Maite Maiora joins an extremely strong Spanish team that hosts the 2018 Trail World Championships in Valencia. In the following interview, Maite talks about her strong 2017 season, how she feels coming into this race, and what she thinks makes the Spanish women’s team strong.
For more on who’s racing, check out our women’s and men’s previews before following our live coverage later this week.
Maite Maiora Pre-2018 Trail World Championships Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar with Maite Maiora before the 2018 World Trail Championships. How are you, Maite?
Maite Maiora [with a translator]: Bien, bien. Fine, fine [laughs].
iRunFar: Three years ago, in Annecy, [France,] you were third place at the World Championships but you had an injury then. You’re healthy now.
Maiora: Yes, I was injured then, but it’s better now. Three years ago I finished in third position, but the injury didn’t make it better or worse, just because I was injured. It was good, there was a lot of competition in that race. This Saturday, it’s completely different. Not only because I am not injured, but I am feeling different, and the competition is way more elevated–there is more competition, so it’s going to be really hard to be in third place again.
iRunFar: You said you feel different. You must feel really strong. Your season last year was tremendous–Zegama Marathon, Livigno Skymarathon, Ultra Pirineu. You had a good race at CCC. What do you think of the way you raced last year?
Maiora: Last year was a great year and I hope this year is the same. This Saturday is my first important race of this season and I’m going to try to do my best. Everybody thinks that because last year was good, this year must be as good as last year. I will try, but it doesn’t have to be like that.
iRunFar: Did you have a strong winter and spring of training?
Maiora: It’s been a really, really harsh winter compared to other years. The weather was really bad. I did ski a lot, but I finished the season with a little injury in my ankle, so it was hard to go through the winter to make some good quality training. The last few months–and, of course, the last few weeks–were really good. I felt I could do some good training.
iRunFar: Here we are in Spain. The French women have won the last three World Championships, but this is your home country. The Spanish team has been strong in the past. Do you think that this year might be the year for the Spanish team to win?
Maiora: Could be. We have a really strong team, individually and collectively. So, it might be the year. It’s a good year to do things right. But, there are a lot of individual runners from other countries that may have been overlooked on the previous articles and things. They may show up on race day and do really well. So, we don’t have to forget about them, but I think we can do something good on Saturday.
iRunFar: What impresses me about the Spanish team is that you have yourself and Azara García and at the highest level, but you also have Gemma Arenas, Laia Cañes and Teresa Nimes who are also very strong. As a whole team, it’s a strong group.
Maiora: Yeah, as you say, it’s a pretty solid team. Nobody here is just to fill up the team roster. Everybody here runs really well and any of us could do a really good job on Saturday.
iRunFar: Buena suerta Sábado, good luck on Saturday.
Maiora: Thank you.
