Ferdinand Kraller: Interview with the extreme endurance athlete

Interview with Ferdinand Kraller

TOUR: You were born in 1951, just like the prankster Mike Krüger and pop singer Wolfgang Petry. Krüger retired from the show two years ago, Petry stopped singing "Der Himmel brennt" in 2007. And you?

Ferdinand Kraller: I'm still annoyed that I haven't been able to train as much as planned in recent years. But that was due to the accidents in previous years.

TOUR: What happened?

Ferdinand Kraller: I first had a cycling accident in August 2021 and broke my thigh when a cyclist came out of a driveway and shot me off. I tried to swerve out of the way but didn't stand a chance. The only positive thing about the accident was that I was awarded 10,000 euros in compensation. I used the money to buy a new racing bike straight away. And what a fancy thing it was, one with lots of carbon fibre. Exactly one year later, I had an accident on my roller skis at a training camp in Livigno. I crashed and broke my pelvis.

TOUR: And now?

Ferdinand Kraller: I'm back in full swing. This year, I'll be doing more than 5,000 kilometres on the road bike, and at least 4,000 kilometres on the mountain bike. If the weather plays ball, I could end up with well over 10,000 kilometres this year. That would be my personal record. At 72.

TOUR: How many metres in altitude do you cover?

Ferdinand Kraller: Well, I don't really know exactly. I always reckon on about 500 metres of altitude per 50 kilometres on a road bike. For mountain biking it's more, of course. But please don't ask me exactly how much. The only thing I know are the kilometres. I write them down meticulously and pedantically every day in my little training booklet.

TOUR: Do you still have training mates of the same age?

Ferdinand Kraller: Unfortunately not. In summer, we have a WhatsApp group for our Tuesday rides, but they're all younger and pensioners. It's fun to ride with them, even if they always stop off a bit too often for my taste (grins). Just kidding. It's always fun with them, of course. However, they don't have as much desire to ride as much as I do. That's why I usually ride alone.

TOUR: And who is the oldest in your cycling gang?

Ferdinand Kraller: Always me (laughs).

TOUR: When you were 70, you wanted to cycle up the Großglockner. Did you manage that?

Ferdinand Kraller: What do you think? Of course! Once from Teisendorf to the Glockner and back again. That was a total of 242 kilometres and 4500 metres in altitude.

TOUR: Can I ask you how long it took you to do this?

Ferdinand Kraller: Eleven hours. With breaks.

TOUR: And what did you eat in the meantime?

Ferdinand Kraller: I took a cheese sandwich and a few bars with me. I don't need that much. Drinking is even worse. I'm often not thirsty at all and always forget to drink. I often only do that when I stop for a break. When I came down from the Glockner, I went to a pizzeria in Bruck and ordered a Tonno pizza and a non-alcoholic wheat beer. Then I quickly cycled the 90 kilometres home.

TOUR: Was it very exhausting?

Ferdinand Kraller: Sometimes I ask myself why I do it. But when I'm standing up there on the summit, I wouldn't want to swap places with anyone in the world. Not with anyone.

TOUR: The queen stage of the Tour de France in 2022, which led over the Col du Galibier, then over the Croix de Fer and up to Alpe d'Huez, had as many metres in altitude as your Glockner ride. The only difference between Tom Pidcock, who won the stage, and you is that the Englishman is almost 50 years younger.

Ferdinand Kraller: A few days after the Glockner ride last year, I also wanted to ride 300 kilometres in one day. To Kitzbühel, Wörgl, Chiemsee, Rosenheim and back. I posted this in a WhatsApp group with really good road cyclists, some of whom were under 30.

TOUR: And?

Ferdinand Kraller: Some wrote that they didn't have time. For others it was too long. So I just travelled alone. If you drink and eat well, it's not a problem. Like everything in life, it's just a matter of the mind. It was even better this summer on a ride organised by one of my sponsors. After 70 kilometres we had a hearty breakfast, after 120 kilometres we ate a chicken and in the afternoon we had coffee and a plum tart with lots of cream. That really was the best 200 kilometres of this cycling season. 40 cyclists took part, including Steffi Böhler.

