Fritjof Fagerlund and Alexandra Morozova won Ultravasan 90 2018

Fritjof Fagerlund completed Ultravasan 90 with the second fastest time in the race’s history, 6.01:56, and Alexandra Morozova won with a new record time for the women’s class, 6.43:55.
”It felt like I was in really good shape today,” said Fagerlund after his victory.
”I’m so glad and happy,” said Morozova, who set a new track record.

Ultravasan 90 Men
In the men’s class it was down to three runners after the Risberg checkpoint: Patrick Reagan, USA, Fritjof Fagerlund and Norwegian Didrik Hermansen.

Hermansen took the spurt prize in Evertsberg slightly ahead of Fagerlund. Reagan was then about 20 seconds behind. Fagerlund and Hermansen ran together after Evertsberg but when the track levelled out Fagerlund took command and slowly but surely pulled ahead of the Norwegian.
”I thought Patrick was saving his strength behind me and would come up. But he never did. So I thought I’ll just keep going at an even pace. It was important not to get too eager,” says Fagerlund who came second in the race 2016.

At the Oxberg checkpoint he had created a lead of 2 minutes and 15 seconds. Fritjof continued at an even pace all the way to the finish in Mora and crossed the finish line 8:34 minutes before Reagan. Hermansen, in third place, came in at 13:31, two minutes ahead of the second Swede, Joacim Lantz, Ockelbo.

Fritjof Fagerlund decided to take on the 90 km challenge just a few days before the start. His plan had been to run Ultravasan 45 since the 100 km World Championship is just three weeks away.
”I didn’t have a real plan. I decided so late to run the 90 km. But I knew I’d had a very good training period. I felt very stable and in good shape. I really wanted to run this race,” says Fritjof.

How did the race develop when the three of you shared the lead?
”It felt like all three of us were very strong. Then Didrik really wanted the spurt prize in Evertsberg. That comes with a certain risk. I thought I would stress him out a bit, so he had to work for it.”

That may have been a deciding factor in Fagerlund’s favour. Did things get critical at any point during the final 10 km?
”You’re always a bit unsure what will happen at the end of a race. But it felt good. After this I’ll have to rest up properly to prepare for the World Championship.”

In his everyday life Fritjof Fagerlund is a university lecturer in Uppsala, working with groundwater. He does both research and teaching at Uppsala University. A large part of Fritjof’s preparation has been transport training to and from work to connect the everyday life aspects of job, family and training.

Fritjof is from Åland and a Finnish citizen originally but holds dual citizenship. When he ran his first World Championship he could choose between representing Finland and Sweden and he chose Sweden because ultrarunning activities are more developed here.

American Patrick Reagan repeated his second place from last year.
”They ran hard for the spurt prize and I wanted to save some of my strength. Fritjof was very strong today and I’m happy with my achievement,” says Reagan.

Second Swede, Joacim Lantz, was happy with the results as this was his longest competition race to date and he came fourth a few minutes after Didrik Hermansen.
”Things were heavy before Evertsberg but then I could collect myself and finish well,” says Lantz.

IFK Mora’s Jonas Buud, who holds the track record, had a tough day. For a long time Buud was in tenth place but a sore Achilles tendon made finishing the race his only goal. He was the 16th man across the finish line.
”It went well up until Evertsberg. Then my Achilles tendon started hurting so I couldn’t push at all with my right foot. So I was limping as I ran uphill,” says Jonas.

You didn’t want to abort the race?
”No, I didn’t want to break off again.”

In the Ultravasan 90 women’s class it looked, at first, to become a battle between Russian Alexandra Morozova and Högby IF’s Ida Nilsson who won Ultravasan 90 last year. Morozova is an ultrarunner with many achievements, such as second and third place in Comrades in South Africa, the world’s biggest ultrarunning race.

But already in Risberg the Russian had a lead of over two and a half minutes. Ida lost time all the way to Mora and was 22 minutes behind the Russian across the finish line.

Morozova ran a very strong race, breaking Nilsson’s track record from last year by seven minutes. The new record time is 6:43:55.
”The track was very varied and the surface gave me some trouble here and there, but it went fine in the end,” says Alexandra.
”I noticed at about 25 km that Ida wasn’t with me any more. Then it got tough the last 30 km. I was super tired then. Now I’m so glad and happy.”

Ida Nilsson felt, early on, that it would be a rough day.
”I had a stomach flu earlier this week. It started right after my last race in Switzerland this Sunday. My recovery was very poor and I was bedridden for a few days. But yesterday I felt good, and I could eat, so I thought my body was back with me,” says Ida, continuing:

”Alexandra ran an incredibly strong race so it would have been fun to stay in the game a bit longer and to feel a bit more fresh. My legs were no good today.”

