TED2009
Ray Zahab: My trek to the South Pole
Ray Zahab caminha até ao Pólo Sul
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O corredor extremo Ray Zahab partilha um relato entusiástico da sua caminhada recordista até ao Pólo Sul -- uma estirada de 33 dias através da neve.
Ray Zahab - Endurance runner
In January 2009, Ray Zahab broke the record for fastest unsupported trek across Antarctica, to raise awareness and money for kids' environmental education. In 2006, he ran across the Sahara to raise awareness of water shortages. (He started running 5 years ago.) Full bio
In January 2009, Ray Zahab broke the record for fastest unsupported trek across Antarctica, to raise awareness and money for kids' environmental education. In 2006, he ran across the Sahara to raise awareness of water shortages. (He started running 5 years ago.) Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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A month ago today
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Faz hoje um mês
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I stood there:
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eu estava aqui:
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90 degrees south, the top of
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90 graus sul, no topo do
00:18
the bottom of the world, the Geographic South Pole.
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fundo do mundo, no Pólo Sul Geográfico.
00:20
And I stood there beside two very good friends of mine,
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E ali estava eu com dois muito bons amigos a meu lado,
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Richard Weber and Kevin Vallely.
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Richard Weber e Kevin Vallely.
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Together we had just broken the world speed record
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Juntos, tínhamos acabado de bater o recorde mundial de velocidade
00:28
for a trek to the South Pole.
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para a caminhada até ao Pólo Sul.
00:30
It took us 33 days,
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Levámos 33 dias,
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23 hours and 55 minutes to get there.
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23 horas e 55 minutos para chegar lá.
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We shaved five days off the previous best time.
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Tirámos cinco dias ao anterior recorde.
00:40
And in the process, I became the first person in history
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E, durante o processo, tornei-me a primeira pessoa na história
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to make the entire 650-mile journey,
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a fazer toda a viajem de 1046 quilómetros
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from Hercules Inlet to South Pole,
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desde Hercules Inlet até ao Pólo Sul,
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solely on feet, without skis.
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apenas a pé, sem esquis.
00:51
Now, many of you are probably saying, "Wait a sec,
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Muitos de vós estão provavelmente a pensar, "Espera aí,
00:53
is this tough to do?"
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será isto difícil?"
00:56
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
00:57
Imagine, if you will,
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Imaginem, se quiserem,
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dragging a sled, as you just saw in that video clip,
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arrastar um trenó, tal como viram naquele vídeo,
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with 170 pounds of gear,
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com 77 quilos de equipamento,
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in it everything you need to survive on your Antarctic trek.
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que contém tudo o que precisam para sobreviver na vossa caminhada antárctica.
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It's going to be 40 below, every single day.
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Vão estar 40 graus abaixo de zero, todos os dias.
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You'll be in a massive headwind.
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Vão apanhar com fortíssimos ventos de frente.
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And at some point you're going to have to cross these cracks in the ice,
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E em algum momento hão-de ter de atravessar estas fendas no gelo,
01:14
these crevasses.
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estas fissuras.
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Some of them have a very precarious thin footbridge underneath them
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Algumas delas têm uma muito precária e fina passarela por debaixo
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that could give way at a moment's notice,
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que pode ceder sem aviso,
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taking your sled, you, into the abyss, never to be seen again.
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levando-vos, e ao vosso trenó, para dentro do abismo, para nunca mais serem vistos.
01:26
The punchline to your journey? Look at the horizon.
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A frase que fica da vossa viagem? Olhem para o horizonte.
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Yes, it's uphill the entire way,
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Sim, é sempre a subir todo o caminho,
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because the South Pole is at 10,000 feet,
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porque o Pólo Sul fica a 3.000 kms de altitude,
01:33
and you're starting at sea level.
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e começa-se ao nível do mar.
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Our journey did not, in fact, begin at Hercules Inlet,
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A nossa viagem não começou, de facto, no Hercules Inlet,
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where frozen ocean meets the land of Antarctica.
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onde os oceanos gelados se encontram com a Antárctida.
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It began a little less than two years ago.
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Começou há pouco mais de dois anos.
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A couple of buddies of mine and I
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Eu e dois amigos meus
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had finished a 111-day run across the entire Sahara desert.
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tínhamos acabado uma corrida de 111 dias através do deserto do Sahara.
01:50
And while we were there we learned
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E enquanto lá estivemos aprendemos
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the seriousness of the water crisis in Northern Africa.
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a gravidade da crise da água no Norte de África.
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We also learned that many of the issues facing the people of Northern Africa
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Aprendemos também que muitos dos problemas que as pessoas do Norte de África enfrentam
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affected young people the most.
