After finishing third in 2019 and fifth in 2023, Maite Maiora of Spain arrives at the 2024 UTMB prepared to have another good run. In this interview, she talks about what keeps her returning to UTMB, why she feels more comfortable at longer races these days, and how she stays calm and collected regardless of the race atmosphere around her.
For more on who’s racing, check out our in-depth women’s and men’s previews and follow our live race coverage starting Friday.
Maite Maiora Pre-2024 UTMB Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Meghan Hicks of iRunFar. I’m with Maite Maiora. It’s a couple of days before the 2024 UTMB. We are here again, Maite. Hello, hola.
Maite Maiora: Hello. Hola.
iRunFar: Maite, this is your fourth UTMB. You have two top-five positions, including a podium position in 2019. Those are career-defining performances. Things that are at the top of the sport. Yet, you’re here again. What brings you to UTMB for a fourth time?
Maiora: [through a translator] So, I keep coming back and trying to get a better time. Last year, it was a better time, 40 minutes better than the 2019 time, and it was valid for a fifth place. So, making a better position is a bit complicated, but in 2019 I completely fell in love with this race. So, I keep coming back and it’s the mother of the races, it’s like the ultras of the ultras, and the competition is always more complicated, but better. So, you need to be here.
iRunFar: I love that. You have sort of seen it all when it comes to the evolution of trail running and ultrarunning. You came to international performance level over a decade ago, sort of in shorter-distance trail racing, and then as the years have gone on, you’ve embraced these longer races. I’ve always wondered if you would think of going back to shorter racing, but here we are at the start line of a 100-mile race.
Maiora: So speaking about the evolution of the sport, we’ve been here, all three of us, for a really long time, so I got to see everything. And I was watching just the other day a video of Marco Olmo from here, from this race from 15 years ago, just watching how the material has changed, the nutrition has changed. But coming back to me, it’s true that two years ago I tried to get back to the shorter distances, but I felt like I was completely out of place. I felt on the races didn’t feel good. I felt like I was the mother of everyone. And I think these distances suit better for me now, and the handicap of running these 100-mile races is where I feel a bit better and in better performance.
iRunFar: You have four, or rather three experiences here before. You’ve trained for UTMB four times. I’m sure as your career has evolved, your training and your preparations have evolved. What has this year’s preparation for UTMB looked like for you?
Maiora: So, this year I bet for longer races, on the preparation, but it has been honestly really bad with the weather, on the different experiences. In Madeira [Island Ultra-Trail] at the beginning of the year, it was not really bad. In Alsace also was really bad. But then the worst was Salzburg, where just getting to the finish line was sort of a miracle, because of the weather. And then I bet for Val d’Aran, and the heat was terrible, which also made it really complicated to make a good preparation. And I had one more extra race at the beginning of August to try to set it up, another long race, and yeah, I got COVID once again. So, I’m really ready to be here, and with my immune system really well for this race.
iRunFar: Since it seems like you bring the weather with you, or the weather follows you, what kind of weather are we having on Friday and Saturday?
Maiora: So, I’ve seen that the weather is not chasing me this time, probably. I don’t think that’s going to be the trigger for the whole race, but I’m ready for whatever, even if it’s really bad, or really good, or really hot, or really cold. But I think that it’s not going to be the trigger this week.
iRunFar: Alright, so if there’s bad weather, we aren’t blaming you.
Maiora: I think it’s not going to be that bad as in Salzburg, because otherwise the race is going to be cancelled. So, for sure, that’s not going to happen.
iRunFar: One of the things that I’ve always admired in watching you race is that no matter how crazy the race is, if it’s the starting line of UTMB, the Trail World Championships where medals are on the line, or the very crazy Zegama Marathon, if it’s a storm around you, like proverbially with the competition and the fans, you are the calm one among the race. Where do you get that? How has that evolved in you?
Maiora: So, it’s true that it looks like it’s something that looks like casual, but it’s not. There’s work behind it, and I’ve got to say, my husband Yosu, who’s sitting there, helps a lot in this work and trying to put focus on what’s really important. And this is not important, this is something that is not, and so that’s why we keep it back.
And we try to be in our own bubble, just ourselves there. And it’s true that last year I tried to be like, emotional or feel a bit more excited as everyone else, but it’s not something that suits me. It’s just myself, but it’s true that there’s a lot of work behind it, trying to put focus on what it is.
iRunFar: Maite, wishing you the best of luck at no matter the place, a faster time this year. Good luck to you, and no matter the place, I wish you a much better time.
Maiora: Thank you so much, it’s really a huge pleasure to be here with us today, and to see us again, and hopefully we can still see each other in an interview, or just watching races, but still all be together here.
iRunFar: Thank you, Maite.
Maiora: Thank you.
