Toti Fernández

Mónica Fernández, better known as Toti Fernández is a triathlete and ultramarathon runner, lecturer, author, entrepreneur and mother. She won the 2000 and 2001 Ultraman events.

Biography

Birth and childhood

Toti Fernández was born in Guatemala City on March 18, 1968, the youngest of 6 siblings. When she was only ten years old, both her parents died of lung cancer: first her mother, and eight months later, her father.

Early years

Toti’s life changed drastically when she had to move to Mexico City to live with her father’s sister, who became her tutor. Having to live in 17 different houses and invaded by rebelliousness, she started smoking when she was only 16 and became a heavy smoker of two packs a day. At age 22, she took up swimming to counter for the harmful effects of tobacco and quit smoking when she found her true passion: triathlon.

Sports career

After participating in several triathlon races, both sprint and Olympic, Toti participated in her first Ironman, becoming the first Guatemalan female to finish this race.
Seeking further challenges and longer distances, Toti registered for an Ultraman competition, a three-day triathlon that circles the island of Kona, the largest island in Hawaii. After becoming a two-time Ultraman world champion in 2000 y 2001, Toti decided to train for ultra marathons.
She has participated in three of the ten toughest races in the world, as classified by National Geographic: the Marathon des Sables, Badwater and Furnace Creek 508, now called Silver State 508.
Toti was the second placed woman and twelfth overall at the Death Valley Cup, a double race consisting of Badwater and Furnace Creek 508 during the same calendar year.