Chilean mayor sprints to avoid reporters, says she was surprised by her ‘aerobic capacity’

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Politicians never truly stop running for office -- but Chilean mayor Evelyn Matthei took that concept to the extreme Thursday, with video footage showing her bolting from a pack of reporters in an apparent bid to avoid answering questions.

On the plus side, the only spinning she did involved physically evading journalists blocking her escape.

Matthei, the mayor of Providencia in Santiago, initially began taking questions from journalists after she was spotted directing traffic near her home.

But in an instant, she took off running, leaving bewildered journalists trying to catch her.

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She shared a clip of the incident on social media, joking that “a little bit of exercise is good to start the morning.”

The video showed the reporters trying to catch up to Matthei, who just sped up even more when they did reach her. She did this several times before she slowed down to a walk.

Matthei told Diario Las Ultimas Noticias that she was “surprised by her aerobic capacity.”

“I found that I jogged pretty well. This must have seemed funny from the outside,” the 64-year-old told the Chilean newspaper.

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Simon Oliveros, a reporter for Mega, was one of the handfuls of journalists who ran after Matthei. He told the newspaper that despite being an athlete (he practices karate), it was hard to keep up with the major.

“It was funny, I did not get what was happening,” he said. “She ran at least two blocks… she had great acceleration.”

Matthei continued to laugh about the incident on social media, saying the “memes” she has received have been very creative.

“The funniest part was that afterward, when I stopped running, I went up to a car and I asked the driver if he would take me to city hall, and he said yes,” she told Diario Las Ultimas Noticias. “With my chief of staff, we got into the car. He was very nice and charming.”

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Chile has been hit by violent protests in recent weeks amid demands of better salaries and pensions, and more equal distribution of wealth. Matthei has spoken out against the government's handling of the crisis and the growing violence from protesters.