Shine in mountain races being blind: the great story of Maria Petit

BarcelonaThis week Maria Petit (Vilassar de Mar, 1992) will return to Chamonix to participate in one of the various UTMB races, the prestigious Mont Blanc mountain race. Last year she was already there and now she returns to participate in the 15 km race with 1,200 m of elevation gain, a modality "so hard and technical that it seems more than 15 km" she explains. "At first glance it may seem little, but it is a demanding race and even more so when two weeks ago I participated in Sierre-Zinal" she explains to ARA in reference to an emblematic mountain marathon in Switzerland. If doing these tests is complicated enough for most athletes, in her case it is even more so, since Maria Petit is blind. When she was 17 years old, she completely lost her sight and smell due to a motorcycle accident. Now she climbs mountains running, leaving many athletes who participate in the same races stunned and bewildered to see a blind person climbing up the mountain.

Accompanied by a guide dog, Maria never abandons a positive discourse when she travels around cities or gives interviews. She has already made a place for herself in Catalan mountain sports, having achieved feats such as being the first blind woman to climb Teide from sea level. Before the accident, she already practiced sports, but she did not know about mountain races. That would come later. "Before the accident I had done artistic gymnastics, and now I will be in a bad position: I had also played basketball, but they kicked me out for being too rebellious" she explains with a laugh. And how did she end up running? "In 2011 I couldn't sleep at night. I understood that something had to be done and I started doing sports. First skiing and athletics. And since it was easier to do athletics, I progressed, and I reached some European championships. I even dreamed of going to the Paralympic Games, but I burned out before that," she recalls. "Back then I didn't even know you could run in the mountains, and I discovered it at home. In my town, in Vilassar de Mar. For years we have been doing the Burriac Atac, a very technical race. It was nice to do it for the support of the people, who cheered, who helped me... It remains the most special race I have ever done," she explains.

And look how many races she has done. Her schedule leaves her little time to rest. "This year I'm doing the Ultra Pirineu, I'll be in Ibiza and at the Puigcerdà Half Marathon, where I'll be the godmother of the race. The big challenge will be to rest a little! My day-to-day is always different, between travel, work, and training. Whenever I can, I try to go outside to train, if I find people to help me. And if not, then with the treadmill at home," she says. Because when you are blind and train in the mountains, you need the help of people to guide you. "To participate in races, I use the directional bar. It's a bar that can modify its length from two to three meters to adapt to different mountain terrains. Three people hold the bar. I'm in the middle. There's a guide in front and a guide behind. The first one decides the path and the words with which they communicate with me, and the second acts as a rudder," she explains. "Communication during the race with the guide is minimal, just enough to ensure safety and avoid stressing the person receiving instructions. The guide says things like 'steep descent' or 'technical terrain.' Few words and clear," she adds. The key is to maintain a safe and constant pace, accept falls, and have the ability to manage fear, as sometimes, especially on descents, it can be intimidating. "Recently the bar broke on a descent and I wasn't sure," she admits.

Maria doesn't consider herself a role model. "If I felt like a role model every day, I'd have a personality problem, but I am clear that people like me can help those who have gone through similar situations to take a step forward and dare to do sports" despite having lost their sight. Thus, she has become the first blind woman to finish races like the Sierre-Zinal in Switzerland or reach the summit of Teide. Integrated into the Salomon mountain running team, Petit has gone from receiving rejections from some race organizers, who didn't want her for fear she might have an accident, to making history.