Alessandra Boifava
Category: Trail Runner
Date of Birth: 11.10.79
Country: Italy
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How does a champion open-water finswimmer turn into an athlete who has represented Italy twice in trail running? Her aptitude for extreme effort and the push from her younger sister who was at the top of the sport back in 2014. “I took part in Ironman triathlon races too”, adds Alessandra, “I like everything as long as the races aren’t over in just a couple of hours. I love the variables in a long competition, having to face running situations that change every hour, but also being on my own. Without forgetting the competitive aspect, otherwise there is no point!”.
Alessandra never fails to surprise you. As she does when she talks about her passion for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers or tells you that she went to see the film Big Trouble in Little China 30 times in a single summer. But also when she tells you that she doesn’t really think about the competition when she is racing. She goes as fast as she can, of course, but “sometimes I tell myself stories about a parallel world, or I go over incidental situations or problems with different views”
She has never quite cut the cord with water, however. Alessandra is a swimming teacher and coach, and keeps fit in the pool too. That is so that she can enjoy her passion for cooking without feeling guilty: “I love baking cakes like Sacher cakes or Lienzertarte. Made as they should be, no low-fat versions”.
Alessandra’s dream world is inhabited by hard ideas. “I would like to run the Western States, one of the hardest races in the United States. I would also do the full crossing of the Alps, from Istria to Liguria, but without the stress of a stopwatch and the full length of the Adriatic, from Trieste to Greece, but swimming”. Just because.
HIGHLIGHTS
Tot Dret 2022, 130 km. First place (third in 2018).
LUT-Lavaredo Ultra Trail 2019 and 2022, 120 km
Ultrabericus 100, 2022, 100 km. First place
UTCAM-Ultra Trail Cote d’Azur-Mercantour 2018, 140 km. First place
Cromagnon 2017. 115 km First place
Elba Trail 2017, 52 km, First place
Ultrabericus 100, 2022. 100 km First place
Trans d’Havet 2015 and 2019, 80 km. First place (second in 2018)
She has represented Italy at the world championship in 2018 and 2022.
