Ana Dulce Ferreira Félix (born 23 October 1982) is a Portuguese
long-distance runner
Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength.
Within endurance ru ...
who competes in track,
cross country, and
road running
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain.
These events are usually classified as long-distance ru ...
events. She ran the
Olympic marathon in 2012 and 2016 and placed 21st and 16th, respectively.
[na Dulce Félix]
sports-reference.com
Career
Born in
Azurém,
Guimarães Municipality, Félix began her career as a junior at the 2000 and 2001
IAAF World Cross Country Championships, although she did not break the top 60 runners on either occasion. She finished 31st at the
2001 European Cross Country Championships.
She was disheartened by her performances at international level and doubted whether she could be a runner of a professional standard. She began working in a low-paid job at a clothes factory but still trained despite the long hours and tiring nature of the work. Another Portuguese runner,
Jessica Augusto, urged her quit the job and to focus full-time on her running. She followed the advice and had some success on the national stage in 2007, winning the
10,000 metres Portuguese title. Félix began to establish herself on the international
athletics scene the following year: she finished 72nd at the
2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, but had a much better outing at the
2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships where she finished 13th (the second fastest European-born runner after
Luminița Talpoș).
The 2009 season proved to be a significant progression in her career. At the
2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships she finished in 15th place to lead the Portuguese women to a team bronze medal. Félix won the
Great Ireland Run
The Great Ireland Run is an annual 10-kilometre road running competition which is held in Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland in mid-April. It is part of the Great Run series of athletics competitions. It is sponsored by SPAR and features both an el ...
in April, setting a personal best of 32:18 over the 10 km distance. She won the
Göteborgsvarvet half marathon
A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...
that May and won a bronze medal at the
European Cup 10,000m the following month. After a fifth-place finish in the
5000 metres
The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...
at the
2009 European Team Championships, she was entered into the 10,000 metres at the
2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...
. In the
event final she ran a then personal best of 31:30.90 for 13th place. After this she enjoyed a successful run of road and cross country competitions: she was third at the
Great North Run
The Great North Run (branded the AJ Bell Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shie ...
and second at both the
Portugal Half Marathon (setting a half marathon best of 1:10:44) and the
Great South Run
The Great South Run is an annual 10 mile (16.09 km) road running race which takes place in Portsmouth, United Kingdom providing an intermediate distance between the ten kilometre and the half marathon (21.097 km) runs. Launched in 199 ...
.
After wins at the
Warandeloop and
Lotto Cross Cup meeting in
West Flanders
West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemis ...
, she ran at the
2009 European Cross Country Championships and although she finished sixth, she helped the Portuguese women top the team rankings.
[Senior Women's Final: Britain's Yelling back with a bang]
European Athletics
The European Athletic Association (EAA, more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for Sport of athletics, athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. E ...
(13 December 2009). Retrieved 19 December 2009. She closed the year with wins at the
São Silvestre de Lisboa and
São Silvestre da Amadora 10 km road races. In 2010, she was third at the
Cinque Mulini and became the Portuguese cross country champion at the
Almond Blossom Cross Country. She also won the national short course competition as well as the
1500 metres
The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...
and
3000 metres
The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track.
It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...
national club titles. She did not manage to help the women's team for a second time at the
2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships as she pulled out of the competition.
She represented Portugal over 10,000 m at the
2010 European Athletics Championships, but she faded in the second half of the race and finished in ninth place. She ran at the Great North Run in September, but again missed out on the top spot, finishing as runner-up behind
Berhane Adere. The
2010 European Cross Country Championships were held in Portugal in December and she reached the podium, taking the
bronze medal
A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...
. She also won a team gold alongside the event winner Jessica Augusto.
She led
Maratona Clube de Portugal to second in the team rankings at the 2011
European Cross Country Club Championships, hosted at the Cinque Mulini. She was the runner-up in the individual race, just ahead of her club mate Sara Moreira. At the
Lisbon Half Marathon in March, she broke the
Portuguese record in the half marathon with at time of 1:08:33 hours. She also stated her intention to go one further and focus on bettering
Rosa Mota's
marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...
record. She ran a time of 2:26:30 hours for her debut at the
Vienna City Marathon, finishing a few seconds behind the winner
Fate Tola. A meet record came at the
Austrian Women's Run 5K, where she was almost half a minute ahead of runner-up Augusto.
Félix was the top European performer in the 10,000 m at the
2011 World Championships in Athletics
The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011.
The United States topped the medal standings in the ...
, where she came eighth. She came close to the podium at the
2011 New York City Marathon, taking fourth with a personal best of 2:25:40 hours. She led the Portuguese team at the
2011 European Cross Country Championships and won silver medals both individually and in the national team. At the start of 2012 she managed only seventh at the Lisbon Half Marathon, but came third at the Göteborgsvarvet in May. She then went on to win the women's 10,000 m event at the European championship.
Félix represents
Benfica since 21 August 2013. On 12 January 2014, Félix won the Portuguese Road Women's Championship again, repeating her achievement of 2013. On 2 March 2014, she won her fifth consecutive title in Portuguese long race cross country, a unique achievement in the women's event. On 11 January 2015, she won the Portuguese Road Women's Championship, for the third time in a row.
Félix set her current personal best in
10,000 metres at 31:19.03 at the
European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam.
Dulce Felix is the European championship runner-up!
Slbenfica.pt (6 July 2016). Retrieved on 27 August 2016.
Personal bests
*All information (except 5 km) taken from IAAF profile.
References
External links
*
Profile at Olympic Committee of Portugal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felix, Ana Dulce
1982 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Guimarães
Portuguese female long-distance runners
Portuguese female marathon runners
Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes for Portugal
European Athletics Championships medalists
S.L. Benfica athletes
World Athletics Championships athletes for Portugal
Golden Globes (Portugal) winners
21st-century Portuguese sportswomen