Alexandre Sartorato started running to build up his stamina for futsal, a sport he practiced in his youth to supplement his income. "Those who could stay on the court longer ended up being more valued," he explains. There were three two-hour shifts on the track at the Professor Roberto Dick Sports Center in Cubatão, in addition to futsal training and work commitments.

        This routine lasted until he was noticed by a former pole vaulter who taught track and field at the location. "He said: 'Man, you're an ultramarathon runner. I had no idea what that was, but I believed him." Sartorato then began to study the sport and prepare himself. From the Pyramids of Giza, in Egypt, the Brazilian begins his second trip around the world today, crossing the five continents.

        ''I didn't have much, I ran barefoot. The first race I did was with sneakers borrowed from Juliana, who is an athlete and wife of Marilson Gomes. They are long-time friends. And Ju wore smaller shoes than me (laughs). The beginning was really tough.''

        The initial stretch of the adventure will be towards Alexandria. The idea is to cover more than 80 km, that is, about two marathons a day. The initial route includes 30 countries, including: Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Austria, Luxembourg, Uruguay, Argentina, Japan, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. "But I studied about 50 countries, because you can have war situations, some endemic disease and have to change the route".

        Sartorato sought to prepare himself for the most varied temperatures he could face. One of the training locations, for example, was Urupema, in Santa Catarina, considered the coldest city in the country. "I trained for a while in a semi-desert region in Egypt and also in the Andes Mountains, which has the altitude issue".

        Social causes: The ultramarathon runner takes advantage of the visibility during the races to promote social causes. The motivation for this comes from his own life story. From humble origins, Sartorato does not forget the difficulties he faced and gets emotional when telling.

        "I've always understood that I'm on a mission and I try to do my best. I remember my mother skipping meals so that my brother and I could have dinner. She said she wasn't hungry. When I lived in Mogi das Cruzes, there was construction work that went up the street in front of us and the neighbors, since they had more resources, also built up their land. Our house was in a ditch and had holes in the roof. I remember my mother, who would make cakes to sell, with water almost up to her waist, an umbrella in one hand and icing with the other," she said.

       '' I know where I came from. I don't help a social cause because I read about it in a book or saw it in a movie and thought it was cool. I help because I am the product of it. Whenever I have the opportunity to go to schools and talk to young people, I emphasize the possibility that they can make their dreams come true. They can! I came from a place similar to theirs, of hardship. I was born in a place that was once known as 'Death Valley'. Cubatão earned its nickname due to the high levels of pollution in the 1980s. The city was once considered the most polluted in the world, according to the United Nations (UN). Sartorato has already run wearing shirts from SOS Children's Villages, Doctors Without Borders, Christmas Without Hunger.

        The first trip around the world In the early 2000s, Alexandre Sartorato went from Oiapoque, in Amapá, to Chuí, in Rio Grande do Sul, the extreme points of Brazil. When he finished, he announced that his next goal would be to travel around the world. He did so in 2007, starting at Christ the Redeemer, in Rio de Janeiro, which was nominated for the new wonders of the world — and was chosen alongside the Great Wall of China, Petra, in Jordan, Machu Picchu, in Peru, the Chichen Itza Pyramid, in Mexico, the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, and the Taj Mahal, in India. "This first trip was all about physical strength and dedication. Psychologically, I was very shaken, I cried a lot. In 2005, I had lost my mother, a great example of life, in a tragic accident between Anchieta and Imigrantes.

        A person who left home well and came back in a sealed coffin. But, despite everything, I managed to finish. I received a lot of support along the way and that helped." Shortly after returning to Brazil, Sartorato stopped his ultramarathon career. "My father, due to the death of my mother, was depressed and had developed cerebral atrophy. I stopped to take care of him. It was, perhaps, the greatest challenge I have faced in life. He passed away in 2012".

        It will become a movie Sartorato stepped away from races and big challenges and running became just a casual refuge. In 2019, however, he returned. "I started to study a little about the reality in the world and in racing and I started training again. It's never from scratch because we end up creating a sports memory. So, I already knew a little about the path. And, in 2020, I went back to training for a longer period".

        He, who has been a civil servant since 1991, has increased his training over the last five years and has started training twice a day, one in the morning from 4 am to 8 am, and the other at night from 6:30 pm to 10:30 pm. In the last year, he has started living alone and, at times, has even slept in a tent. "One day, there will be a hotel, an inn, but the world is not like that. There will be days when I will have to stop and sleep wherever I can. I am going to set a record; I want to run two or three marathons a day." For example, he plans to use 50 pairs of sneakers throughout the journey, some of which have already been sent to support points around the world. He landed in Egypt with eight pairs.

        "I'm helping with a sneaker project in which a percentage is made from recycled material. The idea is to end this trip around the world with something more advanced, a sneaker that is [financially] viable for most people." The ultramarathon runner will be accompanied by a team of professionals that includes medical support, a film producer and a cameraman. "A trip around the world costs a few million, also because of this structure. And now, we're still producing a documentary about the entire journey, not just the trip around the world. I don't know what will happen, but I want to leave this record".