Running the World: Brazil

Rio de Janeiro is crowded; we have more than 6 million people and lots of traffic. But there are plenty of places to run. You can go to the beach and run along the promenade. Ipanema and Copa cabana beaches are full of runners, walkers, and cyclists, and people of every age working out or playing foot-volley [a soccer-volleyball hybrid in which players use their feet, chests, and heads instead of hands]. The beach is like an outdoor gym. It starts to get hot around 7:30 a.m., so people prefer to run early and then head off to work.

You can also drive from the beach to the Tijuca Forest in the hills west of town. It takes about 10 minutes, and it’s about 10 degrees cooler up there. The trails pass waterfalls and are full of monkeys and other wildlife. On the forest’s east side, you get some really nice views of the city and the Jesus [Christ the Redeemer] statue on Corcovado. You can run from the trails here to the base of the statue, but the route becomes very crowded with tourists, and you’ll need to buy a ticket to actually get to the statue. The forest is a really challenging, hilly place to run—work out here for a while and once you go back to flat ground, you rock!

I started swimming, not running, when I was a boy. In the beginning of swim season, we used to do running workouts, and I was always first to finish. Now I do triathlons. Staying in shape is a very big thing here. We have a beach lifestyle, and people like to show off their bodies. Everyone wants to wear swim trunks and tiny bikinis. It’s part of the culture. You will see very fit people running. Every weekend, we have 5K and 10K runs. Rio also has one of the only marathons in the world [the Rio de Janeiro Marathon, in June] where you can run most of it along the beach.

Rio is a big city, and it does have problems with crime, unfortunately. It’s a combination of beauty and the beast. It’s crucial to keep your eyes open and run in places where there are lots of people, and not on dark streets where problems can happen.

I own a business helping clients keep fit, and I’m always working. So running is a chance to relax. I run around the Lagoa [a lagoon in an upscale neighborhood inland from Ipanema], or in Flamengo Park, our biggest park, which is all grass and perfect for running.

What I like about running here in Rio is the connection between the mountains and the water, which are very close together. You can see the birds, the nature. The weather is perfect. It’s a really vibrant place. I hope that the Olympics will inspire even more Brazilians to take up running. Then we’ll have traffic with runners—and not just with cars.