MEET RUNE LARSSON
The father of Swedish ultra running? A living legend? A supernatural force? If you didn’t know about him until now, we bet you will after diving deeper into the kaleidoscopic world of Rune. Let yourself be inspired.
RUN YOUR LIFE
Run your life portraits put focus on the contrasting achievements and peculiar performances of characters that are as controversial as astonishing. Who are they? Why are they? And what is the story behind?
RUNE LARSSON
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LOCATION : Sjuntorp - Sweden
LOCATION : Sjuntorp - Sweden
IS HE FOR REAL?
Write a short biography about Rune Larsson? Impossible! But ok, we’ll try. This man has the ability to stretch his mind, his performance and his boundaries like no one else. Although he’s very modest about it, his resume holds remarkable info.Whether it is crossing the Atlantic by rowing; running between San Diego and New Jersey without support; 3 x winner of the most difficult ultra-distance race in the world “Spartathlon”; climbing the Aconcagua - the highest mountain in the Americas; or walking up and down Sweden. The list is long of things to brag about, but this champion stays humble.
The unstoppable force called Rune has worked as a teacher, been a paratrooper in the military, a United Nations peacekeeper, nailing it as a Runner’s World employee, written popular books and keeps on doing cherished lectures. Add a couple of awards and records as sprinkles on top, and you’ve got yourself a Mr Larsson cocktail. The most extraordinary one on the menu.
THE ART OF MIND STRETCHING
Rune Larsson was born in 1956, and lives in Trollhättan together with his iron woman wife Mary, who’s also an exceptional endurance athlete and Spartathlon multi-winner (more on her later…). While filming the portrait he kept on pointing out that she was a better runner than him and that “women are underrated when it comes to extreme endurance”. Together they’ve been on mind-blowing adventures all over the world, stories that qualify for movie material anytime.
What strikes us most about Rune Larsson, is his mental strength. His ability to mentally prepare, move barriers, foresee scenarios, and find solutions before there is a problem to solve. Sports psychology incarnated. “Thoughts can take different paths through one’s mind. I clear the trails for my thoughts by reinforcing certain reactions and attitudes. Much of this is simply done by thinking of how I want to react”. Basically, it’s all in your head. And when everything comes around, isn’t it where all adventures need to start?
