Emelie Forsberg has just taken a stunning victory in the Mont Blanc marathon 80km race. But it's not her epic win she's talking about – nor the fact it means she's now the 2014 Skyrunning Ultra champion.
Take a look at her Facebook page and you'll see it's her love of running and her passion for the mountains that comes across. “From my heart I can truly say I enjoyed every second of it,” she writes. “Pure skyrunning. J´adore! I love!”
Before the race, we asked her exactly why she loves to run. Her answer is both refreshing and inspiring:
“It's hard to describe it's so good,” she says. “You get a really good feeling in your legs. You feel so light – you're just flowing over the ground. Every uphill is super easy. Maybe you reach the summit and you just want to go further. Everything is connected. You feel like really wow, I could go on forever, or wow, what a great feeling, this is so beautiful.”
“You can still get a great run even when it's also a rainy day and you have to really push yourself to go out the door,” she adds. “You're always super happy you got out there.”
For Emelie, running is all about pleasure. “It is never difficult or hard!” she says, although she admits that it can get tough in a race.
As for what she thinks about for all those hours on the trail, she says she tries to cultivate a state of 'mindfulness'.
“If I have things that I think about, I make a list but when I have done that I'm less in my mind. With mindfulness you don't think about anything. You are just there – and nothing more.”
Image ©DROZ PHOTO