View from 24 Hours of Great Glen
Gorham, NEW HAMPSHIRE
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acidotic RACING, LLC. Copyright © 2012.
"It's not where you finish, it's how you finish that counts."
The story starts like all the other ones, with a dream. Raising a family in the United States. Back in the mid 90’s, the economic outlook and future overall wasn’t too bright in Argentina, my birthcountry. But some may say karma, some say pure luck, I got a job offer in August 1998, to work in the headquarters of the company I was working for. After that everything went pretty fast. January 1999, my wife and I moved from Buenos Aires to Bloomfield, NJ to start working as a consultor for the company. And in the way to living my dream, I reached rock bottom. In April 2000 a very clear picture taken in Aruba showed me what the life of good restaurants and pints of Ben & Jerry can do to your body. 224lb of shameful present. Things right there turned. I moved to Cambridge, MA and join the group of runners at the office that every lunch will just go out and run 4 to 6 miles instead of sitting down a ruining their future. 4 miles became 6, then 10. And then one wise guy told me, go ahead and differentiate from the rest. Run a marathon. I did, I run 6 of them. And with the running came the freebie, weight loss, reaching the 164lb in a few years. I was hooked. This running is really helping me. But marathons were good but not fun after a while so I
Athlete Spotlight: Mariano Santangelo
started looking for alternatives,always running. I tried Mt. Washington but even when I finished it I felt that uphill wasn’t my thing. I had to find races that’d challenge me in a different way. I found trail races, that hit it right on the head. The highlight was the now defunct Jay Peak Challenge. And while looking for those new types of challenges, I run into this little association with a great heart called acidotic! I was shy to join in the beginning thinking I am a middle of the pack guy, what can bring to the table? Quickly they proved me wrong and opened their arms and allowed me to run and enjoy and discover my new love:snowshoeing. The perfect combination of all season racing, trails and snow. Could’t ask for more. But the dream wasn’t complete yet. I had to wait only from January 19,1999 to August 26, 2010 to make it happen. And I did. I became an American citizen; it was the single longest race I ever run and the only one that I ever won!
EDITORS NOTE: Few aR athletes have come as far as Mariano both geographically and physically. Yet his story of relentless determination is the thread with which the tapestry of aR is woven. It's hard to believe that he waited almost a year to accept the invitation to join because he felt he was "worthy". Look at how hard he's racing...that is the epitome of RACING acidotic!
RACING acidotic at the Whitaker Woods Snowshoe Scramble
[Photo courtesy of Gianina Lindsey]
