Over the past two years, Emelie Forserg has been on fire on the trails. This weekend, she’ll try to find a spark at The Rut 50k. In the following interview, Emelie talks about what it was like directing her first race at the Tromsø Skyrace, why she needs to be excited in order to race well, and where to find the world’s best cup of coffee.
For more on this year’s Rut 50k, check out our women’s and men’s previews.
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Emelie Forsberg Pre-2014 The Rut 50k Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Emelie Forsberg before the 2014 The Rut 50k. How are you doing?
Emelie Forsberg: Good, thank you.
iRunFar: You’ve had a busy past week. You just put on your first race. How did it go at the Tromsø Skyrace?
Forsberg: We’re so happy with the atmosphere. It was wonderful. We rented this one house up in the mountains and had the start there. So first people hiked 400 meters to the start. They did the race which was 45k with 4,500 meters and technical. Everyone was just hanging around there. We were out cheering for the last persons. It was a nice thing.
iRunFar: Great to have the atmosphere. You go to all these races. How does it feel to be a director?
Forsberg: Yeah, it’s special. It’s a lot of work. I’m really tired now because it was so long days. Sixteen hours every day marking in cold weather and then working with the computer and the responsibility you have. I’m really happy. It was cool.
iRunFar: You’ve also had a long season. You’ve been racing for awhile. You transitioned from skiing right into running and now it’s September.
Forsberg: Yeah, I’m starting to feel a little less motivated, but the technical races I really like. So if they don’t change the course here I will still have the motivation, but I need a break. I’m not motivated anymore. I’m really looking forward for the winter.
iRunFar: We had a little winter here last night. There’s fresh snow in the background, but the course should be clear on race day. You’ve had some great battles with Anna [Frost] on the trails and you’ve got another match up with her on Saturday. Are you excited?
Forsberg: Yeah, we’re both a bit the same. We don’t feel really motivated, but I really like to run with her so I know that she’s one of the ones I really like to race with. So I’m going to be happy if I can stay with her. She’s strong.
iRunFar: I know you like the more technical races and the steeper, but is there something interesting about the challenge where the first 10 miles of the race are fast, then technical, then fast again. Can that be enjoyable for you?
Forsberg: Yeah, I think. I like to run fast, too. I’m not good at it, but I like it. It’s good to change sometimes, so it will be interesting. Hopefully we can… it’s a race that suits everyone like Kasie [Enman] and Ellie [Greenwood] who are really fast and Frosty is fast and she’s good at climbing. It’s going to be interesting. Hopefully I can catch up with them on the downhill technical.
iRunFar: That is really technical. There’s a good bit of it. It’s going to be hard for someone like an Ellie to maybe make up the…
Forsberg: Yeah, but if she takes five minutes in the beginning, that will be pretty interesting to try to catch up on the downhill.
iRunFar: It will be a fun, dynamic race. It’s not just that same terrain throughout.
Forsberg: Yes, super exciting.
iRunFar: You have to be calculating—Are these people getting too far ahead? Does your season end after here or do you keep on rolling?
Forsberg: Yes, I will take a break after this because I’m really tired. I think the race at Tromsø was, to work with it, it took a lot. I need to take a break. Then I will be out in the mountains doing a lot of the climbing, I think.
iRunFar: You’ve had some great races this year, but you’ve also in the last month had a couple races that weren’t up to your standards. What happened at the Matterhorn Ultraks?
Forsberg: Yeah, I think it’s a bit the same. You’ve been there and you’ve seen the trails. The first time, it’s fine because I can run it because I enjoy seeing new things. The second time it’s more… it’s not the mountain trails. I don’t find it inspiring. That’s the bad thing with me. When I’m not inspired, I don’t like to push myself. That’s what I did. I did it socially. I didn’t care. That’s just how it is. I guess when you start to do many races you like to do the races you really like. I like technical. This is new, so I will really like it because it’s something new. If I do it another year and it’s the same trails and it’s not the mountains and technical, I will not enjoy it too much.
iRunFar: A course like Kima, Trofeo Kima…
Forsberg: Yes, oh, I love it so much.
iRunFar: I’m sure you were super excited for that entire race, and then you got lost. Was that really difficult for you?
Forsberg: Yes, it was. I was really hard on myself. It was hard, but I know it’s on that race. I was 40 minutes in front of Kasie, and when I got back I had lost one hour. That’s where… it was a pity. It was really hard because I came to a turn. You could go down or you could continue. I saw four hikers and they started to scream at me, “C’mon! C’mon!” I was just, “Have you seen other runners?” “Yeah, Yeah! C’mon! C’mon!” So I was just smashing down the downhill—500 meters down, it goes pretty fast. I was like, “No, this is not right.” I started to look and scream for others, but it was not. It’s very easy to lose one hour if you’re fast in the downhills.
iRunFar: You must have been running and incredible race because I think Kasie was 15 minutes from the course record?
Forsberg: She was 20 minutes from the record. Yeah, yeah, I was looking at the time and I was feeling so fresh. This is possible to do 7:10 or something and the course record is 7:36. It’s life. I was just super angry at myself. I guess it’s good sometimes.
iRunFar: So maybe you’ll have a little extra motivation or fire for this race?
Forsberg: Yeah, but as I said, I’m feeling a bit tired. I know I will like it because it’s a new race, and if they don’t change the race I will appreciate the technical. I’m really looking forward to running with Frosty again. It’s definitely good.
iRunFar: Good luck out there. Enjoy.
Forsberg: Thank you. Thank you.
BONUS QUESTION
iRunFar: Bonus question. We were just talking about coffees of the world. I just came back from Italy where a coffee is an espresso that is about this big. Here in America you get a cup of coffee this big. Where is the best coffee in the world?
Forsberg: In Sweden!
iRunFar: Why is that?
Forsberg: Because, like in America, I also like to drink a lot of coffee—sip it. My opinion, Italian and Spanish coffee is really strong. You cannot drink a lot of it. But Sweden, it’s a good mixture. It’s not just brown water like here. It really tastes coffee, but it’s not as strong. Next time, I’ll bring some Swedish coffee for you.
iRunFar: Okay, thanks Emelie.
