Emelie Forsberg Pre-2015 Ultra Pirineu Interview

A video interview (with transcript) with Emelie Forsberg before Ultra Pirineu 2015.

By on September 18, 2015 | Comments

When Emelie Forsberg ran Cavalls del Vent (Ultra Pirineu’s predecessor), the 85-kilometer race was her longest to date. In the following interview, Emelie talks about her previous run here, her top competition at Ultra Pirineu: Núria Picas and Mira Rai, and her current strength in races from six-to-nine hours.

Check out our preview to see who else is racing and be sure to follow our live coverage on Saturday!

[Click here if you can’t see the video above.]

Emelie Forsberg Pre-2015 Ultra Pirineu Transcript

iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Emelie Forsberg before the 2015 Ultra Pirineu. How are you, Emelie?

Emelie Forsberg: Good, thank you.

iRunFar: You’ve raced a lot this year.

Forsberg: Not more than normal.

iRunFar: Not more than in the past. But you are trying to win the Skyrunner Vertical Kilometer, Sky, and Ultra Series? Is that still possible?

Forsberg: It was never a goal to win them. It was a goal to do them and to do as good as possible. I always think it’s nice to do as good as possible in all of them because I like all of the distances, but it’s always hard because it’s hard to be good or fresh in every moment.

iRunFar: Especially when you’re running multiple races on the same weekend a lot of the time.

Forsberg: Yeah.

iRunFar: How many races did you do at The Rut?

Forsberg: It was three.

iRunFar: That was not very long ago. How are your legs now?

Forsberg: I was a bit tired the week after because I did a lot of work and interviews and photo shooting the week after. I had planned to get everything done, but it also makes you tired in the head. Yeah, I felt exhausted, but I feel good now.

iRunFar: You had a nice road trip from Chamonix to Cataluña?

Forsberg: Yeah.

iRunFar: This was your first long ultramarathon—Cavalls del Vent a few years ago. Does it hold a special place because of that?

Forsberg: Yes, it was a big thing to do your first ultra or long-distance race. When I think back a bit, I feel just a bit disappointed because I felt so good during the whole race. I don’t think I will feel that good now. That’s a pity. I have more respect for it now than I did then. Then I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just running. It was fun.

iRunFar: It was 85k then, and you were leading at 75k?

Forsberg: Yes.

iRunFar: And then, Núria [Picas]

Forsberg: And then I looked at the watch—12 hours?! I have never been running this long before. What’s going to happen now? And then I was just boom—I think it was mental. I was not super tired in my legs, but I just couldn’t run faster. Then Frosty [Anna Frost] and Núria passed me. It was good, but it was interesting.

iRunFar: Núria has won this race four years in a row. She’ll be here this weekend. Are you excited to race her again?

Forsberg: Yes, she hasn’t been doing many races this year, international at least, and I haven’t raced her since I think two years ago. Two years ago I felt really good racing her. I don’t know now because I had a long season and she had not quite a long season and she didn’t finish UTMB and also it’s her race and it’s her home. I think she’s very… she’s always strong, but I think this means something special for her. I know it’s going to be a hard day out there with her.

iRunFar: Not only do you have a good race lined up with her, Mira Rai is having a great season.

Forsberg: Yes, she’s very strong in the longer races. Both she and Núria are stronger in long, and I know I’m going to feel easier in the beginning, I think, because I have a bit more speed than them, but then I don’t know what’s going to happen after eight hours.

iRunFar: Nuria is not part of the ultra series this year for Skyrunner, but Mira is. Either of you two ladies could win the series on Saturday.

Forsberg: Yeah, yeah.

iRunFar: I’m sure you’ve done the math.

Forsberg: Yeah, yeah, sure, I’ve done it.

iRunFar: If she beats you…

Forsberg: No, not if she beats me. Only if she wins the race she can win. If I come third and she comes second, I win. It’s only if she wins the race. It’s going to be interesting. I’m going to give my best for sure.

iRunFar: It’s also a long season. How do you keep your motivation to keep racing at this point?

Forsberg: I think it’s because I do everything. If I would only focus on short, I would be better in short and maybe I would enjoy it, but it keeps me motivated to do my best in all the distances because I really love all the distances. I know I cannot win everything, but that keeps me motivated.

iRunFar: That said, it seems from 50k to 100k, you’re pretty unbeatable right now. Do you feel at this point you have that really dialed in?

Forsberg: I feel comfortable. From six to nine hours I feel really, really comfortable. Under and after, it’s a bit harder. After 10 hours, it’s mostly because I haven’t done it for many years. Under that, it’s often because I am a bit tired from the ultras I do or the long-distance races. I think it’s nice to challenge myself in both directions.

iRunFar: Is this your longest race since Diagonale des Fous?

Forsberg: Yeah. Whoo, I don’t want to think about it.

iRunFar: No, no, but it is familiar to you, most of the course. The course has changed a little bit. How does that play into your race when you know what’s ahead?

Forsberg: It was really bad weather the year I was running, so I’m looking forward to seeing more of the landscape. It’s good that I kind of know how the race is. I have a plan in my mind how I will go for it during the race, but it’s going to be really hard, these 30 extra kilometers. The longest race I did this year is 60k. It’s 50 more kilometers, and it’s not only 50k…

iRunFar: The course isn’t pure mountain, just up and down, so you’ll have some good running in there.

Forsberg: Yes, it’s a lot of flat I heard. It’s “only” 6,000 meters in 110k, so not super steep.

iRunFar: You’ll have to…

Forsberg: I’ll have to get the legs going.

iRunFar: Best of luck out there, and enjoy, Emelie.

Forsberg: Thank you. Thanks.

Bryon Powell

Bryon Powell is the Founding Editor of iRunFar. He’s been writing about trail running, ultrarunning, and running gear for more than 15 years. Aside from iRunFar, he’s authored the books Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and Where the Road Ends: A Guide to Trail Running, been a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, written for publications including Outside, Sierra, and Running Times, and coached ultrarunners of all abilities. Based in Silverton, Colorado, Bryon is an avid trail runner and ultrarunner who competes in events from the Hardrock 100 Mile just out his front door to races long and short around the world, that is, when he’s not fly fishing or tending to his garden.