Martina Valmassoi of Italy took third in the 2025 Transvulcania Ultramarathon, having won the 2023 edition of the race. In this interview, she talks about the extremely challenging weather conditions, finding her legs toward the end of the race, and her hopes to progress her running career going forward.
Be sure to read our 2025 Transvulcania Ultramarathon results article for the full race story.
[Editor’s Note: If you are unable to see the video above, click here to access it.]
Martina Valmassoi, Post-2025 Transvulcania Ultramarathon, Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Meghan Hicks of iRunFar, I’m with Martina Valmassoi, it’s the day after the 2025 Transvulcania Ultra. You’re the third-place woman. How’s this feeling this morning?
Martina Valmassoi: Yeah, it feels good. It feels like, yeah, accomplishing, finishing yesterday was probably the hardest task. It was a really challenging day. But yeah, I’m really happy with my race, with how I managed everything. But yeah, I think we reached … Yeah, as I told you, I thought in ’23 was the worst possible weather we could get here, and yesterday I was unpleasantly surprised that it …
iRunFar: Unpleasantly.
Valmassoi: Yeah, that it can be way worse.
iRunFar: Okay, so the weather yesterday was the headline of the race.
Valmassoi: Yeah.
iRunFar: Can you just start, you do ski mountaineering, you have been in trail and ultra for a while. You have photographed some really ridiculous races yourself. Can you articulate what the conditions were actually like?
Valmassoi: Yeah, it’s wild because normally I have no problem when it’s colder. Actually, I enjoy more, and we had a similar weather, I have seen this weather in Madeira last year, so I think it’s something with me running on islands. So I’m really sorry, if I ever do Transgrancanaria, I’ll tell you and maybe …
iRunFar: You could not sign up.
Valmassoi: So you decide. Yesterday, well first of all, I wasn’t prepared for this. I forgot my gloves at home. And so I got Dakota’s [Jones] and I just had one wind jacket and one rain jacket, but at least I had someone at Pico de la Cruz, in not the highest part, but just before, that brought me this other jacket. And no, it was raining from the start, but at the start, you are like sea level, and at least the temperature was pretty warm and nice.
iRunFar: Doable.
Valmassoi: Doable. But of course, this race, it’s like climbing constantly until the highest point of the island. And so it was just like, it got worse and worse and worse and worse. We just had a little break going down to El Pilar. And yeah, it was extremely high winds, super heavy rains at times coming from everywhere, sometimes in your face, sometimes sideways, and really cold temperatures, and it was just constantly like that.
iRunFar: No break.
Valmassoi: No break.
iRunFar: Hours of that.
Valmassoi: Yeah, sometimes when it was not raining and it was just windy and you were like, “Ah, just a little …”
iRunFar: It was just 40-kilometer winds.
Valmassoi: Yeah, it was insane. And every little task got extra challenging because I couldn’t feel my hands, and so even eating a gel, it was just trying to manage the poles and just get in the pockets, eat a gel, try to not let it fly away. And it was kind of funny if I think about it now. But also I started, I didn’t have the legs I wanted for yesterday. I just felt a little off and not able to push a little more, but I was like, “Okay, well, I try to stay consistent and let’s see if the situation will improve.”
And after a few hours, it did improve. But just with that, also the weather got so bad, so much worse that after the legs were just stuck, just so cold that you keep moving not to get …
iRunFar: Any movement.
Valmassoi: Yeah. It’s painful. You kind of get these cramps because everything is so stiff.
iRunFar: Stiff.
Valmassoi: And so yeah, we really had to battle to stay warm. It was kind of intense. Eventually, I felt like finally when we started to go down, at the beginning it was extremely painful because yeah, I was so stiff that you just run with straight legs like a penguin, and it was just a surreal scene because we were catching a lot of people from the marathon and you just see these people moving slowly or just like …
iRunFar: Death marching.
Valmassoi: Yeah, death marching or just sticking together with survival blankets just next to a rock. And you’re like, “Okay, I think you’ve got to keep moving.”
iRunFar: Don’t stop.
Valmassoi: Don’t stop. And then, yeah, at Roque, I didn’t even go to the aid station because I was like, “Okay, I just need to keep moving down.” And I see two buses full of people covered in survival blankets. I was like, “Oh, damn.” And finally after a long time, I think it took me at least 30, 40 minutes of downhill to feel my legs again because it’s so technical and quite difficult, especially before this year, I’ve never seen La Palma with mud.
iRunFar: And there was tons of mud.
Valmassoi: Yeah, I was like, I’ve never even imagined it could be muddy here. And yesterday it was like Zegama sometimes, so much mud and just crazy. And the last downhill, it’s always really technical, but yesterday was really technical. And if you are stiff and just not confident, it’s really hard to run fast.
iRunFar: You must have found your legs on the downhill though, because you and Ekaterina [Mityaeva] sort of got into it. You were a couple minutes behind at Roque, but then you came within a minute and a half I think by the bottom of the downhill. Could you see her at times? Did you know were gaining? You were just doing your own thing?
Valmassoi: No, I was just completely doing my own thing because the only information I got, it was before Roque, before at Pico de la Cruz that a friend of mine that was there, he told me that I had three to four minutes from Ekaterina. And so I was like, “Okay, well that’s cool.” I thought I was even farther away. It’s just like-
iRunFar: You don’t know, do you?
Valmassoi: You don’t know. And when I was able to see something, like early on in the race, as I said, I wasn’t feeling super good, and so I never seen them, so even before Los Canarios, and so I was like, “Okay, well that’s good.” But I know Ekaterina is really good in the downhill as well, but I just wasn’t trying to catch anyone. I was just trying to survive. And when I started to feel that I had my legs again, it was actually easier to push because it was so muddy that if you’re thinking twice about where …
iRunFar: Where to step.
