Seven years ago, Paco (Huelva, 1937) was hit by a car in a bad way on Avenida Juan de la Cierva in Getafe and, with his bruises and his shattered right knee, anyone would have reasoned that this was the end of his sporting career. Mainly because he had already turned 80 at the time. Two months later he broke the Spanish indoor track record of 60 meters, and he is proud of the perennial joke about it. Francisco Javier González Martín It’s ‘El Señor Paco’. Or ‘Sper Paco’. Or ‘Paquito Correcaminos’, as they call me here in the neighborhood. And, at 87, he continues in the gap, with his scar and the prosthesis that two years later was placed on that knee that always takes a long time to unlock and with absolutely overflowing energy.
Paco is a Don Quixote with the makings of Sancho, a passionate man who pursues sporting astonishments, incombustible to the passage of time and the rigors of age. He recounts in a troubled way his movie life, full of adventures, as an Andalusian child well into the post-war period because my uncle was the secretary of Milln Astray, from 12 years of emigration in Paris to find a life as a turner, experiencing French May 68 in first person. And of a return to Spain as a heating plumber in which he fully encountered athletics, already in his forties, when he went to pick up his three children from the Getafe Club after work. From those pioneering beginnings, the first Madrid Marathon in 1978 (in less than three and a half hours), to more than half a century of competitions in all corners of the world, because when he discovered running, no one could stop him.
Paco’s cap features the emblems of championships from half the planet, from Mexico to Australia. A world map of pins. The penultimate adventure took him to Tampere (Finland): in July 2022 he was proclaimed runner-up in the world masters (in the 85-90 age group) 10-kilometer walk, with a time of one hour, 23 minutes and 42 seconds, only behind Alexis Jordana. The French guy always beats me, he protests, while he explains how he himself sets up the infrastructure for his trips, always alone, looking for his flights and accommodations. I go on the internet and I always go to the cheapest. To Grosseto (Italy), to the European Championship, I arrived the day before, competed and left the day after. I usually sleep in student residences, sharing a bedroom with young boys, he recounts his adventures, the next in a few weeks in Zaragoza (Spanish walking championship) and shortly, in March, in Torun (Poland), to compete in the European master’s and try to beat the French goat once and for all.
Paco Gonzlez, on a bench at the Juan de la Cierva Stadium in Getafe. SERGIO GONZLEZ VALEROMUNDO
To Paco, who belongs to the Artyneon Athletics Club of Getafe, the only thing that takes away his smile a little is the lack of recognition from the institutions and the little financial aid. I haven’t earned a penny, athletics always costs me, she says. But, above all, what makes him serious is the situation of his wife Vitoriana, which he has been taking care of since a few years ago when Alzheimer’s began to take its toll on him. For this reason, Paco gets up at six in the morning to train: I stretch, I go down to a park where I have already marked up to a kilometer with a wheel, and I train for approximately an hour and a half, until eight or so. When I finish, I come home and wake up my wife. I prepare her, we have to control her diabetes, I give her some lung sprays… And I am the cook, I do the shopping, the food, he describes his unstoppable routine, which is completed with a nap and an afternoon walk with his wife: I like that she is active, I give her small tasks.
The secret? I don’t know… My granddaughters tell me that I’m like a cowbell. Mr. Paco’s incredible feats include World Championships (World Masters Athletics) and European Championships (four continental medals), but also Spanish championships (he has been champion of his age group uninterruptedly since 1978 in running and also in other sprint and middle-distance specialties). , duathlons and triathlons – a couple of years ago he completed the one in Casa de Campo in Madrid and was not the last one -, mountain bike tests, popular 10k that he usually does walking, the last one in Ponle Freno, in Castellana. ..
Paco assures that the doctor is amazed at routine check-ups, that he hardly goes to the physiotherapist, that he has never been sick, that he does not take any medication – now I drink royal jelly before races, because a lady from the herbalist gave it to me – and What about the diet… I don’t have any diet. Now I make the menu at home. On Mondays, lentils, with their chorizo and everything that is due. On Tuesdays ribs with potatoes. White Jewish Wednesdays… The usual thing. For breakfast, some toast with butter. And the coffee. What I don’t do is have lunch, nothing until lunch. Dulce barely drinks and a bottle from time to time, he reveals without giving himself importance, like his training habits, just one day of rest every two and some visits to the gym and the pool.
Paco, with his cap full of pins from the championships he has competed in all over the world. SERGIO GONZLEZ VALEROMUNDO
Ask.- Paco, and it doesn’t hurt at all?
Answer.- Pain? Everywhere. At 87 years old, how can it not hurt? It’s bone stuff, osteoarthritis, that’s it. But if I go two days without training it seems like I’m missing something. As if I was missing food. My body hurts more. What I always wear is a smile on my mouth. They tell me: ‘Paco, but you’re always laughing, man.’ What do you want, it hurts here and you won’t be able to fix it. Why am I going to tell you? I take life with humor.
P.- What do your rivals tell you?
R.- I don’t have anyone left. I have retired them all. I aired them all. I had the record for Spain of 45 to 50 years, a mark that has been in force for many years, until it arrived Joseph Marn for veterans, 49:03 in 10 kilometers. Not even the juniors did it.
Paco Gonzlez, together with Jordi Llopart, in an Espaa.EM championship
Paco is an arcanum of athletic adventures and his old backpack accumulates documents, photographs, diplomas and lots of medals, ancient and modern, which he displays on the table with the affection of showing his treasure. Among the most special, a black and white print, hand in hand in the middle of the race with Jordi Llopartwith the dedication of the first world medalist athlete from Spain (recently deceased), and also a letter of recognition from Esperanza Aguirre when she was president of the Community of Madrid. Look, this is the coach’s diploma, which I was also for many years, he adds and there, his most beautiful triumph, the affection of those who were his pupils – he also worked as a physical education teacher at the Severo Ochoa School in Getafe. -, the one they give him on the streets of the neighborhood or the hugs he gets in the tests he attends. They are like my children. Everyone knows and everyone loves Mr. Paco, always on the podium, tireless in the most classic events of the Spanish walking calendar, from the Toledo Sword to the Cantonese Grand Prix of La Coruapart of the landscape with his cap, his unmistakable glasses, his mustache and his fanny pack.
Next challenge? Maybe when I turn 90 I’ll do the Madrid marathon marching, she challenges, with her mischievous giggle. Running is my life and I have made athletics my life plan. Continue in the gap as long as you can, concludes the incredible Mr. Paco.
2024-01-28 22:43:33
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