The phrase “I’m too old to innovate” is a myth. Elisa Forti’s strength and passion is proof of that. At 87, he broke the mold and, with a smile on his face, said he had been running marathons since he was 72. “When I came back I wanted to smile, to live,” said the Italian who has lived in Argentina ever since. he is 14 years old, who participated in the Innovation meeting organized by LA NACION.

For this mother of five, the limits are self-determined: “When you want, you find the time and the possibilities, it all hangs in the head“. He participated in 50 races and marathons across multiple destinations, from Ushuaia to England, and crossed the Andes several times.

His robbery to the world run It started with his desire to travel and study. When one of her daughters told her she was going to Villa la Angostura to run a marathon, she was bitten by an insect while visiting the south of the country. However, when he proposed to travel as a runner and not as a companion, his appearance was taken aback. They told him he was going to have a bad time, but after much insistence they opened the door for him. He found the environment he defined as beautiful “for those seeking mental and physical well-being”, and added: “If you fall, no one looks at the clock, but rather they stop and pick you up”, he said in dialogue with José Del Rio, secretary General Editorial NATION.

That’s how Forti managed to convince the coach and agree to run the first 10 of the first 25 kilometer marathon. A promise he broke as adrenaline was rushing in the middle of a race: “When I hit 10 km, when I started to climb the mountain, I said ‘to hell with that, I go whatever it is’. It took me four hours, but I reached 25 km”, he said with a smile.

On his first crossing into the Andes, he had the same reaction. However, on the other side of the finish line, posters awaited him. with phrases from friends and his children told him: “You got this because of the stubbornness you have, mom.” For him, reaching the finish line is a great joy: “You grow internally. You feel stronger to face everyday problems.”

Like many others, this sense of liberation was taken away from him by the pandemic and the restrictions that came with it. Willing to cross the line, with over 80 years he slipped away from the police and quietly went running by the river. “Initially I wanted to be good and go to the terrace to run. but one hour is 60 rounds. Then I looked for a way to get into the river. I asked the police if I could run, since the entrance was closed, and they said yes because of my age. But then they didn’t let me, the police found me and they took me out, so when I heard the motorbike from far away I hid under a tree until the motorbike passed and I kept running”, he said with complicity.

A coincidence led him to star in a documentary about his life as a runner. How did Elisha run? He was born from a lucky encounter by the river in Vicente López, where he lives and goes jogging every day. One day, in the middle of his journey, a young man stopped him and told him “the run He owes you a lot.” Convinced of his reality, she tells him no: “You have no idea what I owe him run. I am a widow, I live alone, I don’t want to disturb my children and that run give me friends and lifestyle“. After contacting and a proposal for a marathon in her hometown of Lago Di Como, in Italy, was put forward, Elisa agreed and in 2019 it premiered.

The saying goes “healthy mind, healthy body”, but for him the philosophy is different. “In my opinion, it is the mind that governs the body. It’s the mind that wakes me up in the morning, that makes me want to put on my shoes and enjoy nature,” she says.

For those who don’t practice any sport, Elisa invites them to take the test and doesn’t rule it out without trying it first. “I feel like a person lucky enough to be healthy, who wants to live and touch everything, not to close possibility. Did they ring your bell? Listen. You never did? Try. have you done it? “Try again, but you don’t have to close the door,” he suggested.