Kilian Jornet – 2011 TNF UTMB Champion Interview
August 29, 2011 by Bryon Powell · 12 Comments
Kilian Jornet is an amazing athlete and an amazing person. When he runs, he does so with passion, pleasure, humility, and grace. He’s someone for the average trail runner to look up to, as the elites of the sport already do. In the day since Kilian’s third victory at The North Face Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, many have joked regarding whether Kilian can be beat. When posed this question, Kilian responded he can be and has been beaten. To the rest of us, it just seems like he can’t be.
In the following interview Kilian shares the story of his victory; how sharing the trails with his Salomon teammates Iker Carrera and Miguel Heras as well as The North Face’s Sebastian Chaigneau was a pleasure; and what he’s up to next.
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Filed under Interviews and Profiles, Races, Video ·
Bryon Powell is the Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar.com, which he founded five years ago. Also the author of Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, he's quickly approaching 10 years as an ultrarunner and 20 years as a trail runner. These days he calls Park City, Utah and its trails home.
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Great interview Bryon, he’s such a genuine guy with time for everyone. Hard luck with your run, I’m sure you’ll be back stronger in years to come.
Anybody can be beaten on any given day. Geoff Roes, Kilian, Matt Carpenter, Dave Mackey, Karl Meltzer, Tony Krupicka – its the beautiful thing about running. Showing up to the toe the line thinking someone else is invincible will probably be a self-fulfilling profecy.
Its amazing to think that Kilian could be a 10 time UTMB champion at some point.
Thanks Bryon,
Killian is a class act and a humble champion.
Excellent interview, Bryon. Killian is a remarkable runner with a great attitude.
What a great guy. A lot of times, you will hear someone thanking the fans and their fellow competitors out of habit, but not Kilian. I believed every word he said. And that is even more impressive than the fact that he probably could have ran that race 90 minutes faster than he did.
P.S. – found it interesting that he said Mont Blanc had a deep-soul.
“found it interesting that he said Mont Blanc had a deep-soul.”
Exactly, At such a tender age Killian is the quintessential mountain runner. He embodies the spirit of the mountain and because of this he feels and draws strength from her ever changing spirit. The mountians spirit runs deep but his runs deeper. What a hell of a guy…
did you see how small that circle that he made with his fingers was?
Phenomenal interview Bryon, what a class act, and inspiring athlete Killian is . . . Very motivational
Good interview Bryon- you look great! Kilian is a young man with an old soul. That makes him so appealing. I feel happy for him- he is doing what he enjoys in life and he really does capture the true essence of running.
Congrats Seb!! We are very happy for the time spend it in Chamonix and for your podium!! It was a great weekend!