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afectam sobretudo os jovens.
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I came home to my wife after 111 days of running in the sand,
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Regressei a casa, para junto da minha mulher, depois de 111 dias a correr na areia,
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and I said, "You know, there's no doubt if this bozo can get across the desert,
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e disse, "Sabes, não há dúvidas que se este palerma consegue atravessar o deserto,
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we are capable of doing anything we set our minds to."
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então somos capazes de fazer qualquer coisa a que dediquemos as nossas mentes."
02:12
But if I'm going to continue doing these adventures, there has to be
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Mas se continuar com estas aventuras, tem de haver
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a reason for me to do them
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uma razão para as fazer
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beyond just getting there.
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para além de simplesmente chegar ao fim.
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Around that time I met an extraordinary human being,
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Por essa altura conheci um ser humano extraordinário,
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Peter Thum, who inspired me with his actions.
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Peter Thum, que me inspirou com as suas acções.
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He's trying to find and solve water issues, the crisis around the world.
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Ele tenta descobrir e solucionar problemas com a água, a crise em todo o mundo.
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His dedication inspired me to come up with this expedition:
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A sua dedicação inspirou-me a preparar esta expedição:
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a run to the South Pole
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uma corrida ao Pólo Sul
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where, with an interactive website,
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em que, com um website interactivo,
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I will be able to bring young people, students and teachers from around the world
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eu seria capaz de trazer jovens, estudantes e professores de todo o mundo
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on board the expedition with me,
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a bordo da expedição comigo,
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as active members.
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como membros activos.
02:42
So we would have a live website, that every single day of the 33 days,
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Teríamos então um website ao vivo, para que em cada um dos 33 dias,
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we would be blogging, telling stories of,
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estivéssemos a blogar, contando histórias sobre,
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you know, depleted ozone forcing us to cover our faces,
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por exemplo, a falta de ozono que nos força a cobrir o rosto,
02:52
or we will burn.
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ou queimamo-nos.
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Crossing miles and miles of sastrugi --
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Atravessando quilómetros e quilómetros de sastrugi --
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frozen ice snowdrifts that could be hip-deep.
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pedaços de gelo à deriva que chegam a dar-nos pela cintura.
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I'm telling you, crossing these things with 170-pound sled,
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Digo-vos, atravessar isto com um trenó de 77 quilos,
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that sled may as well have weighed 1,700 pounds,
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é como se o trenó pesasse 770 quilos,
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because that's what it felt like.
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porque era isso que parecia.
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We were blogging to this live website daily
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Estávamos a blogar para o website diariamente
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to these students that were tracking us as well,
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para os estudantes que nos seguiam,
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about 10-hour trekking days,
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dias de cerca de 10 horas de caminhada,
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15-hour trekking days,
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15 horas de caminhada,
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sometimes 20 hours of trekking daily to meet our goal.
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às vezes 20 horas de caminhada diária para atingir o nosso objectivo.
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We'd catch cat-naps at 40 below on our sled, incidentally.
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A propósito, tirávamos uma soneca no trenó, com 40 graus negativos.
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In turn, students,
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Por sua vez, os estudantes,
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people from around the world, would ask us questions.
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pessoas de todo o mundo, faziam-nos perguntas.
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Young people would ask the most amazing questions.
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Os mais jovens fazem as perguntas mais espantosas.
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One of my favorite: It's 40 below, you've got to go to the bathroom,
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Uma das minhas favoritas: Estão 40 graus negativos, tens de ir à casa-de-banho,
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where are you going to go and how are you going to do it?
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onde é que vais e como é que vais fazer?
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I'm not going to answer that. But I will answer some of the more popular questions.
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Não vou responder a isto. Mas vou responder a algumas das perguntas mais populares.
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Where do you sleep? We slept in a tent that was very low to the ground,
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Onde é que dormem? Dormíamos numa tenda que estava muito rente ao chão,
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because the winds on Antarctica were so extreme, it would blow anything else away.
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porque os ventos na Antárctida eram tão extremos, que qualquer outra coisa voaria.
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What do you eat? One of my favorite dishes on expedition:
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O que é que comem? Um dos meus pratos favoritos na expedição:
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butter and bacon. It's about a million calories.
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manteiga e bacon. Tem cerca de um milhão de calorias.
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We were burning about 8,500 a day,
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Queimávamos cerca de 8.500 por dia,
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so we needed it.
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por isso precisávamos.
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How many batteries do you carry for all the equipment that you have?
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Quantas pilhas/baterias levam para todo o equipamento que têm?
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Virtually none. All of our equipment, including film equipment,
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Virtualmente nenhuma. Todo o nosso equipamento, incluindo o de filmar,
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was charged by the sun.
