Sweden’s Tove Alexandersson not only won the 2026 Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon, but she did so in course record time. In the following interview, Tove talks about how the race played out, how there are no free miles at Zegama, and how she experienced a full-body shutdown at the finish line.
For more on how the race played out, read our in-depth 2026 Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon results article.
[Editor’s Note: If you are unable to see the video above, click here to access it.]
Tove Alexandersson Post-2026 Zegama Marathon Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Meghan Hicks of iRunFar. I’m with Tove Alexandersson. She’s the champion of the 2026 Zegama Marathon. How does that sound, Tove?
Tove Alexandersson: Yeah, that sounds great. I’m super happy with the day, definitely.
iRunFar: That was a muddy day out there. Are there any other sort of summary words that describe today?
Alexandersson: It was a crazy day, both the crowd and the mud and everything. I think it was like a real Zegama, so I’m super happy to have experienced that.
iRunFar: There was a lot of talk before the race on whether you could set a course record in as despicable conditions as it was. You set a course record by six-ish minutes. Going into the race, what were your thoughts on the record? Were you chasing those splits, or were you just head-down running?
Alexandersson: Yeah, no. I didn’t think it was possible to do any record today in these conditions, so I wasn’t so much focused on it, but I just wanted to do as good of a race as possible, so I was more focusing on my own to have a good pace and be able to manage the mud in as good way as possible.
iRunFar: You took the race out hot. You went, basically, immediately to the lead and never looked back. At every checkpoint along the way, your lead on the women’s field, and you moving up in the old overall field grew. You must have felt pretty decent all day long.
Alexandersson: Yeah, but I was really fighting today and really suffering out there. It was quite hard from the first kilometers, actually, but I kind of knew that I could keep this speed in a kind of a good way, even if it felt like really, really hard. That was also the reason I was totally dead when I come to the finish line, because I had been suffering for so long. I didn’t get anything free today, but I’m super happy with what I did.
iRunFar: You didn’t get anything free. That’s a good way to put it. It just felt like your body just didn’t feel quite the way you’d like it to today, or were you just pushing yourself right at the edge from go?
Alexandersson: Yeah. Sometimes it can feel kind of easy, like the first half that the legs feels light and fast. Today they didn’t felt light and fast, but I kind of knew that it’s a long race. I can do a good race even if the legs didn’t feel good. It’s just like it’s more painful, but I know that I can run fast even if it’s painful, so it was just like, “Okay. It will be a painful day today,” but it’s just to go and do as good as I can.
iRunFar: I kind of think that this course has like three types of terrains. One, there’s like the spiny, limestone, up-high stuff. There’s the really fast stuff in the forest, and then there’s the mud sections. Just talk about that a little bit today.
Alexandersson: Yeah. Today it felt like it was the mud section, like everywhere. The whole course was like mud everywhere. Yeah, but otherwise it was kind of nice to have this different kind of terrain, and you can focus now with this part, and then you’re going into this part, so I really like it that it’s a big variation and you are not running the same for too long.
iRunFar: You were here for a couple of weeks before the race. You saw the whole course, I think some sections more than once?
Alexandersson: Yeah, I did. I was there training for a week with some good sessions, so some parts I’ve been running on like twice, but not so much more than that. But I think it was really good to come out and run a bit on the course.
iRunFar: Did you have splits marked up for the sections, or were you just running entirely by feel?
Alexandersson: No, I’m usually just running by feeling.
iRunFar: The crowds were something today. This will probably go down as the Zegama with so much mud and so many crowds. They were everywhere, but there were a couple very special places, like the summit of Aizkorri and Sancti Spiritu, and of course, here in Zegama at the finish line. This is your first Zegama. What do you think of this?
Alexandersson: Yeah, it was like exactly like I had imagined it to be, so it was like super cool to go through this crowd with people, and we don’t hear anything else. It’s just like so much loud, so yeah, it was a cool experience.
iRunFar: While we were walking over here to do this interview, you were sort of limping a little bit, and I said, “Did you roll your ankle?” And you said, “No. Everything, actually, hurts.” How are you feeling?
Alexandersson: Yeah. I have pain like everywhere. My arms is kind of okay, but otherwise, like in the end, I was like, my stomach hurts, my back hurts, my leg was dead, and I was happy that I made it to the finish line. But then it was like, I’m fascinated with how I could be able to run in the end, because now I can’t even walk, almost.
iRunFar: You crossed the line in 4:08, set a new women’s course record, and then immediately and entirely collapsed to the ground, such that the race organization’s medical team was very concerned. It’s just a full body stoppage.
Alexandersson: Yeah. When you all have suffering for so long, but you still continue to push the body, but it was like several hours, my body just wanted to stop, but I was continued pushing it and tell it to go to the finish line, so when I crossed the finish line, it was just like, “Okay. Now it’s like shut down.”
iRunFar: And did you know that you were under course record pace at that point? Were you like sort of counting the seconds and trying to make every moment count?
Alexandersson: I had like no idea when I was running out of the course, but it was maybe like the last three or four kilometers I had to look at my watch, and say, “Yeah. Okay, it will definitely be possible.”
iRunFar: It’s still May. There’s a big year ahead of us. Of course, you’re going to sit on your couch, hopefully, and rest and maybe have some good sleeps, but what else are you dreaming of for this year?
Alexandersson: I’m super happy to be in such a good shape early in the season, because usually I’m in better shape like a bit later when I’ve been able to run a bit more, because I’m doing a lot of skiing in the winter, so I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season. I will go to a European Championship in three weeks, and then I will see a bit, but Sierre-Zinal and OCC is the plan, and I will maybe add some more races. Yeah.
iRunFar: Okay. Well, it’s still a lot of races to go.
Alexandersson: Yeah, yeah. For sure.
iRunFar: Congratulations on your course record win today at Zegama. Good luck at the European Championships next.
Alexandersson: Yeah, thank you.