Third place went to Sarah Bard, USA, 43 minutes behind Alexandra Morozova – whose new record time would have put her in ninth place of the men’s class!

For results, see below.

Ultravasan 45 
In the men’s class the favourite David Nilsson, Högby IF, won with a new record time of 2:39:33. In the women’s class Lisa Ring, IK Nocout.se, set a new record at 3:03:00 and took her second win in the race.

David previously said that victory was more important than time, but he was matched for a fair bit of the race by Linus Rosdal, KFUM Örebro.
”We ran together and took turns pulling ahead,” David tells us.

Not unexpectedly, David was strongest in the end and won by about a minute.
”It felt fairly good. But I have some things to work on,” says David.

Will you come back to break the record again in a year or so?
”Yes, that’s possible. But it was pretty hard work. The plan is to run some shorter races for two or three years and then possibly longer races three years from now.”

”But if continue slightly injured as I have been, then I can’t push it. Then some longer races could fit in well, even if those aren’t optimal either,” says David.

For Linus Rosdal, taking second place behind David was a positive experience.
”We ran together for quite a long time but I knew he’s much better than me. I had no chance once he decided, but it was so fun to get to run with him. Inspiring,” says Linus.

How do you value this achievement?
”This past year I’ve not trained well and lost my motivation. Then I thought I’d give this a go. A friend of mine was in a traffic accident and it made me think you wait around until you’re in perfect shape. You should be happy that you can run at all. This was a fun and very good event.”

Did you get a taste for more?
”Absolutely!”

Third place went to last year’s Ultravasan 90-winner Elov Olsson about six minutes behind David Nilsson.

Lisa Ring won Ultravasan 45 in 2016 and placed second in 2017. Now came a new victory and she broke her old track record by about a minute.
”I’m super happy. I’d promised myself to follow Jasmin (Nunige). But I listened to my body and it told me to run,” a very happy Lisa explained.

”I ran without putting demands on myself and didn’t look at the time.”

How do you value this victory? Or is the feeling more important?
”The feeling is what’s important. But you have to dare to visualize yourself winning. I’ve had something in my head, a longing for this, and that’s what settled it in the end.”

Jasmin Nunige, Switzerland, came second in Ultravasan 45. After two Ultravasan 90 wins in 2015 and 2016 she returned to Mora after some issues with injury.
”I’m not used to competition runs. This was my second race this year. I probably started a bit too strong and I was paying for it by the middle of the race. At the end it felt good and I could pick up the pace, advancing to second place. It was wonderful to run today. Perfect conditions. I ran a good race but I have a lot of work ahead of me to get back into the shape I was in before.”

Third was Sofia Byhlinder, Runnersway IF, who grew up in Orsa and Mora.
”I was in so much pain those last 10 km, so I was just trying to reach the finish. But I’m terribly satisfied with my time,” said Sofia who finished the race with a time of 3:15:22.

How does it feel to place third after two extremely experienced runner?
”It was so, so fun. But I still hope I’ll run a bit better next year.”

Noteworthy: Lisa Ring’s winning time would have put her in sixth place in the men’s class.

RESULTS August 18 2018

Ultravasan 90 Men
1 Fagerlund, Fritjof (SWE) M40, LK Roslagen, 06:01:56
2 Reagan, Patrick (USA) M21, HOKA ONE ONE, 06:10:30
3 Hermansen, Didrik (NOR) M35, Asics/Camelbak/Buff, 06:15:27
4 Lantz, Joacim (SWE),M21, Ockelbo SK, 06:17:31
5 Armstrong, Vajin (NZL) M35, Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team, 06:23:21
6 Erala, Ranno (EST) M45, Tele2, 06:27:40
7 Lantz, Johan (SWE) M21, Ockelbo SK / Scott Running, 06:34:24
8 Wikström, Patrik (SWE) M21, IFK Umeå/Team Salomon, 06:35:59
9 Stuck, Yoann (FRA) M35, GoreWear, 06:44:38
10 Nilsson, Daniel (SWE) M40, FK Studenterna, 06:47:12

Ultravasan 90 Women
1 Morozova, Alexandra (RUS) W21, 06:43:55
2 Nilsson, Ida (SWE) W35, Högby IF, 07:06:16
3 Bard, Sarah (USA) W21, 07:27:27
4 Talts, Eve (EST) W40, 07:34:42
5 Nilsson, Johanna (SWE) W35, Morjärv SK 07:37:41
6 Ramstedt, Jenny (SWE) W40, XC Sthlm/Team Envol, 07:47:32
7 Södermark, Frida (SWE) W40, Tjalve IF Norrköping 07:53:35
8 Brynthe, Henriette (NOR) W21, 07:56:33
9 Lindstedt, Emilia (SWE) W21, 08:23:17
10 Karlsson, Amelie (SWE) W21, 08:28:56

The hill prize in Evertsberg was won by Didrik Hermansen, Norway, with a time of 3.05:58, and Alexandra Morozova, Russia, 3.28:49.

