Kristin Berglund

About

Kristin Berglund is a Swedish trail runner and physiotherapist who has made the Austrian Alps — where she has lived since moving from Sweden at age nineteen — the training ground for one of the most naturally gifted mountain ultrarunning careers in Europe. Originally drawn to Austria for skiing and mountaineering, she transitioned to competitive trail running around 2014 when a friend invited her to the Trans-Alpine Run, an eight-day, 350-kilometre stage race across the Alps. With no formal coach and no structured training plan — running, as she explains, simply by feel and desire — she progressed rapidly to the front of the international field. In 2019 she finished second at UTMB Mont-Blanc, one of the finest results in Swedish trail running history. She has also placed fourth at Transgrancanaria, fifth at Transvulcania, and won the Großglockner Ultra-Trail twice. Away from the race circuit, she set the women's Fastest Known Time on the Berliner Höhenweg, completing the celebrated alpine traverse in 23 hours and 57 minutes to become the first woman in history to break the 24-hour barrier on that route. Based in the Innsbruck area as a member of the Salomon Running Team Austria, Berglund's success without conventional coaching has made her an icon for instinctive, joy-driven mountain running.

Notable Wins

• — UTMB Mont-Blanc 2nd 2019
• — Großglockner Ultra-Trail winner ×2
• — Berliner Höhenweg women's FKT (23:57
• — first woman sub-24h)
• — 4th Transgrancanaria
• — 5th Transvulcania

Race History