Who's behind MAR

Runner, sports lover and above all a deep connoisseur of everything Madrid has to offer.

I'm Fernando Taboada, founder of MAD Alternative Runs. This project is born from something very personal: my way of living sport, my bond with Madrid and a way of understanding experiences with more criteria, more detail and more authenticity. For years I've run through the city and its surroundings, discovering neighbourhoods, routes and stories from within, while developing in parallel a professional career of more than a decade in complex project management, organisation and client relations.

Sport has always been a natural part of my life. I've played football at a good level and run several marathons, some of them international, as well as keeping a very close relationship with running day to day. I'm also a great fan of cycling and tennis, disciplines that have given me a broad vision of movement, effort and the way people enjoy sport. Added to this is my interest in Madrid's culture, its neighbourhoods, its character and its gastronomy, which for me are an inseparable part of the experience of truly discovering a place.

MAD Alternative Runs arises precisely from the union of all that. The idea was to shape a proposal that integrated sport, city, culture and gastronomy to offer people a carefully crafted experience with personality. That's why I personally design every route with a very clear vision: that it's not just about running, but discovering Madrid and its surroundings in an active, elegant and different way.