In the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960, the Ethiopian Abebe Bikila surprised the world by competing barefoot and winning the marathon. Although it was not something “never seen”, the truth is that it gave him exposure. Nowadays, running without shoes is rare, but every so often you see some intrepid one who practices it.
In the ultramarathon Formosan it was the case of Ecuadorian Edwin Ramon Ibarra García, a native of Pedernales and nicknamed “Ibarrita”, whose The goal is to break the record for running the most competitions barefoot.
On the waterfront of the city, and together with the realization of the Argentine Ultra Distance Championship, Ibarra García completed the 100 kilometers with a mark of 9 hours, 29 minutes and 10 seconds.
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Connect with nature
When recounting the reasons that led him to turn to running without shoes, Ibarra García explained: “I have the philosophy of connecting with nature, running barefoot
Along with the sports challenge, the runner also has a charitable side, collecting food for each kilometer he runs, and then donating it to his town. “All the kilometers I run doing it barefoot, I turn into kilos of food. For example, the hundred kilometers that I ran today in Formosa, are one hundred kilograms of food that families are waiting for there in Pedernales,” he said, in statements to the local news agency.
At the same time, beyond requirement of the distance, the hardest thing that the Ecuadorian athlete had to face was the difference in temperature with respect to your home: “Where I live, it’s usually 30 degrees, so this time it wasn’t easy to run with 12″.
The 100 kilometer challenge
The Formosa Ultramarathon it was lived as a party in each of the distances celebrated in the north of Argentina. With evidence of 100, 50 and 30 kilometersthe coastal walk brought together athletes from all over the country and also from abroad.
The greater distance, the competition of 100 kilometers, had as winners Sandra Elisabet Marcantoni and the Brazilian Carlos Henrique Gusmão. AlsoJavier Zannino, who came second, became the Argentine champion.
At the same time, in the distance of 50 kilometers the two fastest were Uruguayan Sebastian Parra and the Rosary Maria Cripovichwho had just done a great job in the Termas de Río Hondo Ultramarathon, carried out at the Santiago del Estero racetrack.
Finally, in the race 30 kilometersthe fastest of all, the victory was in the hands of the Walter Gomez from Chlorindensewho obtained the best time among men and for the Dolores athlete, Bettina Vignolowhich held in the women’s branch.
