The 32-year-old amateur athlete from Guayaquil was the first Ecuadorian to cross the finish line in the Chicago marathon.
The athlete Juan Fernando Fernández de Córdova remains firm on his path of completing the World Marathon Majors, the best marathons in the world.
On October 10 he finished the 42 kilometers of the Chicago Marathon, ranking as the Ecuadorian with the best time in the competition, and his best time in a marathon: two hours, 49 minutes and 56 seconds (the official time). In its category, it peaked at number 89.
With this, he has done three of the six marathons that complete the group. This dream began in 2019 when he ran the Boston Marathon, after reaching the regulation time in the 42 km from Lima.
For Juan Fernando, the Boston race was the most difficult, because of how difficult it was to achieve the mark (in Lima) and because of the technical nature of the route and the cold climate of that city. In that competition, he says, there were very few Ecuadorians; in Chicago, on the other hand, there were more than 120 compatriots.
Then he ran the New York City Marathon. In both he was the second compatriot to cross the finish line. In Chicago he felt that he was more prepared, that he could go further, so much so that at one point he was running together with one of the athletes he admires the most and he overtook her. “I was close to Galen Rupp, I was next to Shalane Flanagan, who is doing six marathons in two months, I ‘packed’ and passed it but in the end she passed me, it was incredible, she is an Olympic athlete,” says the Guayaquil from 32 years.
The start took place in sunny and windy weather, at seven in the morning from corral A, in which he was assigned for having a good record. In the streets, he says, thousands of people transform the marathon into a party. The sidewalks are full, they encourage you, they yell at you, they support you. At the finish line, after a strenuous journey, Juan Fernando raised his arms, celebrated and then had time to take pictures even with the Emelec flag, a team of which he is a fan.
That party is contrasted with the one that happens in Guayaquil. Here in the races, he says, they only close one lane, and yet people do not respect you, ‘they throw your car or bus on top of you’.
The preparation
Getting to a marathon of this type is not an easy task, at least not leaving in one of the first corrals, after the elite of athletics. You must have a good time, otherwise you have to wait for a draw that assigns places. In Chicago this year more than 30 thousand people ran.
Juan Fernando trains from Monday to Saturday, in a double shift, with Carlos ‘Pantera’ Rodríguez and “it can be 20 kilometers in the morning and 20 kilometers in the afternoon (…) Sunday is the long run, of more kilometers”, explains the athlete. Now part of the group We Run Gye.
Like any amateur athlete, you have to pay for almost all the preparation costs. He jokes that although he is a little ‘red’, he does not have much money, but he is lucky. “I have auspices in a gym, they let me train without paying, and they also (receive) physiotherapies, but they don’t pay me anything (…) on the last trip I bought the plane ticket because before I had a job in a multinational company, but no longer ( …) The family that received me treated me very well, they even paid for my food, they gave me everything, ”he says.
Now, his next destination is to run in Miami next February, in preparation for the Berlin Marathon in September 2022. He doesn’t have the money to compete in Europe yet, but he’s going to risk signing up and then trying to finance the trip. The one in Tokyo, which would complete the World Marathon Majors list, does worry him, because it is a more distant and more expensive city.
In addition to the help of friends, Juan Fernando always has in mind the support of his mother, who has accompanied him in sports since he was little, when he began training at the San José La Salle school. It was in those days that he had to choose between athletics and soccer, but she told him: in soccer there are eleven, it is ungrateful and they forget you quickly, but in athletics, the effort is for you.
That is why he chose to run, although he did not have the best times among his teammates. It was difficult, he says. “When I was 11 years old (some coaches) told me: ‘You are not useful, you are not worth it, thank goodness I had strength, because my mother was a mother and father to me and I grew up that way. I didn’t care what they told me. Imagine the children of now, that you tell them that (…) Where is this to create athletes, to encourage, if you always start as an amateur and then advance? “, He asks, and then criticizes the management of some sports organizations:” Athletes cannot always speak, Richard Carapaz can, because he is lucky enough to compete for a private team, but athletes who do not have that?
Despite the setbacks with coaches and many years after his foray into the sport, Juan Fernando competed for the first time as a Guayas selected in the National Athletics Master, a week ago. He obtained a gold medal in the 800 m sprint and 3 silver medals in the 1,500 m sprint, 5,000 m sprint and 4×400 m relays. “I am very excited as it is a dream come true; 32 years of my life have gone by to show off the beautiful colors of my province, “he posted on his Instagram account.
What would be missing to achieve a better location, to go further? The mental part is super good, because so many things have happened to me that I have learned to be strong, perhaps more distance training is needed, which fully covers the (training) table, because sometimes I cannot do it due to lack of time. “I am an amateur athlete, but with good times. At the level of Guayas I consider that I am among the top 10, it is a good ranking at the level of the Coast ”, he believes.
Other careers
Among other important races, he has been champion and runner-up of the Lola Challenge (a three-race circuit) in Puerto Rico and top 10 in the Miami Marathon.
Athletics teacher: to finance the competitions, Juan Fernando teaches athletics classes. His contact is 099-933-4559. (D)
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