As the tale goes, back in 2015, 2016, he was eating too much, drinking too much and smoking too much – a story he has become tired of, which, however, doesn’t make it any less true, and which caused Andreas Rieder’s physician to set him on a path to becoming what he is today: A sporting ace.

He only started running in 2018, and when he won the short-distance race at the 2019 Innsbruck Alpine he was probably more astounded than anyone else. “This was the beginning of an ever increasing volume – of more exercising and more contests,” says the athlete from the Ziller Valley. He won’t dispute the fact that he might be setting an example for others who have goals and want to or need to get motivated: “If I truly want something, I will achieve it as long as I do it with intent and won’t shy away from difficult paths. Being lazy or not leaving one’s comfort zone won’t lead to success.”

While he never planned on becoming a sporting ace, he will not pretend that it happened overnight. His training schedule is based on a performance diagnostics conducted by Peter Leo at the Sportclinic Zillertal, which makes a lot of things easier. “I exercise before or after work; my training plan makes sure that whatever I do makes sense and does not only cover the movement category. Structured training sessions lead to a structured private life – after all I want to be able to spend time with my wife and kids,” says Rieder, who can be sure of his family’s support as well as them being present along the race routes to cheer him on.

In his professional life, the athlete – with a personal best of 2 hours 34 minutes for the marathon distance, and 1:10:36 for the half marathon – works shifts in quality management at Innio in Jenbach, which allows him to exercise between six and eight hours per week. “The longer the distances, the longer I need to exercise,” says Rieder, who covered an overall distance of 3,000 km in 2022 and can imagine doing really long distances in future.

She wants to give her all at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships 2023 Innsbruck-Stubai the Trail Short with its approximately 45 kilometers and 3,100 meters in positive altitude will be the Tyrolean’s playground. While he qualified for the title races in Thailand, he refrained from participating due to training and familial reasons. However, Rieder really wants to compete in the WC in his home region. “It would be a lifelong drea come true to be competing for medals in cheered on by my own people.”

After having competed in the European Championsips in El Paso on La Palma, Spain, in July 2022, the WC seems tangible. Will the home turf be of advantage? “Stress and external pressure don’t impact me as much as push me. It will clearly be an advantage to know the route and be able to test-run it several times,” Rieder ponders, before changing his mind: “Running on home turf can be a disadvantage as much as it can be an advantage, as I will know which passages will be particularly hard. Even though you know every stone, you also know where you will suffer the most. Thus, the ones not knowing the route that well might be at an advantage …”

But Andreas Rieder won’t complain, and the thrill of anticipation clearly prevails. Trail running is a booming discipline; if you actively pursue it you can cover a lot of terrain in a short period of time, “not only one but up to three or four peaks in a day.” That the major sports event is important for Tyrol and Austria is self-evident.

“I hope for the WC to be a success, an event to attract global attention. I expect it to put our beautiful region, our stunning trails, in the focus and bring an added value for our tourism industry.”

Rieder himself strives for nothing less than giving his best on day X, which is June 8, 2023, and to prove to himself that he can keep pace with the global elite – on his trails, in his native country.

Fotos: © privat, Brooks