Buenos Aires Half Marathon: Entry records, track novelty and how Argentines are preparing for a race of stars and novices

largest, most numerous, The most-attended racewalking event in South America, About to leave.this Buenos Aires Half Marathon It brings together men and women, Argentines and foreigners from 20 countries, from novice runners to experienced athletes, from energetic teenagers to energetic grandparents, more than a hundred elite runners. Almost unrivaled Africans, some of the fastest athletes in South America, and almost all of Argentina’s best athletes. Among the group was a thin 57kg, 1.69m tall man from a ten-block town called Gualjaina, deep in Chubut’s Patagonia. , two blocks wide, without attracting attention.That skinny guy ran a lot and a lot until he represented us in the marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and he was called Eulalio “Coco” Munoz, And it will also be this Sunday, ready to start the 21-kilometer race.

The preparation of elite athletes typically alternates several weeks each year at higher altitudes, and these heights of hypoxia facilitate physiological adaptations. The most outstanding location in our country is the town of Cachi in the province of Salta. On Thursday, Coco descended from 2,300 meters above sea level to the big city to measure herself against the best. It has been more than three months since he participated in the competition. The last was the Lima Marathon in Peru on May 21, which he won.

That’s why he climbed the mountains in search of the best version of himself. “Kage is always difficult because of the height, because you are far away from everyone, far away from my girlfriend, I would prefer to be with her in Esquel (where they live together). But Kaqi is a place of concentration and placement, part You know you’re going to suck…but I love the pain’, Coco defines what it’s like to run every day, twice a day, adding 120 kilometers a week.

It’s been three months since he last raced in his number and he knows it. “It will be good because there will be a lot of levels. I have to try to make the most of it, stick to them and endure them”, he humbly analyzes Owner of the third best marathon brand in Argentine history2 hours, 9 minutes and 59 seconds.

Coco ran that distance at Tokyo 2022, finishing 31st, the Argentine’s best men’s ranking in nearly half a century. Of all the games he played in his life, that game left the deepest impression on him. He returns from Japan as an “Olympic athlete”. “After the Olympics, I saw the positive side and a lot of people who were not there before joined. While a lot of people hope that you will always run strong in the future, many people encouraged me when I did not do well in the Buenos Aires Marathon last year (and eventually gave up); despite the results, I still respect them Surprised by the love that was given to me”, Coco is sincere.

He also opened up about what happened when he was with his people, those who have known him all his life, since he was a “fat guy who played ball” and some admirers approached him asking for a photo: “My friend told me , OK,

Who do you ask for a photo?. But most of them emphasized the same thing: “They told me they identified with how I always fought, beyond any stand. I felt like people never kept me in the band.”

And this Sunday morning at 7 o’clock he will go out and play various positions.The first Argentine will be national champion and many will be interested in the title: The man from Mendoza Ignacio Treasury, Last year he followed Federico Bruno with a time of 2.12m in 1 hour in the same race (this year, he will not be able to participate because he is under review due to suspected doping positive); David Rodriguez, Munoz, who is also from Chubut, followed Coco in 2022 and ran 1 hour, 3 meters 8 seconds and 1 hour, 3 meters 9 seconds, setting the best results in their lives; Buenos Ellis Fabian Manrique, The best Argentine and national champions of 2020…the list goes on, with more than 60 exceptional men from Argentina, South America and around the world. And when it comes to women, the cast is also impressive.

rama de plata Florence Borelli, Holder of the South American record (1:09:31) set last year at the same race, she will be one of the stars.At international level, he will join the Kenyan team Ruth Chepgitic (1 hr 4 m2 s) and Ethiopia Ababel Yeshane Brihane (1 hour 4 minutes 31 seconds) with a dozen other African women.Among the Argentines, the Olympic Marcela Gomez (Tokyo 2020) and Rosa Godoy (Rio de Janeiro 2016) will join a team of more than 40 athletes, including several Argentine champions of different distances, as well as the best in South America.

For mere mortals who see running as life improving, there will be “pacemen,” tasked with setting a steady pace to help meet personal goals. These will follow the following cadence: 4m 30s, 5m, 5m 30s, 6m and 6m 30s/km. They declared a cold climate, with a minimum of 6 degrees, favorable for good yields at these distances. Munoz, forged in sub-zero temperatures at Esquel, has no issues: “A lot of times there, when we’re done training, we have to remove the frost from our brows.”

When everything is ready, A final novelty for the participants is the track. The start and finish lines were moved to the city center. It will come from Figueroa Alcorta and Dorrego Avenue. Now, more than 20,000 runners (the organization has yet to confirm the final number, but is very close to reaching the record number of participants) will have a route that avoids the previous route on the Elia Highway and hopefully is faster.Consultants nation Regarding the new track, Muñoz is sincere: “They sent me a map, but I don’t know much about Buenos Aires… so it doesn’t matter if I look at it or not, I totally have to run to the people in front. go there.”

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