Sara Alonso’s Climb to the Top: Victory at Zegama

The Return to Zegama

For Sara Alonso, Zegama isn’t just another stop on the Golden Trail Series—it’s home. Growing up just 40 minutes away in Donosti, the course is etched into her memory. After placing 3rd in 2022, Sara missed 2023 due to injury, and fell ill just before the 2024 edition. In her 2025 return, it was personal. When she finally lined up healthy and ready, she made it count with a commanding win.

Training Built for the Basque Mountains

Zegama is notorious for its relentless climbs and raucous crowd energy, so naturally one must be prepared for the unique challenges.

"I combine interval sessions on asphalt and uphill on the mountain with long runs and regenerative sessions."

Sara also mixed in some cross-training on the bike and elliptical to avoid overload.

Sara Alonso's Training Load leading into Zegama

In the 10 weeks leading up to the race, Sara's training load was fairly consistent at around 1000. However, a two-week increase close to the race was part of her final preparations.

She also made a strategic choice to train on the course itself. Using her COROS watch with Strava Live Segments, she targeted the Aratz climb, one of the longest and most punishing sections of the race.

Sara's workout data from May 7th

“I set my watch to live segments for Aratz and did it in my best time ever.”

Moving into second place on the Strava leaderboard, she finished the segment in a time of 50:51 on her May 7th training run. During the race on May 25th, she improved that mark by another 10 seconds.

The Metrics Mindset

Sara’s approach also integrates recovery data, heart rate monitoring, and long-term fitness tracking.

“I look at recovery every day. Knowing that I was sleeping well and that my HRV values were green the week before gave me confidence.”

During the race, she knew exactly where her limits were.

“I was monitoring my heart rate to keep it between 150 and 165—pushing, but not blowing up.”

Sara's heart rate distribution during the race

The Pacing Plan That Paid Off

With fierce downhill competition like Judith Wyder on the start list, Sara made the choice to lead from the start. The first 16 kilometers are mostly uphill, with the climb to Aratz finishing at 16.1km. Her targeted training for this segment paid off, and she opened a sizeable 3-minute lead.

“From kilometer 2, when I was alone, I knew the podium was mine. I pushed as hard as I could until Aratz. I knew the last few kilometers would be at my limit.”

Next was the climb out of Sancti Spiritu, which approaches the highest elevation point of the race. As she reached the top, her lead expanded to over 5 minutes.

"Sancti Spiritu was crazy. It's the most important climb of the race, but this year the noise was especially intense."

Wyder closed the gap on the downhills during the latter stages of the race, but Sara's early lead was insurmountable. She descended back into Zegama and crossed the line at 4:27:25, winning by just over two minutes.

Sara's race data from Zegama 2025

Looking Ahead

After kicking off the season with a half marathon debut and three Golden Trail Series races, Sara plans to take a low-impact recovery phase before finishing her trail season.

"I'm going to take a little break to prepare for the second part of the season, which is OCC, the Canfranc World Championships, and the Golden Trail Series final. It’s going to be two very quiet weeks without any impact.”

Winning Zegama is a lifelong goal for many athletes, and for Sara it means even more. With smart strategy, course familiarity, and finally a healthy build-up, Sara brought home the win in her own backyard.

“You should never stop dreaming. With hard work, dreams can come true.”