Interview with Florian Grasel

08.10.2023

The 40-year-old IT expert, IT entrepreneur and Austria's most successful ultra trail runner Florian Grasel lives in the Bucklige Welt in Lower Austria.

He centres his life around his wife and twins. He was already the endurance type at sports high school, but developed into a workaholic in the IT industry. It wasn't until he was around 30 that he took up running and became a runningaholic. He has been one of Austria's best trail runners since finishing ninth in the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc 2018 and is a household name both nationally and internationally. Balance is his magic word - by focussing on the essentials, he strives day after day to harmonise his life's tasks and loves.

Running instead of flying

Do you think that the mountains can be used for sport and protected at the same time? Or are we simply ignoring the fact that our heavy consumption is destroying the mountains and the environment?

Yes, I definitely think that you can use the mountains for sport and protect them at the same time. We trail runners in particular hopefully leave nothing behind except our footprints, which is why I believe that most of us are travelling as sustainably as possible. However, the journey to the mountain needs to be questioned. In my case, I live in Lower Austria, so as a lowland Tyrolean without mountains, there is often no other option but to use the car. But I try to do it as rarely as possible and above all to train at home. In terms of travelling, I have two areas that make travelling necessary - my sport, ultra trail running, and my work. For both, I try not to make long motorised journeys. I also endeavour to make my equipment as sustainable and durable as possible.

On your tours, you are often surrounded by beautiful scenery. Can you enjoy it and what are you personally doing to help protect mountain nature and the climate?

Everything I do, I do because of nature. It is my balance to work and I can enjoy nature with all its extreme facets very intensively. That's why I'm very environmentally aware and always do everything I can to minimise my ecological footprint. I enjoy spending time outdoors and inhaling nature and everything it has to offer.

Do protected areas and restrictions to preserve valuable habitats make sense, or should the mountains generally remain freely accessible - and personal responsibility be required?

Even more people are now travelling in the mountains due to the coronavirus. I'm also experiencing this in Lower Austria. More education would definitely be important. Protection zones: Yes. Especially for animals - you can certainly achieve a lot here with education and ensure that everyone can contribute, respect zones and travel as gently as possible in nature.

Was tust du, um dein persönliches Wagnis möglichst sicher und umweltbewusst anzugehen?

I make sure that I keep my necessary journeys as short as possible. I try to avoid all unnecessary flights and journeys. That's why I mainly train in the area around where I live in Lower Austria, especially in winter. I've run up and down my local hill around 150 times so far this year, and I've already done it 100 times in one weekend (that's 11,100 metres more altitude than the UTMB, please note). I have a kind of love-hate relationship with it, but it's definitely a mental challenge. And it definitely helps with the races. I also combine my commute to work with training, which I largely do by bike, which my customers also appreciate and approve of. For example, to avoid having to fly, I ran from Vienna to Copenhagen for a conference - a unique 1000 kilometres in 20 days.

Congratulations, but not everyone can do that.

That is clear. Of course that was a one-off, in normal everyday life there is usually no other option than to use normal transport.

What is the most important thing to be able to cover the enormous distances you cover as safely as possible?

The most important thing is to give your body enough time to adapt to the strain. Our cardiovascular system adapts quickly, but the ligaments, tendons and joints take much longer. Unfortunately, they don't respond until the very end and by the time they do, it's often too late. So: give your body time and slowly approach longer distances.

Would you describe mountaineering and climbing as a creative activity?

Yes, because you discover new paths, make transgressions, you can certainly express yourself creatively and give your achievements a personal motto. I absolutely do that and I really enjoy it.

Is your ability to take risks innate or can it be learnt? Where does this urge to want to go out into danger, this willingness to dare, come from?

The passion actually came to me - as a child, I was influenced by my family and spent a lot of time in nature, but after I founded my company, I did almost nothing at all for almost 10 years and only then did this passion awaken again.