In a race result that surprised even her, Emelie Forsberg of Sweden took third at the 2026 Transvulcania Ultramarathon in a time that was only a minute slower than her win at the 2013 edition of the race. In the following interview, Emelie talks about running the race with big gaps in front and behind her for most of the day, how she felt throughout the day, the ankle she rolled just before the massive descent, and what else she might race in 2026.
For more on how the race played out, read our in-depth 2026 Transvulcania Ultramarathon results article.
[Editor’s Note: If you are unable to see the video above, click here to access it.]
Emelie Forsberg Post-2026 Transvulcania Ultramarathon Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Eszter Horanyi with iRunFar. I’m here with Emelie Forsberg at the 2026 Transvulcania Ultramarathon where you just finished third. Welcome back to high-level running.
Forsberg: Yeah, thank you. I’m so happy and a bit surprised.
iRunFar: When we talked to you before the race, you said that you’d be happy if you finished, so you did that, and that the faster you ran, the happier you would be, and your hope was under nine hours.
Forsberg: Yeah.
iRunFar: And you beat that by 45 minutes. How does that feel?
Forsberg: I’m happy. I think even my low level is still pretty high, but I didn’t think it could be this high at this moment. I’m proud of myself. I really am. Yeah, just super happy.
iRunFar: And are you surprised by it?
Forsberg: Yes, a little because when I was running, I knew my old times and I know Ida [Nilssson’s] times, and I was like, “This is pretty good. Am I running too fast?” But it felt like pretty okay in that hill because I was thinking if I feel okay on the uphill then hopefully I can run faster downhill. But that didn’t happen. So I’m just happy to finish the race.
iRunFar: I feel like you started the race in third place and then you finished there. You were in this no-women’s land for most of the entire race.
Forsberg: Yeah.
iRunFar: What was that like, just being out there?
Forsberg: It was actually real nice. I could just focus on myself. I did a little wrong turn, but I had company with Marco, an Italian, and we just ran more or less the same pace, and it was just really nice to have company. It was super cool. Yeah.
iRunFar: You were out there chit-chatting or just running together?
Forsberg: Yeah, a little chit-chatting and just running. Sometimes I was in front, sometimes him, sometimes he made a gap, sometimes I made a gap, but we had the same pace.
iRunFar: Yeah. You were only a minute slower than your 2015 time.
Forsberg: I saw that. I was like, I want to beat it, but I couldn’t run faster in the last flat stretch.
iRunFar: How did the race go down? What were the high points for you and the low points?
Forsberg: High point for sure that I feel that I can do an eight-hour race again. That’s amazing. I’m so thrilled. And then just to keep it together. It was so long time ago. And that I didn’t cramp. I hurt my foot a bit, but that’s okay. I hope it’s not too bad.
iRunFar: I feel like you came into this — because you injured your ankle earlier this spring — you came into this with really only four weeks of good training.
Forsberg: Yeah, good running.
iRunFar: Good running.
Forsberg: I had been able to do a bit of skiing, not too much. Bit of biking, but not too much. But like five, six hours of endurance during the winter, which is not a lot per week. So I’m surprised.
iRunFar: Yeah. Was there a point of time when you were like, “I’m going too fast, like this is going to end badly for me?”
Forsberg: Not really, because I saw the times and I was like, “This is great.” I’m feeling like I knew I could make it up to the Roque with the pace that I had. It felt controlled because I didn’t want to, as I said, like when you’re a bit more used to ultra, you can kind of like push your limits, but I couldn’t really push the limits because I didn’t know if I was going to like just hit the wall because I haven’t been running this long for long. So, no, it felt controlled.
iRunFar: Was there ever a desire to try to keep up with the Blandine [L’Hirondel] and Lucy [Bartholomew]?
Forsberg: No. Because I know that both of them are very strong and Lucy told me that she was going to see this as a 50k race, and that was great of her because she says she’s not super comfortable in the downhills. I’m so happy for her that she could just give everything in uphill and do so well and still manage the downhill. So I know that I wasn’t going to keep up, and I heard that they were close and I wasn’t close, and I was like, “I’m just going to do my own race.”
iRunFar: Were you keeping track of the people behind you?
Forsberg: Yeah, I wanted to because I got curious, but no one told me. So I wasn’t like, “Is Ekaterina [Mityaeva] going to catch me in the downhill?” Or, Daniela [Oemus] or Gemma [Arenas]? So I was like, “Where are they?”
iRunFar: But no one would give you splits.
Forsberg: No.
iRunFar: Is that the part you were most worried about, getting caught on that last downhill?
Forsberg: Because I hurt my foot there, I was like, “Okay, I need to just go slow here.” So then I was feeling like I have a bit more gas in the legs. If someone catch me, then I will try to push hard in the end.
iRunFar: Did you do that early at the top?
Forsberg: Yes. It was hard. I just don’t know how bad it is, but I will see in a few days.
iRunFar: Hopefully it’s …
Forsberg: Yeah, not four months like the last one.
iRunFar: Not four months.
Forsberg: That would be really bad.
iRunFar: So we’re going to go with that, that’s going to be better in a week, or day, or two days.
Forsberg: Yeah. Yeah.
iRunFar: So what comes next? This year is the start of what you’re considering a three-year recommitment to it all?
Forsberg: Yeah. If my foot is better …
iRunFar: When your foot’s better.
Forsberg: Yeah. When my foot is better, maybe I just need to do a bit less technical races for a while, which is not in the plan. But I really would like to go back to Trofeo Kima in August, do some local races at home, and maybe Les Templiers in October would be wonderful to come back to.
iRunFar: Congratulations on your third-place finish here at Transvulcania Ultra.
Forsberg: Thank you.
