The North Face Run Asa-Ra session 12 with Fanny Borgström and Cecilia Kalla

For session 12, on the 3rd of May, we welcome Cecilia Kalla. She works as a physiotherapist and coach for some of Sweden's top athletes and she has been instrumental in Fanny Borgströms own recovery. 

"-Thanks to Cecilia have I got the right tools to build my body strong and functional enough to recover from my second surgery." /Fanny Borgström

Run Asa-Ra is a place for you to meet, learn, run and be a part of the Stockholm trail running community. We meet once a month and for this season we are happy to introduce pro trail runner Fanny Borgström as our interview host and trail coach. 

After the run we are served a hearty Stamina-Ramen packed with all the nutrition you want post-run to recover and build for further trail running. The Ramen is a signature dish composed for our community by ramen connoisseur Jonas Lindgren at his restaurant, Tengu

Seats are limited- RSVP below.

Session 2, 3rd of February 2024 with Guest Billy White

British chef, race organiser and writer living in Sörmland, Sweden. With over 20 years’ experience working as a chef in some of the World’s best restaurants (including St John, London, Fäviken, Järpen, Mathias Dahlgren, Stockholm) a big interest in being outdoors has led him to step away from the stoves of fine dining kitchens and out into nature. 

Where combining running, hiking and cooking delicious food that not only tastes great but also keeps you going through long days on the trails and in the mountains has become a big passion. Billy has authored one cookbook “Eat, Run, Enjoy, Food for pleasure & performance”  that was voted one of the 20 best food books of 2019 by The Observer. In 2022 Billy founded the trail running races Sörmlands 100 Trail and Equinox Adventure Ultra.

Billys Instagram 

Session 3, 16th of May 2024 with Guest Malin Ewerlöf

She is the Swedish queen of speed! As a 17 year old Malin had her international breakthrough when she won the junior world championship in cross-country running and in 1998 she was at the height of her career being the only participating swede to win a medal at the European Championship, a silver on the sprint distance 800 m. 

For 17 years she held the Swedish record in 800 m (1.59,44) and for 16 years the 1500 m (4.05,49).A few injuries and a series of surgeries down, she had to halt her pro career and focus on coaching others. When Malin is not on the track and doing speed work outs she enjoys Tennis with her fellow track & field athlete Kajsa Bergqvist.

Malins Instagram

Session 4, 6th of April 2024 with Jonathan Albon

Conquer the mountain! Though late to the game in terms of competing, starting at the age of 20, Jonathan certainly made a name for himself quickly. He stormed onto the OCR scene before taking his skills to the hills and mountains, competing in, and winning, many ultra and mountain races alongside obstacle course racing. Jonathan has won both the Spartan and OCR World Championships, which propelled him to worldwide recognition, as well as becoming the Toughest Mini Tour Champion, winning the Spartan European Championships, and taking the win at the renowned Tough Guy race.

However, Jonathan wouldn’t just limit himself to OCR and soon displayed his prowess in skyrunning. After moving to Bergen, Norway, he began to compete in extreme skyrunning events across Europe. He has twice won the final ranking of Sky Extreme Series and has once been the overall winner of the Skyrunner World Series. He also became Ultra SkyRunning World Champion and has claimed Gold at the IAU Trail World Championships. He also managed to smash the course record of the UTMB OCC race at the time, where he took more than 16 minutes off the previous time.

Jonathans Instagram

Session 5, 4th of May 2024 with Fanny Borgström

Fanny was raised in a coastal town in the north part of Sweden. For Fanny this was the perfect place to grow up, as the city was sports obsessed, and it allowed her to enjoy an active lifestyle from a young age. Fanny tried a range of sports, but her main focus was soccer and cross-country skiing.When she finished school as a teenager, Fanny decided to move to the mountains to work and ski. 

This is where she discovered the freedom of running in the mountains. Suddenly, running wasn’t only about time and mile, it was about freedom, exploring and challenges. It wasn’t long before Fanny registered for a race, and here she discovered her hidden talent. The result was good and from that day her passion for racing and running in the mountain was born. From that moment, Fanny has gone on to achieve some fantastic things in her younf career. Her highlights include a silver medal at the Skyrunning world championship and winning Pyrene stage run, which is a seven day race involving 250km and 14.000 gained elevation.

When she isn’t running, Fanny is an avid ski-mountaineer who loves everything that comes with being outside. Away from sport she loves to bake sourdough bread, read a good book, and play ridiculous board games at home as she allows her body to recover from grueling races.

Fannys Instagram

Session 6, 4th of October 2024 with Katie Schide

Katie Schide is a professional trail runner and perhaps the brightest off all trail stars in 2024. In June she won the legendary Western States 100 in Californa. As of August she followed up by winning UMTB 2024 in Chamonix. Not only did she win, but she did it by breaking the women's course record as well.

Katie was born in Maine in 1992. She attended Middlebury College as a geology major, and began racing trails as a master's student at University of Utah. Her geology work eventually led to a doctorate from ETH Zurich. She currently resides in the small alpine village of Saint-Dalmas-le-Selvage in France togehter with her partner and pro trail runner Germain Grangier. In addition to ultramarathons, Schide races skimo.

Katies Instagram

Session 7, 16th of November 2024 with Guest Jacob Zocherman

He is a long distance runner, photojournalist, filmmaker and writer. He grew up in Gothenburg, Sweden and studied photojournalism at Mid Sweden University from 2007. In 2009 Jacob lived in Nairobi and then moved to New York where he worked as assistant to Mr. James Nachtwey. In January 2010 Jacob was one of the first photographers in the earthquake struck Port Au Prince in Haiti. Since then he has documented armed conflicts in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Since 2017 Jacob have also taken on assignments from the running world and 2024 he took the most popular photo in the history of ultra running. Jacob's work have been published in the New York Times, The Guardian and BBC among others. He has been awarded in the Swedish Picture of the year , World Press Photo and his work has been on display in exhibitions in Stockholm, Sienna and Madrid among other places.

Jacobs Instagram