For me, running is like a freedom
When I started to run, when I was 20 years old
I remember that, I was recovering from one injury that I had
and the Doctor recommended to me, to run in the mountain
and I went there,
and I felt totally different to other sports.
I practiced football, I practiced tennis, I practiced paddle,
a lot of sports.
But I had never felt the feelings that I felt when I was running.
Pau, he's a different athlete because he has so much discipline
and plus the courage
and he runs with emotion,
so Pau,
he express himself, and he uses the emotion in a positive way
2019, it was I think the best season of my life
as an ultra runner
I started in Transgrancanaria,
I won my 4th race there,
consecutive race
and then I won also, in Patagonia
I won in Mexico
in Mozart 100
and then I finished in the race of my dreams
UTMB
When I started to run,
when I was 20 years old
I remember that I was in front of my computer
and I was following this race, Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc
and I told to my family,
I want to win this race.
Here we are, Pau Capel,
victorious in the 2019 UTMB
He closed down so many doubters from the very beginning
when you see somebody go out first, there's always doubters first
and here's the exception
And I remember that in 2019, we were in the finish line of UTMB crying
all the family
and it was, I think the best moment of my life
because you can share it with the people you love.
During my training at home
I was thinking about what would happen in the future
with my main goal of the year, which is run the Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc
and when the race was cancelled,
I remember I called my manager and I told him,
I have an idea.
I want to run this same race, alone,
and try to beat the 20 hours.
The UTMB race is
170 kilometres,
10000 meters positive
The first part of the race is very fast, you can run a lot
And then in the middle of the race, I think it's the harder part of UTMB
You have three, four climbs
that are complicated because you are tired
And then the last marathon, can kill you
Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc is this huge atmosphere of many runners
you have our community,
the family
it's so much vibration, and you feel this
and that's what makes the event, huge.
And without the people, during COVID,
it's empty
you can feel like
the Mont Blanc, the mountain
is the only thing that you can see.
I remember at 2pm,
4 hours before the start
I was crying
I was crying because I couldn't manage the situation
and all my family came, and they said "Pau what is happening?"
and I told them,
I don't know,
I don't know if I'm prepared to run this challenge
They started to say
10, 9, 8,
I was thinking
You can't say now, I'm not going to run
During the night, it's complicated to manage it
I remember that I was around,
Col du Bonhomme
and I fall down there
and
I was on the floor
alone
and I was like,
I don't know if I have pain or not
and nobody can help you
and you need to wake up,
and start to run again
In Champex Lac, when I arrived there
I remember that
yeah there was a part of asphalt,
100 metres
and one year ago, this 100 meters, I ran
but in Breaking 20,
I remember that I start to run
but then I start to walk,
and I thought
maybe this year, you will not break 20 hours
You arrive there in Champex Lac
very tired
and you know that you have one marathon in front of you,
with 3000m postive more or less
and, you need to run
When I start to feel tired,
I couldn't run faster than the shadow of Pau Capell
It was a crazy year
we tried
Yeah for sure, we are humans,
and sometimes you can
break your records, sometimes not
I was very grateful, for the running community, that ran with me
during all the way of this project
Behind me, was a crew of white jackets
and I remember that I saw them, and I said thank so much because
without you, maybe I couldn't finish
Next year I will come, and if the race is official
I will run the race, and I will try the breaking 20 in the race
If not,
no worries, wait for me, because I will come again
It's complicated to find my feelings now but
I'm
fortunate, I think
I'm fortunate
This moment, is one of the best things that I have in my life
and I want to continue to run with The North Face
and yeah, make history with them
It has been, it has been a dream