On the weekend of June 11 and 12, the Ultra Trail Guaraní took place, starting at Plaza Ybytyruzu in the City of Melgarejo in the district of Independencia, 27 kilometers from the city of Villarrica.
Ultra-Trail Guaraní (UTG) is an individual race in the middle of nature, along paths and trails that join the four main trails within the Ybytyruzú Managed Resources Reserve (red trail, yellow trail, orange trail and blue trail), which It has distances for all athlete profiles: from beginners in trail running and middle distance runners to experienced ultramarathoners over long distances and slopes.
Alice Meza is an amateur athlete with a degree in nutrition with a diploma in sports nutrition and an ISAK level 2 anthropometrist. She works at the General Hospital of Luque in the inpatient area, and also attends a private practice where most of her patients are athletes.
Alice was encouraged to participate in the UTG, qualifying the competition as challenging from the beginning to the finish line, due to its ups and downs “that gave no respite, to which was added the mud almost all the way and the cold especially in the last 30 kilometers it felt quite a lot. The beautiful landscapes and at the assistance posts, the guys from the organization always giving us encouragement and good vibes. It was a nice way to suffer.”
“Since we started the race, I knew I was first, but I never relaxed, you don’t have to claim victory before crossing the finish line. In this type of racing, anything can happen, so I tried to do my best all the time without obsessing about the position I was in. In addition, I always say that in this type of race, there comes a point where the competition is no longer against another runner, but with my body that is already tired and my mind that fights not to give up,” remarked the athlete.
The athlete waited seven long years to run an Ultra trail again (+100 km). “I didn’t know how I was going to go. I decided to run just to know what was going to happen. It was a personal challenge. I needed to do this, the race exceeded my expectations in terms of the hardness of the circuit, I knew it was going to be difficult but they surprised me with hills that I did not know”.
“What was hardest for me was climbing the last hills because because of the cold I got quite congested, I had a shrieking sound in my chest that didn’t allow me to breathe well. That frustrated me a bit, even that night after I arrived I couldn’t sleep well because of it. Regarding the circuit, I found Cerro Capi’i very hard because of how steep it was. Many difficult climbs, I could say that the virtue that made me reach the podium was experience and a hard head” said the representative of the Pingüi Athletic Club (PAC).
Alice Meza commented that she has to put aside many things in order to train, finish the race or the training. “No matter how tired or sore I am, I have a two-year-old daughter waiting for me at home to play, dance, put her to sleep, there is no rest. I can’t have the luxury of arriving, showering, and going to bed peacefully. But the sacrifice is worth it. Because I do what I like”
“My next goal is to run the Guaraní Expedition ultra trail in August (80 km) and in September to run the adventure racing world championship that will be in Paraguay this year (500 km). And after that I will rest for a while. I always recommend people to try this sport discipline at least once, to start with shorter distances, they will fall in love with the trail or they will never want to do it again, but if they don’t try it they will never know what it feels like”, the athlete asserted.
To finish, he mentioned the PAC club. “It has grown a lot in recent years, they support athletes a lot and that is something that we need in our country. They are doing a good job. I was a student of Professor Pingui many years ago and I always remember him fondly. He was a great teacher. I want to thank the PAC Club for their constant support, as well as my coach Jorge Cabrera, who is one of those responsible for these legs having endured well the 110 kilometers of this competition”.
“To my husband Rubén Etienne with whom I train, compete, discuss, share and enjoy sports. He is always supporting me, we are together in this madness of running hundreds of kilometers through the mountains. And I can’t stop thanking teacher Daniela Santarelli who is in charge of strengthening this body to be able to withstand so many hours of training and racing without getting injured. Lastly, thanks to my little daughter Ana Luna, my driving force, my motivation every day. The little person who makes me want to get to the finish line as quickly as possible so I can see it.”
