Luiz Masagão says crossing the marathon finish line was a bigger emotion than marrying his children.
The episode is an interview with Luiz Masagão Ribeiro, a former financial market executive. Host Michel Bögli introduces Masagão's background as a past president of BMF and Bovespa. Masagão explains he only began endurance activities at age 30, starting with motorcycle enduro rallies due to a lack of physical conditioning. After seeing his daughter finish the New York Marathon, he was inspired to run it himself the following year. This began a nine-year period where he completed 14 marathons in cities like New York, Paris, and Berlin. Knee problems eventually forced him to stop running, and he transitioned to cycling, now participating in events like the Gran Fondo New York. A significant portion of the conversation focuses on Masagão's role in sports administration. Together with Olympic swimmer Fernando Nabuco, he instituted an Olympic gold prize for medalists at BMF. He later co-founded the BMF Athletics Club, which grew to over 100 athletes, including notable figures like Marilson dos Santos, Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, and Jadel Gregório. Masagão explains the club ended when BMF demutualized and became a profit-driven corporation. He shares a personal anecdote about celebrating with Marilson dos Santos after his New York Marathon victory. The discussion also covers Masagão's philanthropic work as treasurer of the Arrastão project, a community development network in Campo Limpo, São Paulo, founded by his mother and later run by his wife. He describes its 'lack of focus' on a single age group as a strength. Masagão reflects on the discipline learned from marathon training and its parallels to the financial market. He compares the physical demands of running versus cycling, noting cycling is less impactful on his knees. The episode concludes with Masagão defining success as his 50-year marriage and family, considering it his best investment.
