Anna Frost has been very strong in racing ultras this year with wins at both Transvulcania and Speedgoat. This weekend, we’ll see if she can get her third Ultra Skymarathon Series win of the year at The Rut 50k. In the following interview, Anna talks about what she’s been up to since winning Speedgoat, why she’s excited about the mixed terrain at The Rut 50k, and why she’s excited to race the best of the best this weekend.
For more on this year’s Rut 50k, check out our women’s and men’s previews.
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Anna Frost Pre-2014 The Rut 50k Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Anna Frost before the 2014 The Rut 50k. How’s it going, Anna?
Anna Frost: Good, thank you.
iRunFar: You have had quite a summer here in the U.S. What have you been up to since Speedgoat?
Frost: Yes. Since Speedgoat I’ve been pretty much playing in the mountains, really. I went with Meghan [Hicks] and had a week in the Uintas that you joined us for for a couple days—an amazing mountain range with its big rocks moving everywhere for days. Then pretty much from there, I’ve been in the Sawatch Range.
iRunFar: Doing what in the Sawatch Range?
Frost: Just a 14er every single day or two or three. I’m looking at the Nolan’s Route. I’m totally inspired for it. I think anyone that’s been up one of those mountains knows that once you get there you get it in your blood, and then it’s impossible to get rid of it until you’ve done it.
iRunFar: Nolan’s might be the only way to get rid of it…
Frost: Yeah, yeah, or to give it an attempt at least. I went to Telluride and hung out with Dakota [Jones] at his race. It was really great. Yeah, then we went back up and helped the guys complete the Nolan’s which was super inspiring to watch. Yeah, now here. I’ve been all over the place.
iRunFar: All over the place, but not racing a lot since Speedgoat.
Frost: Not so much.
iRunFar: You jumped into a half marathon in Leadville.
Frost: I did a half marathon in Leadville.
iRunFar: You did a road race! How was that?
Frost: I did a road race—100%. It was actually really good. It was fun. It was a short, hard, fast blast. I hadn’t run that long in one row for a long time because I was just power hiking in the mountains and having picnics up there. It was really great. It was a really good cause, ‘Giving Every Child Knowledge of the Outdoors’ (Gecko). It’s a really, really great charity. It was great to be part of that. The kids made our medals and everything. It was really nice.
iRunFar: So you had that and the Pikes Peak Ascent?
Frost: I did the Pikes Peak Ascent. It was the World Long Course Championships. There are always politics when it comes to that, so I just ran as an ‘open’ which was fine. I was eighth. I was seven minutes slower than when I did it two or four years ago. I don’t remember. It’s a good course. You just have to run fast. I’m fine when I get to run up at the top, but before that I was just like, Oh, man, it’s too fast.
iRunFar: So you’ve been out on some of the course here at The Rut, so you’ve seen that it’s not just that technical there in the top, but there is also some fast stuff. Do you think having run Pikes Peak Ascent and this half marathon will prepare you a little bit…?
Frost: Maybe a little bit more than if I hadn’t have done them. For sure the uphill scrambling bit is going to be fine for me. The downhill is always my weakness, so it’s something that I’m always battling with. The flat runnable stuff is going to be good just to run off and have a good run, but for sure I’m not anywhere near speedy. But this is the nice thing about this course—it’s a little bit of everything for everyone. It’s flat, it’s steep, it’s steep up, and it’s steep down.
iRunFar: You’ve got Ellie [Greenwood] going out. You’ve got you and Kasie [Enman] going fast on the climbs. Emelie [Forsberg] is fast on the descents there. It’s going to be dynamic. Will that make it fun for you?
Frost: Yeah. Yeah, really fun. There’s nothing better than turning up to a competitive race and having competition. That’s why we do it. At the end, if I’m going to have a day where there’s no competition, I’d rather just go and hang out and have a picnic in the mountains. Whereas, if I’m going to go to a competition, it’s awesome to have it be some of the best.
iRunFar: It really is. The women’s field is one of the best out there this year.
Frost: Yeah, it’s fantastic.
iRunFar: In the Skyrunning Ultra Series, does it come down to this? Is it between you and Emelie or have you run enough races?
Frost: No, actually, I think it’s between me, Emelie, and Kasie. Yeah, I think it’s whoever wins on the day will win the Series, I think. I haven’t really looked.
iRunFar: It’s close.
Frost: It’s close which is even better.
iRunFar: So it’s like two competitions in one, and it’s people you’ve now raced a number of times over the course of the year—even Ellie who ran at Speedgoat.
Frost: Yeah, it’s very interesting. It’s great. It’s good to have a really dynamic group of people racing.
iRunFar: Is this going to be one of the races in the U.S. you’ve been most excited to run?
Frost: Actually, I haven’t really got my head in race mode right now. I’ve been picnicking in the mountains too much. I think come race day I’m going to be a little bit shocked on the start line. Oh, my gosh, I’ve actually to to race. Yeah, it’s super to have such a great course in the Skyrunning Series in America, so I’m really excited for it.
iRunFar: Awesome. Best of luck. See you out there, Anna.
Frost: Thank you.
