New partners aiming high

Matías González and Laura Nicolás, yesterday, in La Alcayna, after their morning training session to prepare for San Silvestre. / MARTINEZ BUESO

Laura Nicolás, who won the last edition, and Matías, formerly of ElPozo, are a sports couple: “We train and help each other a lot”

It was a crush, but only sports. Laura Nicolás (Barcelona, ​​24 years old) and Matías González (Murcia, 39) met last summer in an athletic race. Curiously, months ago they had worked, during the pandemic, in the same center of a sports multinational, but it was months later when they realized that, despite the difference in age and physical preparation, they could be partners when it came to training and compete. She, a notable athlete in various disciplines, had managed to win the San Silvestre de Murcia 2021, while he had a long career in national futsal behind him, a sport in which he even won a league with ElPozo in 2005.

“We started training together and we saw that we got along very well. It was difficult for me at first because I had just played futsal in Segunda B and the preparation is completely different, but little by little I have been catching up. We help each other a lot”, says Matías. It is not just about training, as they have set several objectives for the future: «We have been a sports couple for five months and we will compete in a mixed format both in the Ruta de las Fortalezas de Cartagena, in April, and in the mountain race of Riaño in June”, advances Laura, who was already the first woman to cross the finish line last year in the Cartagena test.

Matías left futsal years ago, although last year he received a call from Duda, who asked him for help to save the Jimbee affiliate from relegation, an achievement he achieved. He has received more new calls, but he has focused on his role as a runner in different disciplines: «The physical preparation to play futsal is different; In addition, you have to train three or four times a week and travel many weekends, “says the ex from ElPozo, who remembers how futsal in the past” was more spectacular. There was a lot of quality and stars like Kike, Lenísio, Balo, Bácaro, Wilde or those from Inter, who made a difference.

Laura Nicolás ran her first San Silvestre de Murcia when she was 14 years old and acknowledges that after another four participations her victory last year “was very special. I arrived in very good physical shape and I was very excited to win in my city, where I have lived since I was three years old. The atmosphere was spectacular », she recalls. Her goal this year is “to lower the time of the last edition”, while for Matías it is “finishing in the top twenty and lowering my mark if possible”.

Neither of them is dedicated to racing professionally, although according to Matías «Laura has the conditions to do so and she is good at all disciplines. She is one of the three or four best runners in Murcia. She has a lot of potential but gives priority to her Medicine studies ». The ex of ElPozo, for his part, has an educational services company dedicated to vacation and extracurricular activities, workshops for children and organization of events. For now, they both dream of having a great race on Saturday and enjoying a very special day.

Sport, despite everything

Matías is a special athlete with a clear desire to excel. Especially since he has had to live with group 1 diabetes since he was 15 years old, which has caused him more than one scare. Even so, he did not prevent him from defending the ElPozo jersey from the age of 18 to 23 and having a long career in futsal. He has not stopped him from being a good runner either: «It has not been a drag for me nor has it prevented me from doing anything. It is true that there are days when my glucose level shoots up and affects my performance, but I have handled it very well, “he admits.

The Murcian athlete is clear that this disease, which forces him to inject insulin after each meal, forces him to “regulate training every day, to work aerobically and maintain a good diet”, but he does not hesitate to encourage everyone those who suffer from it and don’t play sports so that they «start going out for a walk or riding a bike. It is vital to have a healthy habit.