Three years ago, Kajsa Berg finished second at the IAU 100k World Championships. After having twins last year, she came back and took silver again at this year’s 100k world championships. In the following interview, Kajsa talks about how she’d forgotten how tough the second half of a 100k is and what she’ll run next.
For the rest of the story of Saturday’s race, read our 2015 IAU 100k World Championships results article.
[Click here if you can’t see the video above.]
Kajsa Berg Post-2015 IAU 100k World Championships Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Kasja Berg after her second-place finish at the 2015 IAU 100k World Championships. Congratulations.
Kasja Berg: Thank you.
iRunFar: Are you happy with your race yesterday?
Berg: Very happy.
iRunFar: You ran very consistent race. You worked your way up during the race. Did you feel strong all day?
Berg: No, I felt strong first 50k and, then, started to feel tougher. But then it was two years ago since I ran before, so after some kilometer mark I thought that it used to be like this; I have forgotten it.
iRunFar: You were getting tired but it was normal.
Berg: Yes, but I hadn’t remembered how it should be.
iRunFar: Maybe not a good memory?
Berg: [laughs]
iRunFar: Did you have any specific problems or were you just running 100k on road?
Berg: No.
iRunFar: It must have felt good to move up during the race. Is that how you like to run?
Berg: Yes. I used to like to run not that fast in the beginning and then hold the same pace, but I didn’t do it like that. I ran much slower the last part.
iRunFar: But you still ran incredibly fast. You ran 7:20?
Berg: Yes.
iRunFar: And your PR was 7:35?
Berg: Yes.
iRunFar: That’s a huge improvement.
Berg: Yes.
iRunFar: Where does that come from?
Berg: I don’t know. I train different now, so maybe I have more speed in my body.
iRunFar: You certainly showed it. You had a good battle with the American women for the team title.
Berg: Yes.
iRunFar: Was it exciting to bring home the silver? Two silvers… actually, no, You have more than two silvers because you also have the European gold and European team gold?
Berg: European gold and team gold.
iRunFar: There you go. You brought home a lot of medals.
Berg: Lots of medals.
iRunFar: You and Jonas [Buud] are… the plane might not take off.
Berg: [laughs]
iRunFar: Do you have any other races planned for this year?
Berg: No, I haven’t because I think it takes a lot of time. I haven’t done any plans.
iRunFar: If you started thinking, would you run a marathon or another ultramarathon?
Berg: Yes, a marathon I would like. I’ll see if I can run a little bit faster.
iRunFar: Certainly your fitness is good.
Berg: Yes.
iRunFar: Now that you’ve run this again, do you think you’ll run the 100k world championships next year?
Berg: Yes, I think so. It was fun.
iRunFar: It was fun for you? Exciting. Jonas finished four times second place before he won. You have two second places now. Maybe get the win next year?
Berg: Maybe. I don’t know.
iRunFar: Congratulations and enjoy.
Berg: Thank you.
