Kajsa Berg set her 100k PR of 7:35 at the 2012 IAU 100k World Championships. After having twins nine months ago, she’s back to race the world championships in Winschoten this weekend. In the following interview, Kajsa talks about her running history, why she thinks she’s faster after having twins, and what her hopes are for this weekend.
To see who else is running, check out iRunFar’s 2015 IAU 100k World Championships preview.
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Kajsa Berg Pre-2015 IAU 100k World Championships Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Kajsa Berg before the 2015 100k World Championships. How are you?
Kajsa Berg: Fine, thanks.
iRunFar: You’ve run the 100k world championships before, how many times?
Berg: Twice.
iRunFar: Including your best time of 7:35?
Berg: Yes, I hope to run a little bit faster this year.
iRunFar: Do you? I’ve talked to some people, I won’t name names, but they say you’re in very good shape. Do you think you’re quite fit right now?
Berg: I hope so, but I’m not sure because I had two children in December.
iRunFar: You had twins nine months ago.
Berg: Twins, yes. So I have run for almost six months, but it felt really good in the training, but I haven’t trained as much as I used to. I can run a little bit faster during the training now, so I hope I can make 100k.
iRunFar: You had a really strong 50k this year—3:21?
Berg: Yes.
iRunFar: That’s quite quick.
Berg: It felt really good.
iRunFar: Do you think maybe… what do you think changed? Was it having some time off that let you come back stronger? Are you tougher now that you’re a mom?
Berg: I don’t know. I think I’m more relaxed with the running.
iRunFar: Other things are more important?
Berg: Yeah, I think so.
iRunFar: How long have you been a runner?
Berg: Nine years.
iRunFar: Were you in skiing or anything before?
Berg: I was a swimmer and played football [soccer] and did a lot of different things.
iRunFar: An athlete of many sports.
Berg: Yes, but I always liked to run. During the summer, there was a break from the swimming, so I would run.
iRunFar: So even before you were a ‘runner,’ it was part of your training. What made you start running?
Berg: Because I like it?
iRunFar: Did you go mostly road races at first and marathons?
Berg: I tried to run at track and shorter distance but it didn’t work. I trained but I didn’t get faster. I tried a marathon, and that was much more fun.
iRunFar: Why ultras? If you’re running well at marathons, why run even further?
Berg: I wanted to try because marathon started to run after a time all the time, and I couldn’t get faster, so I wanted to try something new.
iRunFar: Here you are. You’ve run 7:35 at the 100k world championships. You’ve also run 7:38 and 7:40. You’ve run that a couple times. What do you think you might be able to run?
Berg: I want to run a little bit faster. I hope to run 7:25. I don’t know if it’s possible or not.
iRunFar: That would put you with a very good chance to win this race. Is that the goal?
Berg: I don’t know, but I want to do a good time.
iRunFar: Talking to Jonas [Buud] a little while ago, the men’s team is very strong for Sweden. Does the Swedish women’s team also have a chance for a podium?
Berg: I think so. We are four girls, and everyone is in good shape I think.
iRunFar: That sounds like an exciting weekend for you and Sweden.
Berg: Yes.
iRunFar: Best of luck.
Berg: Thank you.
iRunFar: Thank you
