The Team Gozalbo athlete makes his debut in the trail race in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the middle of Ramadan.
“I like the Canarian archipelago, I have run many races and what I like most is the atmosphere and the connection of the people”.
Zaid Ait Malek is already in Gran Canaria. The Team Gozalbo runner landed this morning from Tarragona, his third stop since he has been living in Spain after Baena and Cartagena, to face this Saturday the 21 kilometers of the LPA Trail.
Although the race that goes into the mountains of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is a short distance for this international ultrarunner with the Spanish national team, this time it coincides in the middle of Ramadan, which is celebrated from March 10 until April 9, so he will face the race in rigorous fasting and without being able to drink water.
“It’s a short race in which you don’t need to eat. The suffering is not in the race, it’s after finishing it and having to wait the hours until the evening to be able to eat and drink,” he says, and recalls that in 2014 he already won a Spanish Cup race during the holy month for Muslims.
His training routine during these weeks is moved to the last hour of the day, so that the end of the session coincides with the last hours of the day. “The body at this time needs to recover, so I focus on training two to three hours at the end of the day,” he says. And once the evening comes, he explains that he avoids heavy meals to adapt to the body”. After praying, the body asks for dinner, so I eat something light before going to sleep for five or six hours. To be able to face the days without eating or drinking, breakfast is important, which he has to do before dawn, at 5 am. “Taking advantage of the fact that I’m in the Canary Islands, I’ll have gofio, oatmeal, bananas, kiwis and dates for breakfast to get the energy I need for the whole day”.
To be able to face the days without eating or drinking, breakfast is important, which he has to do before dawn, at 5 am. “Taking advantage of the fact that I’m in the Canary Islands, I’ll have gofio, oatmeal, bananas, kiwis and dates for breakfast to get the energy I need for the whole day”.
About the LPA Trail, it is the first time he has competed in it, although the trails of the island for him are not unknown since he has competed in the Marathon and Advanced of Transgrancanaria or the Artenara Trail. “I like the islands and in Gran Canaria I have run many times. What I like most is the treatment of the people and the atmosphere of the races, apart from the fact that the climate is very similar to where I was born”.
The LPA Trail is organized by Arista Eventos and is sponsored by the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, through the Municipal Sports Institute (IMD); the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, through the Insular Sports Institute; Tourism of Gran Canaria; the Viera y Clavijo Canary Botanical Garden; the Government of the Canary Islands, with Promotur – Tourism of the Canary Islands; Fred. Olsen Express; University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; Gofio La Piña; Aguas de Teror; Pepsi; Lorenzo González Automoción and Inerza.
