The post Sara Alonso Pre 2026 Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon Interview appeared first on iRunFar.
Hailing from Basque Country, Sara Alonso returns to the 2026 Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon as the defending champion. In the following interview, Sara talks about what the race means to her as a local, her transition from the track to trail running at the start of her career, and her hopes for the race on Sunday.
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Sara Alonso Pre-2026 Zegama Marathon Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Meghan Hicks of iRunFar. I’m with Sara Alonso. It’s a couple of days before the 2026 Zegama Marathon. You’re the defending champion. Hi, Sara. How are you?
Sara Alonso: Hi, thank you. Yeah, I’m fine. I am excited, but at the same time, I am a little bit stressed because the race is going to be completely different. It’s going to be super muddy. So it’s like I go to the unexpected race. Of course, I have done here two times, but it’s going to be like another race. So I am excited, but at the same time a little bit afraid of what the condition will be.
iRunFar: Let’s talk about the conditions a little bit. You’re basically a local. You’re from San Sebastián, which, for folks who are not Basque, is only one hour away. Just out of the mountains. So this is like your home playground, right?
Alonso: Yeah. Well, in fact, I start running with 20 years. So I am used to the mud in this country, but I think I never race so much, because never the condition have been like this. But of course, I have been training here in muddy conditions, maybe not as muddy conditions. So in my head, it was a plan to race the typical Zegama that I already know, knowing what will be my splits, trying maybe to be a little bit faster than years before, but of course now it has changed completely. So I am excited, and I really know the race. I have been here training a lot for the last years. And now it’s a race day.
Probably, defending champion, of course, feels like this type of pressure, but at the same time, a privilege that you already have done. And for me, it feels like you show to the people that you know how to run here, to win here. So it’s in a good position.
iRunFar: You came from university track and field running and converted straight to trail running and mountain running, maybe a little bit of road running also, yeah?
Alonso: Yeah. I was doing track and field, and I think when the COVID times, I start to see a lot of videos of Golden Trail Series, and one of it was Zegama. It was like, “Wow, I really need to do this.” Being from San Sebastián, of course, Zegama is super big, so you already have listened about that, but I never have come in a public.
So after the COVID is like, “I need to be in Zegama once in my time.” And after the COVID is when I started running. And in the first race, I see that I was really good in that, and I start professional the next year in the Golden Trail Series.
iRunFar: Zegama is a race that means a lot to the Basque people. For people who aren’t from here or don’t know too much about it, can you describe what this mountain marathon means for the Basque?
Alonso: Yeah. The Zegama Marathon, I think is the best marathon of the bigger one in the world in trail running. For all the Basque people, this sport is really important in our idea. It’s like Behobia – San Sebastián in road running, there is always a lot of people. Itzulia Basque Country, there is always thousands of people. So I think in all the sports, Basque people is always there, and it’s the same in trail running. And so we have a lot of mountain previous people, like Maite Maiora, Oihana Kortazar, and this type of athletes.
And here, Zegama is so important for the people, for how many people come to cheer. You are listening to crowds every kilometer of the race, so it’s why it’s super important. And of course, for a Basque girl, it means a lot. I think it’s the same maybe for American and Western [States 100] or for a French people in UTMB. So of course, for me, it’s the biggest race of the year.
iRunFar: Last year, you were the champion. Being able to be the local, as you said, the local girl winning this race, you’re also quite young and fairly early in your career to have such an achievement so soon. What do you do now?
Alonso: Well, in fact, I’m 27. I look maybe a little bit younger, but I’m not as young.
iRunFar: It’s true. It’s true.
Alonso: But for me, for the moment, I will try to win more times here, to follow this type of race of three hours, five hours for some years. I am not seeing myself now going into ultrarunning. So I will try to win at least for second time, maybe not this year with Tove [Alexandersson], but in the next year when she’s not here. And another race is like … I would like to win like OCC, for example.
iRunFar: This race, as you said before, is really all about the conditions, and I think the conditions will be wet this year.
Alonso: Yeah. The day of the race, I think it’s going to be a good condition for racing: cloudy, not super warm, and not super cold. But the trail is going to be totally destroyed. Yesterday I went, and it was destroyed, and this night have been raining a lot. So I think it will take at least 10 or 15 minutes more, and also it can be really dangerous and challenging not to hurt yourself in a lot of downhills. So I’m afraid I will not be able to finish the race because I fall or something like this. Of course, we are going to fall. We are going to fall too many times. I already know it. But I raced twice, twice have been super sunny, so it’s a moment that can be wet.
iRunFar: Now it’s your turn to have the traditional muddy Zegama.
Alonso: Zegama. Yeah, exactly.
iRunFar: Both times you’ve raced here, you’ve run basically the same time, 4:26 and 4:27. You think the course will run maybe 10 minutes slower this year?
Alonso: Yeah. My plan one week ago was like, “Oh, if I can do 4:25, it’s going to be super cool.” But now I think it’s going to be closer to 4:40.
iRunFar: Tove is quite fast, as you said. And I would call both you and she the top favorites for Saturday. Out in the trail running world, you’re sort of known for taking races out hot, aggressive. How do you see the race going? Will you try to follow Tove? Will you try to set the pace? Will you just try to be natural?
Alonso: Well, I think Tove is, of course, a favorite. But there are other girls like Judith Wyder or Malen Osa. Judith was there in all my career, maybe we run 10 times, and I only win once here in Zegama. So of course, it’s the one that I really need to take care. My plan strategy, I think I am faster in uphills than Malen and Judith do it, so I will start strong, but I think not as strong as Tove. So if she goes, okay. If in a moment I have the challenge to move her, of course, it’s going to be crazy. But my plan, maybe, is to be a little bit in front of Malen and Judith before the technical part.
iRunFar: And then the final downhill seems to be where things work themselves out. But the downhill’s very interesting. There are rocky sections, a lot of mud this year, and then at the end, fast running.
Alonso: Well, the good thing for me is the last downhill is not technical downhill. So I think this year, knowing more the conditions when it’s super muddy, you waste much, much energy than in a typical race. So I think you really need to arrive with strong legs in the last part, because if you destroy your legs in the mud and the rain, you are out.
iRunFar: Yeah. Thank you so much. Best of luck to you in defending your win here in your home territory.
Alonso: Thank you.
Sara Alonso Pre 2026 Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon Interview by Meghan Hicks.
