Alex Roca surpasses himself: he will compete in the popular marathon of the Games
‘You set the limit for yourself. That is the ‘leitmotiv’ of Alex Roca, an athlete who doctors diagnosed with only a few years to live and who continues to break records despite his cerebral palsy with 76% physical disability. Last year, Roca completed five half marathons – Barcelona, Miami, London, Milan and Madrid – because sport, for him already a lifestyle, has given him the opportunity to improve and continue growing.
In that line, Alex has raised his athletic and personal bet and on August 10 he will run the popular Olympic marathon, a historic test because it is the first time that amateur athletes will compete in this race within the Games. “Only 20,024 people can participate in this marathon,” explains Alex Roca. “Many have had to do challenges or raffles and for me it was an illusion to be invited to participate, through Nike, to represent amateur sports and those practiced with disabilities.”
Many have had to do challenges or raffles and for me it was an illusion to be invited to participate, through Nike, to represent amateur sports and those practiced with disabilities.
If any marathon has an inherent toughness, the one that will be held in Paris Its difficulty increases due to its demanding route, with slopes of up to 13.5%. That further complicates Roca’s training. “It’s been a very hard preparation, I’m exhausted for many reasons,” explains the athlete, always accompanied by his partner, Mari Carme Maza, who acts as his interpreter. “Paris is not flat, it has many ups and downs. Although it is held at 9:00 p.m., it will be held in the heat. “I probably finished around 3 in the morning and at that time it is impossible to sleep afterwards due to overexertion.”
And that is an aspect that The Catalan athlete is working in a special way, together with a sleep doctor, his nutritionist and the doctor who keeps track of his epilepsy episodes. The objective: adapt the schedules. “I do not have repeated epilepsy, although I have suffered six seizures in my life. And not sleeping and eating well or not taking medication when appropriate can cause an epileptic seizure. Hence, I must work on the fact that I am going to finish the marathon so late “explains the Nike athlete. “Also, the mental aspect is also very important in a race like this because I won’t have my entire team with me.”
And not sleeping and eating well or not taking medication when appropriate can cause an epileptic seizure.
In these months, Roca admits to having had moments of doubt and uncertainty due to the magnitude of the challenge. “Sometimes I lacked motivation,” he says. “I am lucky because I can do sports, I work giving talks, but I lacked that motivation to do very long runs to reach the marathon. I discovered that then you have to resort to discipline. It has been difficult because the body was very tired with the five mediums marathons that I have done. Paris is an option, I don’t see it clear to finish it, but I want to continue making history.
Marathon history
Because Alex Roca became the first person with cerebral palsy and a physical disability of 76% to finish a marathon in the official time and aspires to repeat that feat in Paris. “I also want to try to lower my mark of 5.50:51, it would be two more Guinness World records,” he explains.
I want to pump my message into the world. I don’t run just for myself but so that those people who are not normative according to the stipulated society can fight against prejudices
But Alex’s real challenge is to “pump my message to the world. I don’t run just for myself but so that those people who are not normative according to the stipulated society can fight against prejudice.” Hence, a few weeks ago he focused his preparation on the Games. “I have to train longer distances,” he analyzes. “I do several specific workouts, with elasticity and lower and upper trunk, and I go out for 3-4 days running, with runs of 40 kilometers a week.”
Alex Roca will not be able to race in Paris with his entire team, but he will be able to race with some of his components. “It is important to have them close, a single person is nothing, the essential thing is trust between us,” says Roca, who has already planned a celebration if he achieves the Paris challenge. “I already got a tattoo of a 42 that almost no one has seen and this year I just want life to take me to what I feel at that moment. I would like to have a party with the people I love.”
