Former tannery worker becomes marathon star
15/11/2011
Solonei Rocha da Silva won the race with a time of 2:16:37 hours just 15 months after running (and winning) his first marathon in Porto Alegre in May 2010.
He initially became interested in racing while he worked at the Atlântica tannery in his home town, Penápolis in the state of São Paulo. This was at the suggestion of one of his tannery colleagues; he ran in a 3,500-metre race and won. However, because he did no training and ran in ordinary sports shoes, he developed pains in his legs and gave up athletics for two years.
By the time he tried again (this time with better shoes) in 2009, he had begun working as a refuse collector for the Penápolis city council. He says now that physical labour helped him become a champion athlete and says he is determined to qualify for and take part in the 2012 Olympics in London.
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