Historically speaking, there is no female athlete that has left a stronger impression on mountain running than Andrea Mayr. Sounds a bit like the good old times, doesn’t it? Well, after all, she has been running for ages, so to speak, with the 2002 World Mountain Running Championships in Innsbruck being her first big event. Back then, at the tender age of 22, she came 23rd.

In the meantime, 21 years have passed and Mayr has won six WC titles in addition to a further three single medals (the last being silver in Chiang Mai 2022), garnished with triumphs at four European Championships, two ski mountaineering WC titles, three gold medals at the Empire State Building Run-Up, an uncontested Austrian marathon record, two Olympic games participations, one duathlon vice-European Champion title and 45 Austrian national championships. Empire State Building Run-Up, ein immer noch gültiger österreichischer Rekord im Marathon, zwei Olympiateilnahmen, ein Vize-Europameistertitel im Duathlon, und 45 österreichische Staatsmeisterschaften.

“It may be 45 titles or slightly less or slightly more - it is too much effort to add them all up,” she says before adding a simple truth: “If I was just in it for the numbers, I would denigrate every single achievement.” With that in mind it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that one of her best moments was a third rather than a first place. “In 2009 I had to rest for three months after a foot surgery and I only started walking again six weeks prior to the European Championships in Telfes im Stubai. And I won bronze. It may have been a disappointment for many others, but for me personally it was a victory.”

And now she is back - or rather, she never left - and will participate in Innsbruck and Stubai, at the age of 43. For ten years she has been saying that “this will be my final season.” But not only is she still among the Austrian elite, she is the best female runner in Austria and one of the best in the world. ist die Beste des Landes und immer noch eine der Besten der Welt.

“When I heard that the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships would be staged in my home country, I thought: Well, I shall try again.”

Mayr surprises by stating that “currently I have relatively little time, as my partner and myself are taking in a foster child, a girl of four years who will move in with us in mid-March. This is why I think these are going to be my last World Championships - so it is even more exciting to have them on home ground.”

The athlete, who works as a senior physician for orthopedic surgery at the Salzkammergut hospital in Gmunden, is really looking forward to the event: “It is going to be a celebration and I am hoping for lots of support from the local crowd. It is really motivating to be cheered on by the masses along the route, as was the case in Vienna where they chanted my name when I ended up breaking the Austrian record or at the European Mountain Running Championships in Heiligenblut. I still get goose bumps just thinking back to the final kilometer leading up to the Franz-Josef-Höhe where the spectators formed a guard of honor on both sides of the trail and cheered me on.”

While the preparations for a competition may be acting as some kind of extra push, they also cause a certain degree of pressure. In the days leading up to a race, Mayr usually doesn’t feel too good; she is more than a little nervous. “I have always been extremely nervous, which hasn’t improved with age. As soon as I am on the starting line though, all worries are gone, and crossing the finishing line makes up for a lot.”

Routine, experience and the right attitude have all played a role in shaping Andrea Mayr. She knows what she is capable of and she is aware of her standing within the mountain running scene, all without taking herself too seriously. “When I report for duty at the hospital the day after a race it doesn’t matter whether I have won a medal or not - and that’s the way it should be. My life and my work are grounding. And once my foster child has moved in, my priorities will change.”

That notwithstanding, the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships 2023 Innsbruck-Stubai still rank high on Mayr’s list of priorities. “I don’t know anything about the route for the Vertical yet but I will definitely check it out prior to the race. It’s not going to be easy, the competition is strong: Switzerland, the US, Kenya, Uganda - and each country is represented not by one but by several top athletes.”

She is on great terms with the Italians and at times, when she is exercising south of the Brenner, she almost feels as if she was part of their team. Regarding her own team, the top athlete - who wears Löffler and inov-8 for sustainability reasons - has an optimistic outlook for the future: “There’s no need to worry about the future of our sport once I have quit.”

The organizers of the Stubaier Berglauf, Ernst Künz and Andreas Stern, are looking forward to seeing Mayr run on their home turf once again. She has participated in numerous Schlickeralm runs and only has good memories. “I feel really good when I am in Stubai,” she says.

It almost feels as if she was slightly melancholic but that may be deceiving, and it makes one wonder if these are really going to be her last World Championships.

Fotos: (c) ÖLV / Riedenbauer, Marco Gulberti, WMTRC 2021 Chiang Mai, Julia Zraunig