An Arctic Backyard instead of Barkley Marathons, an Interview with Ultrarunner Anna Carlsson

Anna Carlsson running in the Arctics. Photo Emil Sergel.

She calls it cheap therapy, running in the loneliness of the darkness in the Arctic. It has made her stronger than most — strong enough to challenge The Barkley Marathons. But Corona forced her to find a new challenge. This weekend Anna Carlsson will be one of the elite runners of the Quarantine Backyard Ultra, where she’ll be running on a frozen lake in temperatures below 20°F/-6°C.

The Swedish Mountains is the ideal place to go if you’re looking for peace of mind. Not counting the tourists, the village of Abisko is only home to around 130 people. And right now there are no tourists to count.

— Usually it doesn't feel small because people come from all over the world to watch the northern lights, ski, snowmobile, hike and enjoy the midnight sun. But due to the situation with COVID-19, it's very, very calm right now and hotels and mountain huts are closing, says Anna Carlsson, age 34.

Together with Roger Marklund, Anna runs a tourism company, Activities in Abisko, which has obviously been affected by the current crisis. Although Roger normally does the bulk of the work, Anna works as a guide and takes care of a small hostel.

She also spends endless hours alone with Scout in the wild landscape of the Swedish mountains, where there’s winter more than half the year, but midnight sun in the summer. Scout is her dog (an Alaskan Malamute), and he reminds her of what she values most in life.

Anna together with her belowed friend Scout. In the winter, Scout can run for many, many hours in the mountains, but during summer-time he tends to get too hot and can only manage shorter runs.

Scout is Anna’s companion on most of her runs in the Arctic

Torneträsk in Abisko, which has a beautiful view of the Lapponian Gate, will be Anna’s own “backyard”. Photo Emil Sergel.

— I had some problem with my hip and could barely train until the end of January this year. But after that, I've been running, or moving, 3-4 hours a day on weekdays plus longer runs on weekends.

A weekend long-run for Anna means 5-10 hours, often including lots of uphills. Her longest run in preparation for The Barkley Marathons, was 14.5 hours and 120 km, running on snowmobile tracks at night.

— And then I ended up with 15 hours on skis the following weekend, because I got a little too much feeling!

That’s Anna Carlsson’s training in a nutshell. She alternates between doing what she feels like, and some kind of planning. But mostly just lots and lots of time on feet, often in deep snow or on rolling stones, discovering new routes and exploring new places, combined with strength training.

— I don’t think about it as training, I’m just spending time outside.

In October 2019 she got an entry to her dream race, the Barkley Marathons, after having completed 37 loops at Big’s Backyard Ultra. As a virgin, Anna didn’t have any high ambitions for Barkley.

— My hope was to go there and run and not mess up. Maybe do a fun run and possibly another loop, she says and laughs.

No woman has finished a fun run at the Barkley since 2012. No woman has ever finished four loops. Anna Carlsson’s definition of “not messing up” says a lot about her humility.

— I'm usually better at seeing what I could have done better. But I am working on this “being proud thing”.

When doing hill training with Johan Steene in Stockholm, Anna had no poles. "You take what you find".

Winding back to 2010, when Anna Carlsson was working in a runner’s store in Stockholm and doing her masters in marine biology. That’s when she started running more seriously, but originally not to perform well — until she finished with a time of 3:01 at her marathon debut Stockholm Marathon, ending up 24th in the Swedish Championships.

But things weren’t quite alright.

— I didn't really see the purpose of life. I was very strict with training, food and routines — which is not always bad! But for me it felt like a prison. I had to plan weeks ahead to have dinner with a friend, since I had to reschedule training and find a "safe" way to eat food that was not on my OK list.

She had been struggling with eating disorders since she was 17. With dieting and controlled “cheating days” she thought she had it all in check. Until the increased training paid her back with a hip injury

— I couldn't train as usual and I realized that I had no control at all and that I had to change something. I had to move to the countryside!

In 2013 Anna moved to Åre, broke all her previous routines, and worked at a mountain lodge in the mountain range Sylarna. She took up running again to be able to get somewhere in the mountains, although still struggling with bulimia and depression.

— I felt totally useless. I mean, I was happy with life but still couldn't handle food. During this time I was outdoors a lot and started to like camping and running alone.

Then came Scout, in 2015. By chance Anna got a job as a guide in Abisko and decided to go there for the winter. She brought Scout with her.

— I've always been curious about the far North and my mom was born in Kiruna. I don't really know how I ended up staying though, she says with another characteristic laugh.

Apparently it was the right move. The outdoor hours alone with her dog removed the filters and made her feel more and think less. They also taught her to be present in the here and now. She began a journey inward and finally started coming to terms with herself.

