Sports
From Comrades to Trails: Laurindo Nunes's Journey
The South American Comrades record holder breaks down his career management, shift to ultras, and trail running challenges.
In a conversation with Sidney Togumi on Stemma Na Trilha, ultramarathoner Laurindo Nunes reflects on his journey from the track to setting the South American record at the Comrades Marathon. He explains how applying business administration shaped his career and details his recent transition to trail running.
In elite endurance sports, raw physical talent rarely endures without strategic planning and a long-term mindset. Laurindo Nunes built his entire career around this principle: from his earliest strides in youth divisions to becoming a celebrated ultramarathoner and South American record holder at the Comrades Marathon, every step was calculated with business-level precision and technical rigor.
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From the track to business management: an entrepreneurial vision in athletics
Born in Caçador, Santa Catarina, Laurindo started running track at age 15 under coach Donizete. After just two years of training, he was crowned the Brazilian school champion in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:51. Following an intense, injury-ridden stint at the National Training Center in Uberlândia, the distance runner returned to his hometown determined to build running into a sustainable profession.
When enrolling in college on a scholarship at Uniarp, he made an unusual choice for an athlete: he passed on physical education in favor of Business Administration. This shift allowed him to treat his athletic career as an enterprise, carefully budgeting logistics costs, calculating return on investment for race travel, and managing prize money from road races to fund more consistent training cycles.
From road marathons to Tokyo gold and the Comrades record
Sound financial planning enabled Laurindo to make his marathon debut in 2017, winning the SP City Marathon in 2:20:09—a victory he repeated the following year alongside titles in Foz do Iguaçu. In 2019, however, a diagnosis of Haglund's deformity (a calcification on the heel bone) forced him to adapt his running mechanics and shift his focus toward longer distances, steering clear of the severe impact caused by pure track and road speed.
During the competitive hiatus brought on by the pandemic, Laurindo served as a guide runner for Yeltsin Jacques at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games (held in 2021), helping him capture a gold medal. Soon after, he designed a campaign to tackle South Africa's legendary Comrades Marathon. In 2023, he clocked a time of 5:31:29, establishing the South American record for the world's oldest road ultramarathon.
Continuing his 100 km campaign, he took part in the Breaking 100 project at Pampulha Airport and won the Vilnius 100 km race in Lithuania under extreme weather conditions, finishing in 6:37:00.
Transitioning to the mountains and upcoming challenges
Venturing into trail running and skyrunning brought a whole new technical learning curve, especially across steep descents and rugged terrain. Laurindo made his trail debut at UTMB Paraty (placing second) and the Indomit Pedra do Baú (35 km) before embracing the full intensity of Jaraguá Sky, where he won heats like the W and the Up Hill race, battling mountain veterans down to the second.
Laurindo now balances his schedule between road and trail. His upcoming targets include the 100 km World Championships in Spain and preparations for major events on the Chamonix circuit. Sponsored by brands such as Fila, Uniarp, Z2, Coros, Berry House, and Jaraguá Sky, he relies on discipline and intuitive body awareness as core pillars for a long, successful career in elite endurance.
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