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Zegama Pre Race Interview with World Mountain Running Champion Max King

Posted by Marcus on May 15, 2012 · 2 Comments 

As the previous weekend’s incredible display of mountain running is still fresh in our mind the world’s trail running community will soon turn their attention away from the volcanos of The Canary Islands towards the steep hills of the Pyrenees low country and the “mother” of all mountain marathons – Zegama!

Or to give it its official name Maraton Alpina Zegama-Aizkorri and is part of the SkyRunner 2012 World Series. The majority of the elite field from Transvulcania will be making an appearance as well as some superstar names joining us.

One of those athletes to make the way to Europe is Max King. Most of us will know Max for his incredible prowess at multiple distances and disciplines. Just last week he ran an Olympic qualifier over 3000m in the steeplechase and is the reigning World Mountain Running Champion

Zegama has a reputation for being one of the most brutally challenging marathons around due to the profile. You are either going up or down and coupled with some of the loudest and largest crowds ever witnessed on the side of a mountain for a footrace, the runners will have to be on their game to sneak a podium.

The likes of the UK’s Tom Owens, Nick Clarke, Dakota Jones, Mike Wolfe and Joe Grant could all feature, but with the late scratching of Marco De Gasperi all eyes will be on whether Kilian has recovered enough and Max King is prepared enough after a long flight.

This video was recorded today during a break in the SkyRunning conference and Max shares his predictions for the race and also his potential step up to the longer distance, which will fill his ultra colleagues with some trepidation if he gets his strategy and training right as his speed is something to behold.