Athletics: Tariku Novales: “Correra la San Silvestre disguised as mueco Micheln”
TAriku Novales has closed the year in a big way. The Spaniard broke the Spanish marathon record in Valencia, where he became the first national athlete to go below 2.06:00 in the distance, with 2.05:48.
The athlete said goodbye to the year in the Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana, a race that he has already competed in, but in which he wants to improve his record, now that he is in great shape. Before the race, answer the BRAND test: 10 kilometers, 10 questions.
KM 1. Your best memory of San Silvestre.
R. It’s been a long time since I ran the San Silvestre due to injuries and my best memory was precisely last year, when I was able to enjoy it with my training partners and go to see who could get to the Vallecas stadium first. From that last year, in 2019, it is the best memory I have.
KM 2. A curious or funny anecdote that happened to you in a race.
R. In a popular race, even though I was little (I think I was 13 or 14 years old), at the start a bee came and hit me directly in the eye. I thought it was a fly, I took it off and as I got closer to the goal, I remember that this eye was closing and I didn’t understand anything. And they told me, but what happened to you? He looked at me and his eye was… only a millimeter open.
KM 3. Which rival would you like to run alongside?
R. I had the opportunity to do it in this marathon in Valencia, which is Kenenisa Bekele, of which I am her biggest fan. And I would like, why not, to repeat it in the Olympic Games.
KM 4. Who would I ask for an autograph?
R. Well, to this same man, I had the opportunity to share a few words with him, but I couldn’t ask for an autograph. Because we were right in the post-race and I didn’t want to burden him either.
KM 5. If you weren’t an athlete, what would you be?
R. I still don’t know, honestly. I think that in the end, from a very young age I was very linked to this sport, at first as just another extracurricular activity. And I don’t know, I think I’m a very versatile person. I think it could have been useful for many things, especially in the artistic sector, but the truth is that I am very happy to be an athlete and I don’t consider anything else.
KM 6. If you could run dressed up, what would you do it as?
R. Well, I think he will be dressed as a Michelin doll, the one with the wheels.
KM 7. A secret that no one knows about you.
R. Well, I don’t know, really. I’m not much of a sweet person, I’m more of a salty person. Me, where good meat is placed…
KM 8. What race would you like to do that you haven’t run yet?
R. I would really like to compete in the Berlin Marathon.
KM 9. A movie that he would have liked to star in.
R. ‘Life imprisonment’.
KM 10. December 31st. He is eating the grapes. A wish for 2024.
R. Stay healthy, stay strong and why not, be fighting with the strongest in the Olympic Games.
