When it comes to long, runnable ultras, Jonas Buud is always a factor. This makes him a certain favorite at this weekend’s Grand Trail des Templiers. In the following interview, Jonas talks about his season to date, how he’s prepared for Templiers, and how he thinks the course suits him.
Be sure to read our full men’s preview to see who else is racing. You can follow our live coverage of Les Templiers on Sunday (overnight Saturday in the U.S.).
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Jonas Buud Pre-2014 Les Templiers Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Jonas Buud before the 2014 Grand Trail des Templiers. How are you, Jonas?
Jonas Buud: I’m fine, I think.
iRunFar: You’ve had a very good season so far—seventh at Comrades, you won Swiss Alpine Marathon again, and you just had a very good run at UltraVasan.
Buud: Yes, it’s been a great season so far.
iRunFar: UltraVasan is a new race up in your home country. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Buud: It’s a trail race. It’s a really fast trail race, but it’s 90k with almost 900 meters of climbing. It was a great race this year.
iRunFar: So you ran six hours?
Buud: 6:02—I think it’s one of my best races ever.
iRunFar: That’s awesome. You’ve run fast on the roads this year. You’ve run fast on the trails. You’ve run fast at Davos. Do you think you’re ready for the terrain here?
Buud: Yes, I hope so. I’ve done a lot of hill running and trail running since Comrades actually. It’s been a lot of trail running. I think these hills may be a little bit too steep for me, but I’ve been training anyway.
iRunFar: You’re a very diverse athlete because you had all these strong races at Comrades, World 100k’s, but you also were second at UTMB one year.
Buud: Yes, I think I like to run on the roads and the trail. I like to run both. So, I think it’s a good opportunity to be good in both disciplines.
iRunFar: It’s a very strong field here. Are you excited to race then?
Buud: Yes, of course. I think the first part is best for me. The last part is a bit too much of climbing, but I think six hours is a good winning time. It’s a good time for me to run. I like to run around about six hours.
iRunFar: It’s around about 73k, and you’ve run 90k on the trails that fast.
Buud: Yes.
iRunFar: At times will it feel a little slow?
Buud: Yes, I think so, but between the hills it’s really fast running; so it’s just the hills that’s really, really tough.
iRunFar: It’s a fartlek workout.
Buud: Yes.
iRunFar: Steep ups, flat, steep down. How about the technical terrain? There’s a lot of flat, fast terrain, but there’s also some rocky parts. How do you handle that?
Buud: I think that’s perfect for me. I like to run on different types of terrain. I used to run on very technical trails at home also. I think the technical parts will treat me also very good.
iRunFar: For you front runners, a good portion of the race will be at night. Have you prepared for that?
Buud: Yes, of course. In Sweden it’s totally dark, so the dark part is no problem for me, I think.
iRunFar: It may be an advantage. That’s the fastest part of the race that’s in the dark.
Buud: Yes, it can be.
iRunFar: You can show your strengths.
Buud: Yes.
iRunFar: Well, it’s great to see you here. Good luck.
Buud: Thank you.
