Multi-sport athlete Marika Wagner:
"I'M MADE FOR LONG DISTANCES" Text: Anna Kernell / Photo: Otto Norin
Meet Marika Wagner, whose inexhaustible energy and sisu can inspire even the laziest couch potatoes. Marika is perseverance personified. A top multi-sport athlete who won the Åre Extreme Challenge and Ö till Ö – where she also became the first woman to finish in less than 9 hours – she's also finished on the podium every time she's raced. She cycled across the finish line in fourth place in the duo class of the Silk Road Mountain Race, a 1,800-kilometre long race through Kyrgyzstan where over a third of the participants dropped out. And that's just the big ones – she's taken part in countless demanding adventure races worldwide in mountains, jungles and wetlands. We could keep going through all the races and results; instead, let's get to know the person behind the achievements a little better and have a look at what makes Marika tick. WHAT DRIVES YOU? – I've had a competitive streak since I was little. I don't want to call it a winning mentality because that's not quite it – the drive isn't to win but to compete. I want to push myself and do my absolute best. If I had to choose between coming second in a tight, exciting race or an easy win, I'd choose the close race every time. It's the adventure, the challenge itself, and being out in nature. – I gave a lecture where I talked about adventure racing and motivation and said that being out in nature really motivated me and made me push that little bit harder. Someone in the audience objected and said you can get just as much motivation on the running track – I agreed in the moment because I didn't want to argue in the middle of my talk, but I really don't agree. The wilderness provides an extra challenge, it's not sanitised and predictable and it's a very different experience than on your local running track with a clubhouse or other amenities. Adventure racing is a really extreme form of competition
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– what attracts you to it? – No matter how hard you train, an adventure race is tough. Moving quickly in extreme environments such as mountains and jungles means giving it everything you've got. You can't take it easy. It will place the utmost demands on you – physically and mentally. If you're in a team, there's an extra dimension and you've always got to think, ‘what can I do to make life easier for the team? How can we work together as a unit?’ I love this added complexity! – It sounds silly as an adventure racer, but I can't help with navigation – it's not my thing at all. But over the years, I've gained enough skills to understand what the navigator needs. For me, teamwork is about learning your limitations and working out how you can still contribute. – This mindset also translates well to everyday life or work. You don't have to be good at everything, it's ok to depend on others but that doesn't mean you can just switch off once your job is done. You do your part, and you make it easier for others to do their part, too. – I really like the element of competition, that it's possible to win or lose. That's really exciting for me. We challenge ourselves, we do it together, and we do it with nature.
