Joaquin Lopez: The Training Behind Latin America’s First UTMB Podium Finisher

By Darcie Murphy,
CTS Ultrarunning Pro Coach

I must admit, I was unfamiliar with Ecuadorian ultrarunner Joaquin Lopez when Jason Koop (Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning) reached out to me in December 2023 about the opportunity to work with him. From our first conversation I was impressed with Joaquin’s obvious dedication to performance and improvement. What stood out even more was the higher purpose behind his ultrarunning objectives: to enhance awareness of and opportunities for Latin American runners. His third-place podium finish at the 2024 Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) was a first for Ecuador and a breakthrough performance for Latin American ultrarunners on the world stage. Here’s an inside look at his preparation and race day execution.

But first, watch Joaquin’s pure joy as he crossed the finish line!

 

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Getting Started

Joaquin initially reached out to Jason Koop to inquire about coaching. Although Jason didn’t have space in his roster, he recognized Joaquin’s potential and thought we would make a good coach-athlete match. Joaquin competed in adventure races for years before focusing on ultrarunning and I have a broad multi-sport coaching skillset.

Joaquin explained the unique challenges that aspiring trail runners face in Ecuador and in the greater geographic area. From his early days of competing Joaquin has wanted to create a spotlight for the talent and enthusiasm that exists in the South American running community and to inspire the next generation. He anticipated that training under the guidance of a CTS Coach could improve his performance on the world stage to achieve the recognition he sought for his community. I was honored to have the opportunity to play a role in this project and our personalities were a great match.

Creating the Plan

Although I needed to get to know him, Joaquin was by no means an unknown. He placed 11th at UTMB in 2023, 6^th in 2019 and was second at TDS in 2022, among many other notable results in elite level competitions. He had years of consistent training and, above all, simply loved running in the mountains. From the get-go, Joaquin was clear about his strengths and weaknesses as an ultrarunner: he excels when the grades go up, but must always work harder than those around him to keep up on flatter terrain and on highly technical trails.

We began 2024 by developing one of his weaknesses: fast, flat running. He competed in a road half marathon in Barcelona (where he now lives most of the year), and we began a V0_2max training cycle. We combined very hard, short uphill efforts and easier flat trail and road runs. As a coach early into working with a new athlete, I may have pushed the intensity too far. Not long into the training block, which contained a level of intensity he was largely unfamiliar with, he sustained an injury.

We pivoted to using cycling as his main source of training and incorporated more strength training and regular physical therapy sessions. Cycling was a familiar training tool because of his adventure racing background. After several weeks of cycling and rehab work, we gradually re-introduced running. Within six weeks, we made it through the early-season hurdle.

Early Season Races

By this point, Joaquin had some mountain races on the horizon, so we shifted back to training in the mountains regularly and reduced focus on flat and fast running. We lowered the intensity of his interval workouts to Tempo workouts, or threshold intensity, for the training cycles in March through May. This period took him through his first two races of the season, including a trip back to Ecuador to compete in the Petzl Trail de Volcan 80km, where he took 2^nd overall. He returned to Barcelona to prepare for the Trail 100k Andorra by UTMB, where he finished 3^rd  overall.

We were pleased with his race results. The mix of Tempo workouts and terrain-specific long runs delivered good fitness and race preparation. Joaquin dedicated himself to improving his downhill running ability on technical terrain by completing what we termed ‘downhill session practice’. For these he simply repeated a technical section of trail that took between 4-7 min to descend at race pace. With each repetition he attempted to become a little smoother and confident with his stride and footing. We kept the number of repetitions per session and the number of total sessions relatively low. The goal was to develop technical skill, not to induce lots of muscle damage from eccentric contractions during hard downhill running.

UTMB-Specific Preparation

By July 2024, our focus became even more specific to UTMB. Joaquin knew that in past years he performed well in events after spending several weeks living and training at 9000 feet/2700m near his home in Ecuador. So, he returned to Ecuador to train for six weeks and compete in one more race, the Quito 50k. His training went especially well during this second trip to Ecuador. The grades and rate of climbing match those of UTMB.

The high altitude slightly limited his ability to reach the same speed he could maintain during intervals workouts at lower altitudes. This was to be expected, so to overcome the challenge we purposely had him travel to slightly lower elevations for a handful of key workouts. We used this classic “live high, train low” model to achieve a higher level of intensity than is possible above 9000’.

