Krupicka: “Ultrarail? Running and competing with nature makes me feel good…”

From our correspondent Simone Battaggia

October 14
– TRENT

Running for kilometers and kilometres, in boundless spaces, uphill and on the plain, to feel part of nature, connect with it, feel alive. Anton Krupicka is this and much more: the 40-year-old American, ultratrail legend, is a person who has many things to tell and who does so willingly. Growing up in Nebraska, he took part in his first marathon at 12; then he moved to Colorado, where within two years he graduated in physics, philosophy and geology and began an extraordinary career as an ultramarathon runner. “I don’t come from a family of athletes – he told the large audience at the Philharmonic -, I simply felt straight away that running gave me pleasure, made me feel good, and my father took me to races allowing me to feel this instinct. And doing it outside the box, without the rigidity of training tables or technicians telling you what to do, allowed me to experience it in my own way, to really see how far I could push myself. I believe running is a very personal expression. Maybe as a self-taught I made a mistake, maybe I would have injured myself less, but it wouldn’t have been my path.”

THE VALUE OF SIMPLICITY – Between 2006 and 2010 Krupicka won the most legendary races in America, from the Leadville 100 – 2006 and 2007 – to the American River 50 mile, up to the Miwok 100 k Trail Race. Always with his beard, often bare-chested, always with a minimal style. “I believe that simplicity is a value, but it doesn’t depend on what you wear or how you keep your hair. I simply felt comfortable racing like that, but then unfortunately this also became a kind of brand.” However, the most salient experiences in Europe date back to ten years ago, with the victory at the Lavaredo Ultra Trail 2014. “Compared to America, competing is a completely different thing – he explains -. In America ultra runs have more to do with a lifestyle, also linked to the fact that you race on open, free and protected territories, while here in Europe in the mountains there are often refuges where you can drink coffee and ascent. They are two different worlds.” Krupicka had to leave racing in 2016 due to injury, but returned to the Leadville 100 in 2021, finishing third. “After that injury I felt fit again. Participating 15 years after my first victory had above all that value: if before I was chasing victory, two years ago the real achievement was seeing that I could still finish that race. I believe that in general physical pain has value, because it allows you to have a relationship with your body, to feel that you are alive. Last July I climbed Longs Peak for the hundredth time, near my home in Colorado. Each of these climbs was hard and each different, because it is a non-trivial mountain and because the conditions change, depending on the seasons and other factors. Every time I was able to measure myself with nature, feel its greatness. Often our lives are made up only of intellectual activity, from working to moving everything is mediated, everything takes place in a protected, controlled environment. Being in nature, working hard allows you to feel that she is great, that she is substantially indifferent to your affairs, that you are infinitely small compared to her. And to those who feel attracted to ultrarunning I simply say to try, to let this instinct manifest itself, to see what it’s really like.”