From age eighteen to forty, Gabriela Aramayo kept this promise to herself: “I will never run again in my life!” Growing up in a small mountain village in Argentina situated at 3,500 meters (11,400 feet), Aramayo came to dislike running because she tired too quickly at such extreme altitudes, “It was so tough for my cardio. I told myself I never wanted to feel that way and I would never be a runner.” But, Aramayo broke her promise and she couldn’t have imagined the role running would come to play in her life.
In 2025, Aramayo, mother of two children and full-time professional expat based in Cannes, France, has worked her way up from running 10Ks, 100Ks, and most recently completed a goal she’s worked at for several years—to finish the highly competitive 100-mile UTMB race in Chamonix, France. In addition to its place as one of the most prominent trail running races of the year, the event draws tens of thousands of participants, spectators, crew, media and volunteers from around the world to compete in one of the most epic celebrations of the sport.
“From the first time I heard UTMB, I felt the pull of that arch in Chamonix and the call of the mountains to complete the big loop,” said Aramayo. “Training for UTMB isn’t just more miles; it’s more intention, early mornings, balancing the plan day by day, discipline on the tired days, and the patience to stack months of quiet work. It asks for my whole self: athlete, mom, professional…and gives back a deeper kind of joy and the certainty that when the heart truly wants something, anything is possible. I knew right away I wanted to stand on that start line, and I felt ready this year after a steady, year-over-year build in mileage and elevation gain.”
From managing motherhood, to finishing her goal race of UTMB, to independently leaving her home country to pursue career interests in France (where she didn’t even speak the language), Aramayo’s story is one of powerful self-transformation achieved through following dreams and dedicating one’s life to the pursuit of learning.
Foodies to France
Aramayo left her small mountain village first for studies in Food Technology in Villa Maria, Cordoba in 1998, then acquired her first job as a Quality Engineer for a large dairy company in the capital city of Argentina, Buenos Aires in 2005. At over 3 million inhabitants in the city (and over 12 million in surrounding metropolitan areas), the city consistently ranks amongst the largest major cities in the world. This was quite a shift for a young mountain village girl, “It was my first time living in a large cosmopolitan area and it felt so big and different from where I grew up.” Aramayo’s studies led to an opportunity to live and work on a master’s degree in France. It was the dream opportunity for Aramayo, who’s passion to work in the food industry, “I enjoyed working with food and France is the leader in the world in food in so many ways. I wanted to learn from the best, so I knew I had to go.”
Aramayo landed a job in France with Danone, a major dairy production business founded in 1919. Danone is the parent company of Dannon, an off-shoot of the brand which caters to the American market (and is likely more familiar to US-based readers). She quickly learned to speak French out of necessity, “I missed speaking Spanish, but I received a lot of support in my French learning during my work. Being completely immersed in the culture was the best way to learn.”
Aramayo concludes on her reasoning for leaving her home country and following her passions in the dairy industry, “I always followed my motivation and ambition to learn more from the best in the business. I have really enjoyed this life-changing opportunity here in France.”
Call of cacao
“Never underestimate the power of chocolate.” —Chocolat, 2000
Aramayo’s career in the dairy business took a shift in 2020 to another exciting part of the food industry: chocolate. The Swiss, Belgians, and of course the French have no shortage of this life-altering delicacy in their daily lives. From the classic pain au chocolat (chocolate filled croissant) on nearly every street corner across the country, to chocolate art exhibitions and world-class chocolate makers located in Paris and around the country, Aramayo would once again be positioned to work with some of the best in the world in her field. She was hired by Mars (producer of Snickers, Twix, Three Musketeers, and many other classic candy bars) and eventually her current employer, Barry Callebaut, major European chocolate producer (and home of the world’s largest chocolate factory that produces 260,000 tons of chocolate per year!).
Aramayo’s role in the chocolate industry is arguably one of the most important—to save cacao from extinction. More specifically, Aramayo works as the Global Responsible Sourcing Lead. She explains the focus of her work in more detail, “I’m working to validate ingredients and ensure their sustainability. We want to source ethically (no child labor), reduce poverty amongst farmers, minimize the carbon footprint of us and our partners and address environmental concerns such as deforestation.”
The cacao industry is currently facing many environmental and ethical challenges that have led to the product’s increased cost in recent years, as well as shifting attitudes globally about how to address the problem (read Bittersweet: The Harsh Realities of Chocolate Production in West Africa published by Harvard University to learn more about the worsening global crisis in the cacao industry).
Aramayo works within the company, as well as with buyers and farmers directly to pursue the Forever Chocolate initiative. This project aims to “make sustainable chocolate the norm,” and focuses on four pillars, “human rights, prospering farmers, sustainable ingredients, and thriving nature.” Learn more about Forever Chocolate and read their progress reports here.
PROTIP: Want to read another story of a famous running chocolatier Read our story and watch the video on Gonzo Jimenez: Elite Chocolatier and “Ok” Ultrarunner.
Breaking the no-running promise
Following her husband who landed a work opportunity based in Laos in 2020, Aramayo put down her career to move and take an extended sabbatical. Of the many unknowns about moving to yet another new continent, Aramayo couldn’t have expected the most impactful transformation she’d have in this journey to have to do with running.