— Somehow being away from the rest of the world and running alone in the mountains with Scout, has just stabilized my mind. There’s something about moving out of joy and not having to think about if I am allowed to eat this or that. Not always measuring everything I do.

And Anna is happy with less. This winter she rented out her apartment to some of her employees and lived four months in a caravan, just like she had that first winter in Abisko.

Living in a caravan beneath the Northern Lights

A caravan was Anna's home during her first winter in Abisko.

This winter she rented out her apartment for four months and made the caravan her home again.

Abisko is famous for its frequently appearing Auroras, also known as Northern Lights or Polar lights.

Roger Marklund

Life in the Arctics is not all about running

Sauna

Ultrarunning Academy coaches Johnny and Jënni enjoy the sauna on lake Torneträsk

Ultrarunning Academy coach Ellen taking an ice-cold bath in lake Torneträsk

For Anna, running is freedom and a way of travelling, both in nature and within herself.

— It's also cheap therapy! she says before correcting herself. Ok, quite expensive nowadays, she says when remembering all the costs involved with travelling to places to run.

In 2017 she registered for Swedish Alpine Ultra, a 107K race along the famous hiking trail Kungsleden, from Nikkaluokta to Abisko.

— I thought it would be a challenge, to train without competing. The goal was to get to the finish line and then sit on a rock and drink coffee and eat Snickers.

Anna finished third overall, beating the women’s course record by more than half an hour as well as finishing almost six hours ahead of the second woman. In fact, she has only ever lost an ultra race in Sweden once, her second race in 2017, Sätila Trail 120K.

Her international debut, Transgrancanaria in 2019, ended with a DNF. At TDS the same year she was number four, despite a broken stick, her headlamp not working and taking a few wrong turns.

Roger and Anna at TDS during the UTMB-week

After 34 loops at Älvdalen Backyard Ultra in June 2019, in the presence of Gary “Lazarus Lake” Cantrell and beaten only by Johan Steene himself, Anna was invited to Big’s Backyard Ultra last year. With high hopes and the strength to be able to do more, she dropped out after “only” 37 loops.

— I had a little too much fun and not enough patience from the beginning. And then when it wasn't fun anymore and it started to get tough, I quit. I had told myself before that it was okay to DNF when I no longer could finish a loop in time, but I couldn't force myself to that point and I'm very disappointed and angry at myself for that.

Lately she has started focusing more on the importance of the mind, a skill that is particularly important in a backyard ultra. Ultrarunner and Swedish 48-hour record holder Sten Orsvärn has started to help her with the mental aspects.That could come in handy this Saturday, when she’ll be faced with a real mental challenge.

Anna is part of the elite field of the world’s greatest backyard ultra event ever, a virtual backyard ultra called Personal Peak Quarantine Backyard Ultra.

— I think it's a really good initiative and I think it will bring joy to many people, especially those who are more affected by all the lock-downs than we are in Sweden. Myself, I'm not really going to see it as a race, but rather as good training and a chance to participate in a "good cause", says the woman who has difficulties not to compete.

The race will certainly have a strong starting field. Anna will be joined by last year’s winner at Big’s Backyard Ultra, Maggie Guterl, and Courtney Dauwalter who pushed Johan Steene to his 68-hour win in 2018. In total there will be over 2 000 participants joining from all over the world, running on treadmills, in their apartments or gardens or outside.

— It's cool that so many people from all over the world have signed up. I mean, some are even going to run in their own gardens/houses since they're not allowed to go anywhere else.

Roger has paved a course on the frozen lake Torneträsk in Abisko, which has a beautiful view of the Lapponian Gate. Anna will run her 6,7 km route here during the Quarantine Backyard Ultra.

Anna, who never says no to a challenge, will run on the frozen lake Torneträsk in Abisko, which has a beautiful view of the Lapponian Gate.

Temperatures will not rise above 20°F/-6°C and the wind will be rather chilly.

Roger paving the course for Anna on lake Torneträsk. Photo Emil Sergel.

Roger has already paved a course on the lake. But a storm has covered everything in snow and they will have to do it all over again, the day before the race.

Preparing the course

— My biggest concern is the weather. If it's windy and snowy I will have a really hard time, since the lake is very exposed and I might have to run in deep snow. Of course the temperature can also be a problem in the end, but if it stays above -15°C I will be fine.

On the other hand, she will be running on a course with basically no elevation. But she emphasizes that it’s not possible to compare participants running in very different conditions.

— But it's stunningly beautiful with all the mountains around, and Roger and the dogs will be in the corral, so hopefully I’ll make it through the first day!

Written by Daniel Westergren (@ultrawestis), for Ultrarunning Academy
Pictures by Anna Carlsson (@amb.aurore), Roger Marklund (Activities in Abisko)