Valmassoi: … to step. It’s just like there’s higher chances that you just slip. So I was just like, “Okay, well let’s go fast and let’s get it done and get even warmer.” And also with the cold, I think I planned my nutrition, but I ate all the gels and I needed more because I was just wasting so much energy trying to stay warm. And so at El Time, the halfway through the downhill, luckily at the aid station, I got an extra gel there and Coca-Cola from Roque, just like boom, boom, boom, boom, trying to drink as much as possible. And then when it was finally kind of warm, it just felt good. For once, I was kind of enjoying that downhill because I was like, “Oh, we’re finally running. It’s not just surviving through the elements.” And then, yeah, I had the bike and the people that I was passing, they were telling me that I was getting closer and closer to Ekaterina. So the first time I actually saw her was after Tazacorte.
iRunFar: Okay, I wondered.
Valmassoi: It was cool because I closed up even more towards the finish.
iRunFar: Yeah, I think you gained a minute from Tazacorte to the finish line, but you were never able to close the gap?
Valmassoi: No. I also wasn’t even really trying. I was like, “Okay, we survived and she’s there.”
iRunFar: And you felt like it was more survival than anything.
Valmassoi: Yeah. And I mean, I probably could have pushed a little more on the climb, but that was just like whatever, you don’t really have to just destroy yourself. I think I had gave enough yesterday. But yeah, it was really cool. I was really pleased also on how I felt on the last climb. I was so rushed out of Tazacorte that I forgot my poles. I would’ve liked to have my poles, but then I was like, “Well, whatever.” I was like, I don’t think I was going to try really hard to catch Ekaterina anyway, so that was really cool. And yeah, Ekaterina is super nice and I kind of wish we could have shared a little more during the race, but it was just like, I stayed alone the whole day.
iRunFar: It was you and the fog.
Valmassoi: Yeah, me and the fog.
iRunFar: Just having an experience.
Valmassoi: Yeah, a bunch of dudes until after Reventón, and then all of a sudden I was completely alone. I was like, “Oh, okay.” And then sometimes you pass some people just like freezing, “Oh, I’m extremely cold. Where is the aid station?” I’m like, “I don’t know, but …
iRunFar: I don’t know either.
Valmassoi: … we are all in the same situation. Do not stop.”
iRunFar: Just go.
Valmassoi: Just keep going because there’s nobody around.
iRunFar: So my last question for you, you sort of set aside, I would say, your photography career a couple of years ago to focus more on running. And in that time, you have won a couple big international races and proved yourself to be pretty consistent podium finisher. And then in UTMB, you’ve gotten as far as top 10 women. Do you think about, is there one more tick upwards, getting yourself from the highest echelon to the very top of the highest echelon? Do you have any thoughts on that? Because I do.
Valmassoi: Yeah. Well, I’m trying. Yes. I really enjoy this process and I like that I finally get away from the thought that I was like, “I’m good, but not ever as good as other athletes in the sport.” And I think there’s still a gap, but because these things are for someone who runs a lot and who has been in the sport enough to understand this, there’s no magic overnight.
So fitness takes time, and it’s really a lot about how consistent you are through many, many years. And so I think I’m getting better and better, and I hope potentially to nail the perfect race at some point. And I’m happy that even after a good race like yesterday, it never felt like I was having the day. I was kind of grumpy for many hours because I wasn’t feeling good. And then I was like, “Well, let’s stop thinking about that now, it’s just survival mode.” And so I’m really proud I’m surviving well and just moving as best as I can. So I’m still trying to navigate because yes, it’s normal. You can’t have great days every race.
iRunFar: Every day.
Valmassoi: Yeah, every day, even if you do your best to plan it right. And so yeah, it’s really important to go through hard days as well. Yeah, that’s also why this year I’m not going back to UTMB because I think I need some practice on other distances before, and then to be potentially more ready for next year or the year after. But I really would like to improve some more and try to race the best in the sport.
iRunFar: I think it really says something when you start this race and you’re like, “Well, I don’t really feel like I have my legs today.” And then you’re kind of in this zone where you aren’t seeing the competitors. You’re like, literally, aren’t seeing them because you’re just in a storm all day. And then when it comes down to racing, you’re right there fighting for the second-place spot, second, third-place spot. So I think yeah, we’re all our greatest criticizers or whatever.
Valmassoi: Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.
iRunFar: But I think it really says something when you’re like, “Well, I didn’t have the legs. I felt like I was just surviving.” But you’re in it.
Valmassoi: Yeah, sometimes it’s just really easy, nobody really care if you go on or if you stop, it’s just you, but you have to talk yourself out of these things because until El Pilar, I was like, “What if I just jump in the car and just like, call it a day?” But then I was like, “No. Still, it’s great.” And these races, you never know, after a while, it can just change. Everything can change completely, and it’s all experience, and it’s a great training day anyway. And so no, I’m really happy, yes, with yesterday.
iRunFar: You should be happy. Congratulations on your third-place finish. And I hope today includes being warm and in the sun.
Valmassoi: Yes, I hope so.
iRunFar: By the sea.
Valmassoi: Yes. Hopefully, I need some tan. Just go.
iRunFar: You didn’t get any yesterday.
Valmassoi: No, no. I even put sunscreen and I’m like, “Okay, damn.”
iRunFar: Most useless preparation ever.
Valmassoi: Yes.
iRunFar: Congratulations.
Valmassoi: Thank you. Thank you. See you hopefully in better conditions.