As someone who had kept a twenty-plus year promise to herself of not running, suddenly everything changed when she was in Laos. A combination of Aramayo’s exploratory mindset and boundless energy from not working full-time had led to a rapid progression in the sport she once said she didn’t want anything to do with, “My friends wanted me to run a 10K with them, challenging me to do it. I said I’d do it but just to shut them up.”
Aramayo couldn’t believe how good she felt running. With sufficient oxygen at sea level, running felt entirely different than it had when she was running in her thin-aired hometown in Argentina, “It was just fantastic and I fell in love with the ambiance, people cheering and feelings when you cross the finish.”
In less than one year, Aramayo progressed from 10K to 60K road races. “I know it was completely crazy to progress so quickly, but I wanted more. Even after finishing the 60K, I knew that I wanted to try 100K next.”
Long-distance running (particularly ultramarathons) attracted Aramayo for many reasons such as community, personal growth, and exploring her potential. But one of her strongest reasons for participating in the sport was actually more spiritual and even “zen,” “After several hours of running, I start to get in a flow where I connect only with the present time. I’m only focused on step after step, and I can forget everything else. I can know who I am, and that I exist in the now. There is no other focus. It’s a very strong feeling.”
UTMB: The ultimate trail running dream
Aramayo returned with her family to France in 2021. The running bug remained with her. With a focus on ultramarathons, Aramayo discovered that most of the ultramarathons in France were on trail, not the road races that she’d experienced in Asia. She made the shift to running more mountainous races across the Alps, “It was so tough at first, but I began to love it more because of the challenge.”
In 2022, Aramayo ran her first ultra trail 100K race, Nice Cote d’Azur by UTMB She describes the experience, “It was really fantastic, even with rain and poor conditions on course…it was a great experience for me to discover the distance and I loved it.”
After completing her first trail 100K, Aramayo was ready for her next challenge. UTMB, the crowning jewel of the French trail running (or perhaps the world), caught Aramayo’s attention. However, such a grand race would require even more serious preparation—plus a bit of luck. In order to gain entry into this race (as a non-elite runner), participants must earn “running stones” or points from other races to earn their spot.
Running UTMB proved to be a multi-year journey. In 2023, Aramayo ran CCC, the point-to-point 100K race affiliated with UTMB, and one of the main races of the week of trail running festivities during the yearly UTMB week of events in Chamonix, France. In 2024, Aramayo ran TDS, the 148K race that was held several days before UTMB and known as the shorter, but potentially harder, and more remote course. In 2025, her dream finally came true—she was accepted into UTMB. Aramayo shares what she learned from these races in her build up to UTMB, “I learned to love the complexity of all of these races. Managing not just fitness, but nutrition, sleep, and mental state. I love problem solving and the sport became so interesting for me. I couldn’t wait for the challenge of UTMB.”
Parisian mountain hamster
Based in Paris, Aramayo knew she wouldn’t have the easiest time training for UTMB. With nearly 10,000 meters of elevation gain (and reaching altitudes of 2,500 meters), her training environment would not be ideal for a race as steep and mountainous as UTMB. Though Aramayo trained with the commitment and drive of an elite runner, she lacked the resources and lifestyle of the pros. Aramayo did her best to chase her dream while balancing motherhood and her full-time work for Barry Callebaut. “In Paris, the hills are small and there aren’t many of them. I’d run the same hills twenty to thirty times.” She described these hill repeats as comparable to training in a “hamster wheel.”
But Aramayo’s competitive spirit and dedication never faltered, “UTMB was the best race I could imagine, my dream race. My ambitious spirit that I’ve always had, in everything I do, led me to keep pushing and learning about myself as a trail runner.”
Her result at UTMB was better than she imagined it could be, “I was really amazed with how I felt. In the last nine kilometers, I was running past people who were walking. I felt so good arriving at the finish and completely surprised myself. I was in good form the entire race, even through the most difficult parts.” Aramayo finished in a time of 44 hours 47 minutes and 19 seconds placing 1270th out of 2,492 who toed the startline.
Future on and off the trail
Post UTMB, Aramayo is already setting her next racing goals. Naturally drawn to greater challenges, it’s no wonder that the 330km Tor des Geants and notoriously difficult Diagonale des Fous are at the top of her list. Aramayo says that the lack of female participants in Tor des Geants is one reason she’s particularly drawn to this challenge, “Only 10–13% of ultrarunners are women, and I want to show that even as a working mom, you can be free, strong, and playful.”
But while the trail running community has given her so many exciting life goals and friendships, she admits that maintaining balance in her life outside of running is also a priority, “It’s easy to be saturated by trail running in my life—reading books about it, listening to podcasts, talking to my coach, etc. But I have communities outside of trail running that help me feel full of energy in different ways and help me connect to who I am outside of running. It’s important to have other things in life than trail running, especially for mental health.”
Trail running has changed Aramayo’s life in the short time she’s been a runner. Upon reflecting on her reasons for continuing to pursue the sport and what it’s already given her so far, Aramayo realized a connection to Heidi, a comic about a Swiss mountain girl who adventures in the Alps. Aramayo places herself in Heidi’s shoes, “Trail running is my philosophy of life. As Heidi, I live it as a game, an exploration, a way to discover myself. It teaches patience, humility, resilience, and gratitude. Every step is an adventure, every mountain a friend, every finish line a miracle of joy.”
Follow Aramayo on her Instagram here.
Curious to read other stories about trail runners at UTMB? Check out our story on Jullien Veysseyre here.
