After finishing second last year, Judith Wyder of Switzerland arrives at the 2026 Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon with more course knowledge and experience. In her first interview with iRunFar, Judith talks about her background in orienteering, why she thinks Zegama is special, and what she thinks about the potentially wet and muddy conditions.
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Judith Wyder Pre-2026 Zegama Marathon Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Eszter Horanyi with iRunFar: here with Judith Wyder. We are one day before the Zegama Marathon. How are you?
Judith Wyder: I’m fine. Thanks for having me.
iRunFar: Thanks for talking with us. You were second place last year, so you’re one of the top women coming back. How are you feeling coming into this?
Wyder: I’m really looking forward to race, and also it’s really cool to be back here in Zegama. I mean, I love being here. It was an amazing experience last year. I think it’s one of the most iconic races you can do on the circuit, and that’s why I decided to come back and just give it another try and see how I can manage this time.
iRunFar: So this is your first interview with iRunFar. Could you tell us a little about your past? I know you’re a world champion orienteer, you’re a mom of two. How did you get into trail running? Tell us about that transition.
Wyder: Yeah. So I’ve been on the circuits for a long time. Also, in trail running now, it has been since 2018, I would say. And before, I’ve been an orienteer, as you said, world champion there too. Competing internationally over many years. And then I got my first child in 2017 and swapped one year after that to trail running. I kind of wanted to see what I can do on the trails and just experience this other possibility to run and race, and that’s why I’m here now. Now actually starting to focus a bit more on longer distances. So the shorter distances get a bit less. So this will actually be my shortest race this year.
But yeah, I’m really enjoying it to be out on the trails and racing and competing myself with the best athletes on the trail world.
iRunFar: Yeah. So last year at Zegama, basically, you started off in second place, and you stayed in second place the whole time. What was your first Zegama experience like?
Wyder: It actually was a really nice experience if you think all over. Actually, I had quite a hard time personally with my family and my mother being sick. So this kind of like the journey here, it was actually really intense, and it was really emotional. The whole race, I was really fighting with my thoughts. So it was a nice race. Of course I was really happy with the race itself, but on the other hand, I was not really focused on my race. So it was like both. But of course, just to experience Sanctu Spiritu the first time, it was just crazy.
iRunFar: And were you, when you finished, were you immediately like, “I want to come back and do this again”?
Wyder: I think it definitely was a race I was thinking about coming back to. I normally like to just do different things, like to really see different places, different races, and try out other formats. But, actually, also if you know there’s going to be a competitive race, I actually kind of, yeah, I do like to do these races. Which sounds a bit strange, but I really love to compete with the best athletes, and therefore it was definitely one I was thinking about directly. And when thinking about the calendar, it kind of fit quite well into my other races this year. So I was like, why not give it another try?
iRunFar: Has this been sort of a focus of your season, like one of your main focuses?
Wyder: So it’s hard to tell. I mean, of course, it’s going to be one of my main competitions this year, but we have the European [Championships] coming up, and I will definitely stand at the starting line there too, giving another try to get a medal there. And then of course UTMB week for me always is the big kind of goal race in the end of the season. Also because now we still have snow on trails in Switzerland, so mountains are quite far away still, so I don’t get too many uphill meters. So, therefore of course, the main goals normally go a bit later on in the year. But of course, I have been training hard to be prepared for this race too.
iRunFar: Now that you’ve done this race once, you sort of know what you’re in for. It’s like a course that you need to be able to do everything well, right? You need to be able to run technical stuff, you need to be able to run fast stuff, you need to go uphill. downhill, all of it. What did you do, or did you do anything specifically over the winter, knowing that this was coming up?
Wyder: I mean, I think it’s always like if you go on trails, you need to train on technical stuff. If you do races like Zegama, of course, running on trails is really important. But as I’ve said before, for us it has been really difficult to have this really technical trail due to snow. But of course, the last few weeks, I’ve been focusing more on these downhills, for example, also getting in some more like up and downhills. because this helps to be able to cope with the length of the trail of the Zegama race, but also to be able to run downhill in the last five kilometers. So this has been a big part in my training, and I hope it will help me.
iRunFar: Last year, you closed a pretty big gap on Sara [Alonso] on the last downhill. Is that sort of what you consider your strength, being able to go downhill on technical stuff pretty quick?
Wyder: I mean, the downhill actually isn’t that technical.
iRunFar: Okay.
Wyder: It’s actually only the first part of the last downhill, which is technical. I think I’m mostly good at pacing myself and really being able to kind of think about my strengths, and how I can do the race in the same pace over the whole race time. So it’s probably more that, and being able to deal with the nutrition and really manage my strategy always makes that I’m always making time in the last downhill. So probably it’s more this than really being better than the other athletes. I think they’re all so good in downward running nowadays, and I think it’s not that what’s the the difference. It’s more about the feeling I have before, and maybe taking back a little bit, but having more energy in the end.
iRunFar: Okay. So it’s more a pacing thing than like a technical run.
Wyder: I would say yes, I think. Yeah.
iRunFar: You mentioned that you wanted to do longer races this year, like you just did the Chianti 75k, which I believe was your longest race.
Wyder: In kilometer-wise, yes.
iRunFar: Kilometer-wise. And time-wise as well?
Wyder: Half an hour.
iRunFar: That’s something, right? That’s something. Where does Zegama fit in terms of in the training for longer stuff, does that make the Zegama distance seem less long?
Wyder: I mean, of course probably in time-wise, yes, but of course, the intensity itself gets harder then. And always looking at profile and race times before the race, I always feel like these distances are going to be so long, and it will be feeling so long, and it’s crazy what we are doing in these shorter times. So I don’t think it makes it kind of less hard or shorter, but it just gives a different perspective on it.
iRunFar: And what are you thinking about the conditions? Because it’s been raining here in Zegama for a handful of days now. Everyone in town who’s coming off the trails is pretty muddy.
Wyder: Yeah, it will definitely be muddy and snowy as well. I mean, the ridge is full of snow at the moment. I mean, if I could wish for a weather tomorrow, of course I would choose hot weather because I love racing in hot weather, but I’m quite good normally at coping with different situations. With the background of orienteering, you need to be able to cope with different situations, and I think, therefore, it’s not something bad. But yeah, let’s see. It’s going to be a challenge for all athletes, I think, and it’s going to be really interesting how we deal with it. And I definitely hope nothing will happen, nothing major will happen, and then it’s going to be an amazing race.
iRunFar: Yes. Well, I hope you have an absolutely amazing race, and best of luck tomorrow.
Wyder: Thank you.
