Eli Gordón will make her U.S. trail-racing debut at the Pikes Peak Marathon this weekend. In the following interview, our first with her, Eli talks about her background in sport, how she got into trail running, what kept her away from racing for half a year, and what sort of trail racing she likes the most.
For more on who’s running the race, check out our women’s and men’s previews, and, then, follow along with our live race coverage on Sunday!
Eli Gordón Pre-2019 Pikes Peak Marathon Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Eli Gordón before the 2019 Pikes Peak Marathon. How are you, Eli? ¿Qué tal?
Eli Gordón [through a translator]: She’s just saying good. As we have been one week here, quite acclimatized.
iRunFar: You’ve enjoyed your time here in the United States?
Gordón: She is saying she has had a good time here, everything is very nice, but also very big.
iRunFar: Very big, yes. Is this your first trip to the United States?
Gordón: Yes, first time.
iRunFar: I would love to know a little bit of your background with sport and running. When did you first get into sports?
Gordón: When she was a child she started doing karate with ten years, and then she’s running, trail running for six years’ time. She’s 27.
iRunFar: How did you find trail running? What made you start?
Gordón: Friend at university told her to go to a trail race. She went, and now she’s here.
iRunFar: And where do you live in Spain?
Gordón: In Barcelona.
iRunFar: So this winter you had a long break from racing. Did you have an injury this winter?
Gordón: Yeah, more or less in November she had an accident and she had a problem in the knee and she started training properly, more or less in May.
iRunFar: And have you been able to build your strength? Do you feel good now?
Gordón: She’s not totally strong this year because she had low iron. She suffered from low iron.
iRunFar: So knee problems, iron problems, but you are looking to have fun this weekend?
Gordón: Yes.
iRunFar: What is your favorite race distance?
Gordón: She prefers like marathon distance races, shorter ones.
iRunFar: How about climbing or descending?
Gordón: [laughs] Going down but not too technical.
iRunFar: So Pikes Peak is very good for you. Well buena suerte to you this weekend.
Gordón: Thank you.
iRunFar: Aritz Egea. Thank you for translating, but also are you excited for this weekend?
Egea:Yeah, quite excited. This for me is like an adventure. It’s not just a race. I have been here for one week with Eli traveling around Colorado. It has been really nice. As she said, this is big. It’s also amazing and I think that Pikes Peak, it’s a race you have to do it once.
iRunFar: Good luck and enjoy.
Egea: Thank you very much.
