Patrik Wägeli started his sporting career as an orienteering runner and made it into the Swiss Junior National Team. He subsequently switched to road running and with a time of 2:17:02 in his sixth marathon, achieved the qualifying standard for the European Championships in Frankfurt at the end of October. 

You undercut your best time by six minutes and the qualifying standard for the European Championship by two and a half minutes. Can you explain how you achieved this time? 

I focussed more on the sport over the past 2 years, and this year, I subordinated everything to the 2018 European Championships goal. In 2014, I increased my training time by around 50 percent and adapted my work and environment to the sport. As a result, I knew that I would become faster. 

I felt in good shape and knew that I could achieve a time of 2:18 in Frankfurt under good conditions. However, there were two hurdles that I needed to overcome that day. Firstly, strong gusts of wind of up to 80 km/h were announced, and secondly, there was only one group that wanted to complete the first half in 68 minutes and another, which wanted to complete the first 21 km in 70 minutes. In such a strong wind, it was clear to me that I didn’t want to run alone. I therefore decided to run with the faster group. I felt great right from the start. I only consciously looked at my watch for the second time after 20 km, as I trusted the tempo of the group. At the half-marathon mark, I was running at my previous half marathon personal best time. At that moment, I was certain I could achieve a fast time that day. The group consisted of 10 to 15 runners up until 25 km. From 34 km onwards, each member of the group started running alone. It was then that I realised I was quite exhausted, but I was still convinced I could fight it out for the remaining 8 km. 

Your performance has steadily increased over the last few years. In your eyes, what are the most important factors for your success?

I think the most important factor for success is to home in on a goal and do everything you can to achieve it. This includes regular training sessions, a well thought out training plan, staying power, and an environment that is conducive to your sport. You not only have to want the success, but you need to have the courage to set yourself a major goal. Small goals only bring about small successes and won’t really make you faster or better. That’s how it is with me, at any rate.

You are a master farmer and run up to 220 km per week. What does your everyday work and training look like?

I train for a major goal and know that I can only achieve this if I stick to my training plan and complete the training units.

Depending on the season, around 2-7 people work full time on the farm that I run with my father. This corresponds to roughly 55 hours a week per person. I work part-time on the farm, and am also a part-time local agent at an insurance company. When it comes to my daily schedule, my training is on a par with the farm work that I am obligated to do. 

I usually work from 6:00 to 18.30. However, 1 to 3 training units are also integrated into my daily routine. This therefore amounts to a workload of roughly 60-70 percent.

Here is an example of my working/ training day: 

06:00: Milking cows and feeding horses.
07:15: Breakfast.
07:30: Ploughing / seeding / fertilising, or other field work.
10:00: 17-km endurance run and strength training.
12:15: Lunch.
13:15: Office work / customer consultation appointments.
14:30: Field work.
17:15: Interval training / second running training unit or alternative training.

Your roots lie in orienteering, which usually involves a lifelong connection. On what grounds did you decide to turn your back on this sport? What do you find fascinating about road running?

I still find orienteering a brilliant sport even today. I am very glad that this sport has shaped my youth. During the orienteering season, there are at least one to two competitions every second weekend. In the elite class, you also need to train abroad very often. In a marathon, however, I can do practically all my training at home or in the region and can specifically prepare myself for a few competitions a year. On the one hand, I can thus continue to run the farm with my father and on the other, I really like training specifically for a competition for six months. 

Do you have a secret tip you would be willing to share with us?

It is very important to train hard and a lot, but this only makes sense if you take breaks and incorporate a lot of variety into your training.

However, your training should only be hard enough to ensure that your body and head, in particular, are prepared to give their all on the day. You should save your willingness to suffer for the important competition.

Foto: ZVG