Achievement medals in Ultravasan 90 are awarded to runners who complete the race in medal time. The medal time for men is 9.5 hours. Medal time for women is 11 hours.

Ultravasan 45 Men
1 Nilsson, David (SWE) M21, Högby IF/MotionMetrix, 02:39:33
2 Rosdal, Linus (SWE) M21, KFUM Örebro Friidrott, 02:40:39
3 Olsson, Elov (SWE) M21, Ockelbo SK, 02:45:40
4 Eriksson, Fredrik (SWE) M40, IK Akele, 02:49:57
5 Rudberg, Pontus (SWE) M45, IK Akele, 03:01:59
6 Bergström, Oscar (SWE) M21, Peab IF, 03:04:28
7 Johansson, Torbjörn (SWE) M45, 03:04:53
8 Sand, Daniel (SWE) M35, 03:08:21
9 Nilsson, Peter (SWE) M21, Hässelby SK, 03:09:19
10 Gustafsson, Johan (SWE) M50, IFK Mora FIK, 03:11:28

Ultravasan 45 Women
1 Ring, Lisa (SWE) W21, IK nocout.se, 03:03:00
2 Nunige, Jasmin (SUI) W45, Track Club Davos, 03:12:41
3 Byhlinder, Sofia (SWE) W21, Runnersway IF, 03:15:22
4 Larsson, Camilla (SWE) W40, 03:25:51
5 Nilsson, Annika (SWE) W35, IK Akele, 03:27:35
6 Klevmar Vånder, Petra (SWE) W50, Fysioterapicentrum Väst, 03:31:26
7 Ziegler, Ingrid (SWE) W40, Örebro AIK, 03:31:50
8 Hellsten, Liselotte (SWE) W21, Hemlingby LK, 03:34:07
9 Nilsson, Maria (SWE) W21, 03:40:21
10 Holm, Sara (SWE) W21, Strömstad löparklubb, 03:40:47

See all results

FACTS/Ultravasan winners 2014–2018
Ultravasan 90, Men
2014 Jonas Buud, IFK Mora FK (SWE), 6.02.03
2015 Jonas Buud, IFK Mora FK (SWE), 5.45.08 (Record time)
2016 Jarle Risa, Undheim IL (NOR), 6.11.49
2017 Elov Olsson, Ockelbo SK (SWE), 6.07.37
2018 Fritjof Fagerlund, LK Roslagen (SWE), 6.01.56

Ultravasan 90, Women
2014 Holly Rush, Team Bath AC (GBR), 7.09.04
2015 Jasmin Nunige, Switzerland (SUI), 7.02.35
2016 Jasmin Nunige, Track Club Davos (SUI), 6.54.32
2017 Ida Nilsson, Högby IF (SWE), 6.51.26
2018 Alexandra Morozova, (RUS), 6.43.55 (New record time!)

Ultravasan 45, Men
2014 Roman Ryapolov, IFK Mora FK (RUS), 2.49.47
2015 Fritjof Fagerlund, Rånäs 4H (SWE), 2.45.30
2016 Roman Ryapolov, IFK Mora OK (RUS), 2.41.47
2017 Erik Anfält, Örebro AIK (SWE), 2.40.28
2018 David Nilsson, Högby IF/MotionMetrix, SWE, 2.39.33 (New record time!)

Ultravasan 45, Women
2014 Gloria Vinstedt, Sweden (SWE), 3.28.13
2015 Caroline Dubois, France (FRA), 3.13.22
2016 Lisa Ring, IK Nocout.se (SWE), 3.04.18
2017 Joasia Zakrzewski, (GBR), 3.06.12
2018 Lisa Ring, IK nocout.se, (SWE), 3.03.00 (New record time!)

See everyone crossing the finish line again:
www.vasaloppet.tv

Footnote: Ultra is the name of races longer than the marathon distance of 42,195 metres.

This year’s Kranskulla is Sara Wadman and the Kransmas is Joakim Kullberg.

Registration for the Vasaloppet Summer Week 2019
Opens on Sunday, September 16, 2018 at 09:00 on vasaloppet.se