A winner of numerous races, including mountain runs, ultratrails, and ultrasky events, Marta Poretti, an athlete on Team Oxyburn, is preparing for her third appearance in La Grande Corsa Bianca, which she will tackle on skis—snow permitting. Meanwhile, in these first few weeks of 2016, she took third place at the S1 La Corsa della Bora and second place at the Winter Trail Monte Prealba.

At the Monte Prealba Winter Trail on Sunday, January 10, Marta Poretti finished second despite taking a wrong turn shortly after the start, which cost her at least ten minutes. It was a shame for her, as just four days earlier, on Epiphany, she had finished third in the S1 La Corsa della Bora.

Reached just a few days before her new adventure—the Grande Corsa Bianca, a race she has already won twice, in the inaugural edition and in 2015—Marta makes no secret of her concern for a race she loves dearly, given her great passion for ski mountaineering: “The Grande Corsa Bianca is a beautiful and unique race—the longest I can tackle on skis,” Marta told us. “The problem this year will be the lack of snow, which might force me to run with my boots on and my skis on my shoulders…”

Marta is one of Team Oxyburn’s top ultratrail runners, and she’s definitely back for 2016: “Oxyburn clothing is an essential part of my sports gear: the winter gear is excellent—warm and lightweight—while the summer gear is breathable and extremely comfortable. As for graduated compression socks, I always wear them. Lately, I’ve also started using the short ones, which provide support and help with drainage, but I usually stick to the long ones: the compression, which feels a bit tight at first, helps a lot as the hours go by; plus, they keep my calves warm when I run at night…”

Marta had excellent results in 2015, with just one major disappointment: the Tor des Géants, where she finished ninth after being close to the podium for many kilometers. “The Tor,” she says, “was a total disappointment: I got off to a good start, but then knee pain slowed me down. Once I’d gotten past that and was catching up, they stopped the race due to bad weather… I’ll make up for it this year (she smiles)… even though I was recently drawn out of the TDS. We’ll see, but the Tor is the Tor… and I’d also like to try my hand at an Ironman this year…”