Johannes Eklöf, who competes for Ski Team Göhlins in Ski Classics, took part in the Swedish Championships in the half marathon last weekend and finished with an impressive time.

The championship took place during the Kungsholmen Runt race, where Johannes Eklöf lined up at the start and set a new personal best. His goal before the race was to complete the 21 kilometers in under 1 hour and 10 minutes.

He achieved that, and for the first time, he also managed to run the first 10 kilometers in under 33 minutes. He finished in 28th place overall.

“As so often happens in running, the pace felt very comfortable at the beginning, and I finally managed—after what must be my tenth serious attempt—to get under 33 minutes (32:26) for the first 10km of the race,” he wrote on his Instagram account.

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Achieved his dream goal

After the tough start, he had to fight to meet his set goal. But in the end, he crossed the finish line at 1:09:55.

“I had 1:10 as a dream goal, but I was really unsure if my legs had it in them. I set a PB in the first 10km and then had to let runner after runner pass me, but I managed to hold it together just enough to barely make it under the dream mark,” he said in a comment to Langd.se after the race.

The conditions in Stockholm were optimal, with both the weather and the course working in his favor.

“It was luxurious to be able to run a race on a completely flat course with no wind and just 7–8 degrees Celsius in the air, along with such a strong starting field.”

Johannes Eklöf has more running competitions planned, with the next one taking place on the last weekend of May.

“Stockholm Marathon will be my next race,” he says in conclusion.

Viktor Brännmark, who ended his ski career last year, has instead focused on running and also competed in the Swedish Half Marathon Championships. He finished in 10th place with a time of 1:06:48.

HERE you can find the full results.

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