Although the trails on the UTMB course are more technically challenging than the high alpine forests of Ecuador, on race day Joaquin handled the terrain with little issue. Undoubtedly, he felt that the focused downhill work he completed earlier in the season paid off.

The Big Push: Increasing Training Volume

Elite athletes must find opportunities to push their limits and accept some risks. In recent years Joaquin added a sports nutritionist and a sports psychologist to his performance team. He had also competed in UTMB twice and TDS once before, so he knew the courses. And he was confident with his equipment. It was great to have these areas dialed in, but it also meant there were not many opportunities for experimentation or refinement. However, we identified an opportunity to increase his overall training volume in the lead up to UTMB.

Joaquin knew his training volume was lower compared to competitors he finished with. So, we analyzed the two training blocks leading into UTMB in 2023, which was his faster time of his two prior UTMB races. We increased his training volume by 20-30%, depending on which weeks you compare. We kept the intensity relatively low, with approximately one Steady State Run workout per week and very easy long runs most of the other days.

Joaquin admitted to being nervous about the volume. A couple of weeks before the 2024 UTMB, he told me, “I had never done a six-hour run in training before this year, but I feel great, no hints of injury, I feel ready.” He capped off his training in Ecuador with a win in the Quito 50k in challenging conditions. It was very hot and he had to battle for his position most of the race, but he managed his nutrition well at between 90-100 grams of carbohydrate per hour. The training data, his subjective feedback, and his race result all told me he was well prepared for UTMB 2024. Joaquin returned to Barcelona about two weeks before UTMB for his taper period.

Running to the UTMB Podium

From the earliest miles of the race, Joaquin’s performance unfolded in near-perfect fashion. His goals were simply to ‘be in the mix’ with the top competitors and we thought that a 21:00:00 finish time was within reach. For perspective, his 2023 race time was roughly 21:47:00. During the first 50k, he realized that he was in fact in the mix. He was running with racers who had been on the podium in past years and who he believed would pace the early miles wisely. As night came, he began working his way up the field. At dusk he was in the top 30 runners and by daylight he was in the top 10.

Joaquin is a very good night runner, a skill he attributes to his adventure racing experience. At the crewed aid stations his wife pointed out how much better his energy seemed compared to those around him. She also noted that his mood was better following the flatter sections that required more running compared to past years. The race data corroborated her observations. The post-race analysis showed he ran the downhill and flat sections much faster in 2024 compared to his 2023 splits.

I was not able to attend UTMB to watch Joaquin compete or be part of his crew, but I knew he was in good hands. Joaquin told me afterward that when he was about halfway through the race, he passed Coach Jason Koop on the course. Koop shouted to him, “Race until the end!” Joaquin said he kept that playing in his mind and that it gave him extra incentive to continue battling across the finish line.

The final push

In the final third of the race, Joaquin continued to move closer to the race leaders. His nutrition went exactly to plan and his energy levels never faded once during the race. He was pleased as he reached 5^th position, as he believed that would be a great result. But then he moved into 4^th and then 3^rd position! He and the ultimate second-place finisher, Baptiste Chassangne, ran many kilometers together, encouraging each other for the last 20kms of the race.

Chassangne is a local resident of Chamonix and Joaquin could see he was drawing inspiration from the crowd’s energy. Joaquin was able to feed off the enthusiasm of the spectators, even if they weren’t directly cheering for him. Although he was not able to move ahead of Chassangne, he still had to push hard to the finish line to stay ahead of Hannes Namberger, who remained just minutes behind him and finished in fourth place.

 

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History Made

Joaquin crossed the line in 20:26:22, about 81 minutes faster than in 2023, draped in the Ecuadorian flag. Even more important, he became the first Latin American to stand on the UTMB podium. It was an enormous accomplishment for Joaquin and a big step toward his goal of bringing more awareness to the Latin American running community. To be honest, it was a result neither he nor I really dreamed of, at least not for 2024. For both of us, it took a few days for the reality of what he’d done to settle in. I couldn’t be prouder of him, and I can all but guarantee this is just the beginning of what he can achieve in years to come!

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