Azara García continued her rise in trail running with her dominant win at the 2017 Transgrancanaria. In the following interview, Azara talks about how her race went, what she thought about running her longest race to date, and what races she’ll focus on the first half of this year.
[Bryon’s Note/Nota de Bryon: Primero, para los que hablan español, perdóname por mi español. Sé que es el español de una cavernícola. Disfruta las palabras de Azara en español! ;-) For those who prefer English, pardon the departure from normal. The choice was an interview in Spanish or none at all. I took the painful option and did my first interview in “Spanish.” There is a written English transcript below and I hope to add subtitles to the YouTube video.]
Read our Transgrancanaria results article to find out what else happened at this year’s race!
[Click here if you can’t see the video above.]
Azara García, 2017 Transgrancanaria Champion, Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Good morning. How are you?
Azara García: Hello, good morning. Fine, I am still recovering from the race.
iRF: Was the race hard?
García: Yes, the last kilometers yesterday. I think that never before it felt so bad running. Every part of my body is hurting today. Especially feet, I fell down, etc. Even my ankle is inflamed. But, anyway, I am happy with the results. It was worth it!
iRF: Did you have some easy moments during the race?
García: Well, everything had been fine until 84km, where suddenly I’ve started to feel very tired, and then everything became worse and worse. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t drink, I just couldn’t recover. From 84km, that last part was eternal for me, very long.
iRF: You’ve started very fast. Why?
García: Everybody tells me the same thing. Since I was 8, when I started running in track and field. I’ve started running mountain races in 2010, but during my whole life I have been running short races and I always start fast. That’s my style and I can’t run in a different way. Yesterday, I tried to control myself because these were 125km, but I couldn’t. The rhythm came by itself. Manuel Merillas told me to start slowly but I couldn’t help myself. If I were starting a little more slowly, maybe I wouldn’t be so bad the last kilometers.
iRF: You were running with 30 minutes of advantage. Why didn’t you slower the rhythm a little?
García: I have to learn it. Yesterday so many people told me the same thing. But I run with my heart, not with my head. I am very passionate during the races. I always start very fast.
iRF: Which were the best moments during the race?
García: Well, the first kilometers, because I wasn’t suffering so much. I was enjoying, Manuel and my son were waiting for me in the aid stations with everything ready for me. Until 84km, when I’ve started to feel bad, I liked the race so far.
iRF: Is this your longest race ?
García: Yes, the longest so far. I’ve been running in the world championship in Portugal in October, but it was only 85km. It has been a big step switching to 125km.
iRF: And what are you thinking about now?
García: Phew, I liked these 125km, but I think the distance, which suits more for me is 80/85km. In 125km you suffer a lot. Maybe after some days resting I will change my mind, but we will see. Actually, I want to do the UTMB, but I don’t have enough points.
iRF: This year?
García: Yes , I’d like it, but I will try to do CCC because I don’t have enough points.
iRF: What will be your next race?
García: I am going to do on on March 18th, the Spanish Trail championship in Vilaflor, Tenerife. I feel like doing it. And then, I’m going to do a short race in Penyagolosa and, then, Transvulcania in May. I’m still not sure about the distance, but I will be there. And, finally, the world championship in Italy.
iRF: Last year you’ve finished second. And this year?
García: This year I’d like to step further.
iRF: This one will be better for you because it is shorter, right?
García: Yes, it is better for me because of the profile of the race. Short and fast. You can run fast during the whole race. Let’s see if we can stay on the highest step this time. To be the champion this year would be great, but that is not easy because there are a lot of good runners. But of course, the objective will be improving the last year’s results.
iRF: Good luck!
García: Thank you very much.
