Sweden’s Petter Engdahl took his fitness from running the Boston Marathon less than three weeks ago to finish second at the 2026 Transvulcania Ultramarathon. In the following interview, Petter talks about how the racing played out from his perspective, how training for the Boston Marathon fit into his spring race schedule, his love for racing, and taking this year to focus on shorter and faster racing.
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.]
Petter Engdahl Post-2026 Transvulcania Ultramarathon Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Meghan Hicks of iRunFar, I’m with Petter Engdahl. It’s the day of the 2026 Transvulcania Ultramarathon. You’re the men’s second-place finisher. Congratulations.
Petter Engdahl: Thank you, Meghan.
iRunFar: You ran a sub-course-record time and got second place. That was a heck of a day of racing for you gentlemen.
Engdahl: Yeah, it was. I think we put on a pretty good show. It was a really strong field, and when it’s a strong field and good conditions, then I guess we can do really fast times, and that showed today, I think.
iRunFar: It really is amazing when you think about human psychology and how limits become lifted when you’re surrounded by people striving.
Engdahl: Yeah.
iRunFar: Perceived limits are not a thing then.
Engdahl: No, exactly. Yeah, we all lifted each other. We didn’t go out crazy fast, but since it’s so many strong, you just have to maintain this hype. It is still going pretty fast, I guess, in the beginning, but it feels easy because it’s early, but then you realize we just had to maintain it because it’s so many strong athletes in the field. And I think we really did this today, and David was the one who had still a much, much stronger downhill than I had, and that’s where I lost it, but then could have a strong finish again. So just shows how perfect you need to execute this type of race, especially where you’re running these fast times.
iRunFar: It looked like from the outside perspective, you were trying to run in relative contact with the lead. Whoever was pushing the pace, there was a little bit of an accordioning where you dropped back a little bit, but then regained a shared lead. Was that the strategy, to just try to let somebody set the pace and mark it?
Engdahl: Yeah. Strategy coming into this year, I was a little bit unsure about my shape, especially after Boston, and also the first of a little bit of a hillier trail race. So I didn’t know really where I was. So the tactic was to stay cool and see what the others are doing. And we were still a pretty big group coming up to the volcanoes, and I felt like I was in good control. Some got a little bit away and some were dropping out, but I still like, “Okay, we are in a big group.” And I just tried to save my energy for the last half, and especially coming up to the altitude, I know that you need to have the legs to be able to run all of these up and downs when you come up to Roque.
And the strategy worked really, really well. My coach, Corrine Malcolm, and I were talking yesterday to take it easy. And then when the climb starts up, I was still like two, three minutes after David, when we started that climb, and sitting in fourth place and was running together with Nadid [Maguet] at that point. But then I started the descents and caught up with David [Sinclair] at Pico de la Cruz, and then I couldn’t shake him at the last upper sections. I really tried, but he was so strong, and then he just went for it in the downhill, and my legs were pretty much done there. But super happy to stay at second place until the finish.
iRunFar: Yeah. It looked like he picked up about a half a … I always speak in miles, sorry. A half a minute per mile there, for the bulk of the descent.
Engdahl: Yeah, probably. Yeah.
iRunFar: And then things evened out at the very end. I don’t know if that was you pushing or him realizing he had some lead, and then from Tazacorte in, the two of you ran the exact same pace, you had almost the same split.
Engdahl: Yeah, pretty much. I was feeling pretty good at the last section from Tazacorte. I wanted to be finished when you see the beach, always.
iRunFar: It’s such a rude finish.
Engdahl: I really had to run another 6k, but I was happy that the legs were responding well, and I could climb pretty well in the last uphill. I saw that Nadir was coming up strong behind me but felt like I had extra energy to keep the gap. And then the last straight was just still going, I wasn’t really sure, but the legs were cramping a little bit on the flat.
iRunFar: Were they?
Engdahl: Yeah, the hamstrings were pretty done, but I was just so relieved and happy to maintain that second place.
iRunFar: Now that both of the two races of the last three weeks are behind you, Boston Marathon three weeks ago or under three weeks ago, and now this, like do you feel like Boston was actually a good lead-up to this?
Engdahl: Yeah.
iRunFar: What’s the sensations you feel after doing two very different races so close together?
Engdahl: I feel that race was a very good long run for me, and also my shape and my health was getting better around this time. So it ended up being, I think, a pretty good preparation. Then I managed to recover really fast and had some more specific trail running sessions at home in Norway before heading here. I felt like my uphill legs weren’t so good when I was more focusing on the flat than on the road. So I had to have a few sessions, one with Kilian [Jornet] at home where I got to feel what muscles to push with instead of using more quads than the lower legs.
iRunFar: Oh, interesting.
Engdah: So it took a little bit to get back to that running stride. But then when I came back to it, it feel like, “Okay, I’m actually getting better and better and I’m feeling pretty fit.” So it ended up being really, really good, I think. I felt much better today than in Boston. So the shape is up-going, but this is such a demanding race mentally. It’s been quite intense weeks with a lot of travel and a lot of mental preparations for two very different races. So after this, I will have a little bit of a break from running.
iRunFar: A rest on the couch a little?
Engdahl: Yeah. And then probably jump on the bikes, or I saw this fresh powder at home, so maybe go skiing a little bit. Then next race will be European Uphill Championships. So then it’s completely different as well, but I’m happy to do a little bit shorter race.
iRunFar: Which is how many weeks away?
Engdahl: That’s the first week of June.
iRunFar: So six-ish weeks?
Engdahl: Yeah.
iRunFar: And I think we talked off camera a few days ago that this is your longest planned race of the year. Things will be shorter after this.
Engdahl: Yeah. I plan for this year to have the distances a little bit shorter. I will go to Monte Rosa by UTMB in July, and maybe Sierre-Zinal, and then OCC.
iRunFar: Okay.
Engdahl: So keeping it a little bit shorter, I want to maintain the training routine, and the last two years of doing a little bit longer ultras have been really, really hard. I want to have these two seasons to go back to a little bit shorter, and I felt like I came, what do you call it, like I can recognize myself a little bit more. I love doing Western States 100, and being out there on UTMB is something I really want to do sometime in the future, but for now, I feel more motivated to do shorter races around the marathon to 50k or 60k distances, and this race means a lot to me, and it’s special. So I was very, very happy that this was a good one, and now I will come back in the future for sure.
iRunFar: It’s hard to choose. There are so many good races out there.
Engdahl: Yeah.
iRunFar: It’s hard to choose, but when you’re doing something as long and as hard as endurance running, it’s always best to follow your heart. And if the shorter is speaking to you this year, this is what you should be doing.
Engdahl: Yeah. The training is really, really motivating for me. I like to run a bit faster in training, especially the important sessions, and I feel like I can have more continuity in the training than when I was preparing for the longer races, and I also love to race. So when you’re only doing one or two long long races per year, then I get restless and like looking at all the races like, “Oh, I really want to go there.” But now, when I do a little bit shorter, I can do more, and that makes a happy Petter.
iRunFar: That’s great. Congratulations on your second-place finish today.
Engdahl: Thank you so much.
iRunFar: Enjoy the couch time. And I also think you have a wedding coming up this summer, so congratulations on that, too.
Engdahl: Yeah. Thank you so much.
