Autumn has begun to make its way to Östersund, Sweden. A couple of kilometers from the ski stadium, right next to where the winter ski tracks start or end, live a large part of the Swedish long-distance elite. Within a radius of one hundred meters, the postman delivers mail to Ida Dahl and Eddie Edström, Max Novak, Oskar Kardin, and Emil Persson, and just to name a few:

“It is clear that it is an advantage that there are many of us who live here in Östersund. It means that you always have partners during training. If I say I’m going to do a long training, I always get company,” says Emil Persson.

Does this training community add extra prestige to being the best in the neighborhood?

“In training, there are never any ‘hard feelings,’ and not really in competition either. I always want to win there, regardless of whether we live next door or not,” smiles Emil Persson.

Persson entered the summer training with an excellent season in Ski Classics last winter, winning three races (Individual Prologue, Tartu Marathon, and the final race Ylläs-Levi) and was on the podium in three more events (Vasaloppet, Birkebeinerrennet, and Årefjällsloppet).

These results mean he was second in this winter’s Ski Classics overall.

But that’s history. Now, the 27-year-old has his sights set on the winter season, which kicks off in Bad Gastein, Austria, in December:

“I had a really good start to the summer training. May and June were really good, but then there was a break in August when I got Covid. It seems that I managed it easy compared to many others, but I took it extra ‘piano’ when I started,” says Emil Persson, who had a couple of competitive heavy weekends with Topprullen and Alliansloppet after returning from Covid.

But then Emil showed class when he crushed all opposition at Värnamorullen last weekend.

He was solo early in the race and could stay away and win with superior performance. This, among other things, over the “neighbor” Max Novak, who has achieved great success in the rollerski races in recent years, months, and weeks.

Max Novak pointed out that the training time on the long sessions is getting longer. Do you agree with that?

“Yes, absolutely. There is at least one session per week for four to five hours. But more often, two or three such sessions. And they are getting longer. During my first two years, training of four hours was rather “long” long training. But now, five hours is common; it can be six hours and, in rare cases, even seven hours. In the five years, I’ve been in this long-distance business, we’ve put in an hour a year. So, I worry for the next few years if it will continue like this. Then there will be long days,” says Persson with a smile.

What does the long training provide?

“You get a ‘hard body’ able to stand the distance. But that is what it is mainly about, the time. It’s slow pace; you can say that we go and update ourselves on what’s happening here in the area,” laughs Persson. 

Emil Persson’s biggest goal for the upcoming winter is the 90km race Vasaloppet, between Sälen and Mora. And it is noteworthy that his placing streak since his debut in 2016 has improved.

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And if Persson continues the path with an even better Vasaloppet result, it means that he breaks the Swedish winless streak (or, if you prefer, the Norwegian winning streak) since Jörgen Brink’s victory in 2012:

“I have Vasaloppet in my head during the training sessions. And I am convinced that I have what it takes to win. There it’s about having the day, good punch, and good skis. Then it became clear last winter that the whole team needs to succeed. Last winter, for example, Max and I were alone from our respective teams; Andreas Nygaard (Vasaloppet winner who competes for Team Ragde Charge), on the other hand, had many teammates to work with. But if we succeed on that day, we can ski as a team all the way in, and so you have the top shape; top skis, and “that day,” then I absolutely have a good chance,” concludes Emil Persson.