris Yemma
Alex Sytnyk was about 3 years old when his mother told him, with
tears gushing down her face, to run as fast as he could.
He did, and is most likely alive today because of that.
The year was 1939 and Sytnyk, his mother and scores of other
people were jammed into a warehouse in Zhitomir, Ukraine. World War
II had just started, Adolf Hitler had begun the process of killing
millions of Jews and the Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union under
Joseph Stalin's rule.
Sytnyk, as he recalls in his unpublished book, "Alex; A Mother's
Faith, a Boy's Trust," made his way through the hordes of naked
people in the warehouse and escaped through a small hole in the side
of the building.
The outcome of the imprisoned people, Sytnyk recently said at his
residence in Corona del Mar, was most likely death at the hands of
the Soviet Army.
"I was one of the few that was spared, thanks to the strong faith
of my mother," he said. "When she knew what was going to happen, she
gave me a big squeeze and a hug, and tearfully said, 'I just want you
to not look back. God will take care of you and see if you can make
it out of here because you are so small.' "
Sytnyk doesn't recall much from that time period, but that
incident sticks out in his mind.
Sixty-two years later, after traveling through Europe as an
orphan, immigrating over to Canada and finally making it to Southern
California -- and after suppressing the past his entire life --
Sytnyk is now realizing how lucky he is. He is becoming a more
spiritual person and accepting his roots. And he has found a channel
to do it all with.
He runs.
*
Perhaps it is the simplest way to connect with his past, when he
was running for his life, or, perhaps, it is something else. But
whatever the case, Sytnyk is reconnecting through running.
"The hardest part is to convince myself that I should go out and
run," Sytnyk said. "But once I get started, I start feeling really
good. I usually thank the Lord for my health and that I can do this.
"There's so many people who are in wheel chairs, but here I
started off in such a bad situation and I ended up doing what I'm
sure many people would envy."
But he doesn't just run, he does it competitively. Marathons,
covering 26.2 miles. From the age of 60 until now at 65, Sytnyk has
run in 15 marathons. From the San Diego Marathon in 2000, his first,
to the OC Marathon Dec. 5, he has been running competitively. All as
he becomes a more spiritual person.
*
After Sytnyk escaped from that warehouse in Ukraine, he wandered