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é carregado pelo sol.
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And do you get along? I certainly hope so,
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E dão-se bem? Espero bem que sim,
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because at some point or another on this expedition,
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porque num ou noutro momento desta expedição
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one of your teammates is going to have to take a very big needle,
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um dos vossos colegas de equipa terá de pegar numa agulha enorme,
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and put it in an infected blister, and drain it for you.
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e enfiá-la numa bolha infectada, e drená-la.
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But seriously, seriously, we did get along,
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Mas a sério, a sério, nós demos-nos bem,
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because we had a common goal of wanting to inspire these young people.
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porque tínhamos um objectivo comum, queríamos inspirar estes jovens.
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They were our teammates! They were inspiring us.
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Eles eram os nossos colegas de equipa! Eles inspiravam-nos.
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The stories we were hearing got us to the South Pole.
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As histórias que ouvíamos levaram-nos até ao Pólo Sul.
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The website worked brilliantly as a two-way street of communication.
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O website funcionou de forma brilhante como um canal de comunicação de dois sentidos.
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Young people in northern Canada, kids in an elementary school,
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Jovens do norte do Canadá, crianças numa escola primária,
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dragging sleds across the school-yard,
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arrastando trenós no recreio,
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pretending they were Richard, Ray and Kevin. Amazing.
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fingindo que eram o Richard, o Ray e o Kevin. Incrível.
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We arrived at the South Pole. We huddled into that tent,
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Chegámos ao Pólo Sul. Amontoámo-nos dentro da tenda,
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45 below that day, I'll never forget it.
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45 abaixo de zero, nunca hei-de esquecer.
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We looked at each other with these looks
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Olhámos uns para os outros com uns olhares
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of disbelief at what we had just completed.
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incrédulos perante o que acabáramos de completar.
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And I remember looking at the guys thinking,
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E eu lembro-me de olhar para eles e pensar,
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"What do I take from this journey?" You know? Seriously.
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"O que levo desta viagem?" Sabem? A sério.
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That I'm this uber-endurance guy?
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Que eu sou este tipo super-resistente?
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As I stand here today talking to you guys,
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Aqui estou eu a falar convosco,
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I've been running for the grand sum of five years.
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e afinal só comecei a correr há cinco anos.
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And a year before that I was a pack-a-day smoker,
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E um ano antes eu era um fumador de um maço por dia,
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living a very sedentary lifestyle.
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vivendo uma vida sedentária.
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What I take from this journey, from my journeys,
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O que eu levo desta viagem, das minhas viagens,
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is that, in fact,
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é que, de facto,
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within every fiber of my belief standing here,
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dentro de cada fibra da minha crença aqui,
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I know that we can make the impossible possible.
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sei que podemos tornar possível o impossível.
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I'm learning this at 40.
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Estou a aprender isto aos 40.
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Can you imagine? Seriously, can you imagine?
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Conseguem imaginar isto? A sério, conseguem imaginar?
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I'm learning this at 40 years of age.
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Estou a aprender isto aos 40 anos de idade.
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Imagine being 13 years old,
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Imaginem ter 13 anos de idade,
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hearing those words, and believing it.
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e escutar estas palavras, e acreditar nelas.
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Thank you very much. Thank you.
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Muito obrigado. Obrigado.
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(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ray Zahab - Endurance runnerIn January 2009, Ray Zahab broke the record for fastest unsupported trek across Antarctica, to raise awareness and money for kids' environmental education. In 2006, he ran across the Sahara to raise awareness of water shortages. (He started running 5 years ago.)
Why you should listen
Extreme runner Ray Zahab and his Impossible2Possible team make a habit of dropping jaws. A month before TED2009, he made the fastest unsupported trip to the South Pole on foot and snowshoes. Trekking in moon boots, while his partners Kevin Vallely and Richard Weber skiied alongside, Zahab liveblogged the trip for an audience of schoolchildren to raise awareness of the Antarctic environment.
He's the author of Running for My Life, a story of his metamorphosis from a pack-a-day smoker to an endurance athlete capable of such extreme feats as a 7,500 kilometer run across the Sahara. His treks are driven by an intense personal feeling for the environment; the Sahara trek, for instance, highlighted the worldwide challenge of water.
Ray is the founder of Impossible2Possible, and sits on the board of directors of the Ryan's Well Foundation and ONExONE Foundation. In September 2009, he and Impossible2Possible are planning a trek through Akshayuk Pass in Auyuittuq National Park on Canada's Baffin Island. His team includes 5 student adventurers; the entire trip will be part of an educational resource.
Ray Zahab | Speaker | TED.com