During Season XII, Johannes Eklöf had his big breakthrough in Ski Classics with a win at Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge and a podium at Jizerská50. Last winter, however, the Swedish Pro Team athlete had a more challenging season, with 7th place as his best result at both Marcialonga and Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge.

“It was a step backward. A medium season, not at all what I hoped for,” says Eklöf to Langd.se. 

Later this week, there will be an interview with Eklöf about what he learned from last winter and his thoughts about the upcoming season.

After winter, the dryland training season started well. Johannes had a strong running race at Göteborgsvarvet (a half marathon in Göteborg, Sweden) and finished 25th, with a total time of 1 hour 12 minutes and 33 seconds:

“Having a different focus for a few weeks has been very fun. The goal was to run under 1h15,” says Eklöf.

Will there be more running competitions in the future?

“Yes, the plan is to run the Stockholm Marathon next weekend. I have run a marathon before; it was six years ago. Then I ran in 2h38. It would be nice to beat that time,” concludes Johannes Eklöf.

Are you interested in long-distance skiing and Ski Classics? Click here to read more about it.