sportaktiv: An interview with ultra trail runner Florian Grasel

The sportaktiv interview: before the Eiger250 adventure

Austrian sports magazine sportaktiv met me for an in-depth interview in 2022, ahead of my biggest adventure yet: the Eiger250. 250 kilometres with 20,000 metres of elevation gain, in a team with Tom Wagner.

Austria’s most successful ultra trail runner

That is how sportaktiv introduces me, and the numbers speak for themselves. Ninth place at the UTMB in 2018, in a personal best of 23:12 hours, remains one of my highlights. But the Eiger250 was set to eclipse everything before it.

Training by feel rather than a fixed plan

My training approach is a central topic. I train 15–20 hours a week, mainly building aerobic endurance with minimal interval work. I train intuitively, adapting to the demands of running a business and being a father.

Over six to seven years, I have done more than 1,000 repetitions on my local hill: 500 metres long with 111 metres of elevation gain.

The BOA partnership

I also discuss working with the BOA Fit System and why a fit that can be adjusted to the millimetre matters over ultra distances. When you run 250 kilometres in one go, any small pressure point can become a disaster.

#lifeworktrailbalance

The philosophy holding it all together: family, a company with seven employees and ultra trail running. I explain how I combine these three worlds, and why the order is always the same: family first, then work, then running.

Read the full interview at sportaktiv.