More and more people are encouraged to run this distance. This year, the Valencia marathon sold out of the 35,000 numbers available with more than nine months to go before the race, in December. And there are more and more runners who start or maintain the hobby over the age of 55. This is the case of Salvador Illa (57), but also that of Gustavo Gómez (67), Magdalena Vila (68) or Jon Arzubialde (60).
“The first time I participated in a race I remember it as a traumatic experience. I accompanied my 12-year-old son, it was eight kilometers and I ended up completely paralyzed. I didn’t move for a week. But then I thought: ‘This is catchy'”. Renoi, if it sticks. Gustavo Gómez Guerra was then 48 years old and from that day he decided to train in better conditions. He learned from colleagues and friends from some club, reading magazines on the subject and participating in all kinds of competitions. In 2021 he decided to federate. And last year his work was rewarded: he won in Murcia the Spanish Masters Marathon Championship 65 with a time of 3 hours and 14 minutes.
A few months later he achieved his best personal best in 20 years in Valencia: 3 hours. “It’s unnatural, my friends call me Benjamin Button”, he explains, laughing. He has competed in all distances, either on the road or on the track: he has completed more than 100 popular races, more than 50 half marathons, more than 30 marathons and a 50 kilometer race in which he came third. Just a few days ago, in Crevillent, he was crowned Spanish 10 km champion for the second time. “It’s surprising to see how attracted you are. Even if you’ve suffered or had a bad time, if you finish, you say: ‘I’m coming back because I’ll do better'”.
Gustavo is a member of the AD Marathon and competes in the Masters 65 category, which brings together federated runners between 65 and 70 years old. Because the categories in athletics are grouped every 5 years, from the age of 35. And although many marathons are contested in different cities, only one a year is used to elect the champion of Spain in each category. “Why do I run? I’ve always liked sports, even though I hadn’t practiced much. Until I started in earnest and saw that I had capabilities. And as you learn and improve your physical conditions, you get results. And you set goals.”
The next one already has a date: it is May 12 in Ávila, where the absolute championship and Masters of 50 km and 100 km are contested. “I want to look for the Spanish record of 50. The time is now 4 hours 17 minutes and I want to lower this mark. If I succeed, I would have the record and I would be champion of Spain, too.”
To reach his goal, Gustavo has routines that he follows to the letter. He trains 6 days a week, for an hour and a half, and does “a total of only – he says – 80 or 90 kilometers per week. It used to be 120!”. He only runs, does not cycle or swim because it would take too much time. And take care of the food. “Eating carbohydrates and strengthening the muscles is the most important thing. Because when you run a marathon – he explains – the muscle depreciates. A person after running a race like that goes to the emergency room and is admitted, because your body is really wrecked, and that requires you to regenerate everything you’ve worn out. Mentally you have to be prepared”.
Magdalena Vila places the famous wall between kilometers 35 and 37. “I am of the opinion that up to 30 kilometers is an acceptable distance. But from 35 you ask yourself… What am I doing here? If you get past that, you’re done, because the goal is there.” Vila is the Spanish Master 65F champion in 2023 and 2024, and also holds the Spanish record for the largest 65 in 3 hours 25 minutes. He is 68 years old, but despite this amazing record he warns: “Achieving a pace or a goal is difficult. But it is very easy to lose it. You always have to prepare to achieve a goal”.
She is at the Correliana Athletics Club. “I am the oldest woman in my club”. But in this case, age does not seem to have worked against him either. “I do better times than before”, he admits, and he believes that this happens because he also started at a young age, at 45. “I train 4 days a week, and when a marathon is approaching I increase it to 5. I go out for a run , but I also go to the gym”.
Magdalena Vila appreciates training with her colleagues, because she used to live in Madrid and for 10 years she was running alone and thus, she explains, she didn’t improve. “Now I have a training plan and I have to work hard. For me, the important thing is to go with a group of colleagues who run.
Jon Arzubialde is another case study. When he was 16 years old, and without any training, he signed up for the San Sebastián marathon and completed it with a mark that many would sign, 4 hours. Now, almost 50 years later, this Basque has broken the M60 marathon world record with a time of 2:34:06, knocking more than 2 minutes off the mark held by Japan’s Yoshihisa Hosaka from 2009. He continues to make him lazy training, but admits he appreciates the reward. In the case of the world record it was clear that his mark could be 2h34m. “It can be foreseen”. Now, close to 61, he already has a new goal: to break the M60 100 kilometer record, on the second Saturday of September in Winschoten (Holland). Arzubialde has played sports almost all his life; marathons, since 33.
How is it prepared? “I train for 5 days, more before that. At the age of 45, I ran about 100 kilometers in 6 days and achieved my personal best in a marathon: 2 hours 28 minutes. Now I only do 70 kilometers a week”.