Sometimes I ask myself why I do it. But when I'm standing up there on the summit, I wouldn't want to swap places with anyone in the world. Not with anyone.

TOUR: The cross-country skier has already won several medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships.

Ferdinand Kraller: The woman is amazing. She's just been on a racing bike three times this season.

TOUR: And how many kilometres have you covered in the past few years?

Ferdinand Kraller: On average, in addition to hiking, I usually covered 5,000 to 6,000 kilometres a year. If you extrapolate that to 40 years, that's just over 200,000 kilometres. I've already cycled around the world five times, if you like. This year I feel really fit again.

TOUR: Can you ever get enough?

Ferdinand Kraller: Never. When I get home from cycling, I immediately start watching road races on TV again. I watched the Tour de France live, as well as the Giro and the Vuelta. I sit in front of the TV with a non-alcoholic wheat beer, marvelling at what the guys like Jonas Vingegaard or Wout van Aert are doing. It's madness! When the guys do 4000 metres of climbing in one day and then ride a 40-metre average, that impresses me. It makes me want to set off again the very next day.

TOUR: How do you actually eat?

Ferdinand Kraller: Healthy. We always include a salad and vegetables at lunch and dinner. My wife Kathi and I eat less and less meat. We learnt this from our daughter Kathrin, who has been a vegetarian and herbal teacher for 19 years. She shows my wife and me how great vegetarian dishes such as lentil lasagne or beetroot risotto can taste and how imaginatively you can refine dishes with spices such as cumin and chilli as well as herbs such as wild garlic and lemon thyme. My only problem is the pastries, i.e. steamed dumplings, Kaiserschmarrn and apple strudel. It's impossible for me to say no, not a chance.

TOUR: How did you get into cross-country skiing?

Ferdinand Kraller: I stopped playing football when I was 34 because every bone in my body was aching. Then, on the advice of my friends, I did a mountain run. In the middle of the race, I thought: "Yeah, what are they all doing up there? Now let's finally get going!" They were all far too slow for me, so I overtook them in my first race.

TOUR: How many races have you taken part in?

Ferdinand Kraller: How many will that have been? Maybe 200? There were some really great races. I particularly enjoyed the Jungfrau Marathon. 42 kilometres, almost 2000 metres in altitude. That alone is spectacular when you look up to the Jungfrau. During the race, you can see the famous triumvirate of the Alps: the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau. Along the route, people wave flags, blow their alphorns and ring huge cowbells.

TOUR: And here in the Berchtesgadener Land ...

Ferdinand Kraller: ... I've run up everywhere. To the Watzmann, the Geisberg, the Hochries. Those were really wild times in the 70s and 80s, when we used to trudge up the Rauschberg in winter. On cross-country skis, mind you.

My wife and I are eating less and less meat. My only problem is the pastries, i.e. steamed dumplings, Kaiserschmarrn and apple strudel. It's impossible for me to say no, not a chance.

TOUR: Wait a minute! With cross-country skis?

Ferdinand Kraller: There were no ski touring skis in the past. So I cut the skins to size and then attached them to the bottom of my cross-country skis. Only the downhill part was a bit problematic.

TOUR: Because cross-country skis have no edges?

Ferdinand Kraller: It shouldn't be icy, otherwise you'll be down faster than you'd like (laughs). Sometimes we really rolled down the mountain. Nevertheless, for me, cross-country skiing is the best sport in the world.

TOUR: What excites you about winter sports?

Ferdinand Kraller: Two things. Firstly, nature. What could be better than doing sport in bright sunshine and a snowy winter landscape? For me, it's the greatest thing. You are one with nature, one with yourself. Nobody disturbs you. There's no phone, nothing.

TOUR: And secondly?

Ferdinand Kraller: The technology. It's not as simple as it looks. My whole body is in motion, from my left big toe to my right ear. I'm doing quite well by my standards, but I still want to get better - at getting better.

TOUR: "Properly on the road" is an understatement. You have been winning one race after another for almost 40 years and have been German champion 41 times. What has changed in you over the four decades? Are you becoming more relaxed?

Ferdinand Kraller: Nothing has changed at all. I still want to toil just as much as I did 30 or 40 years ago. As soon as I'm at the start of a competition, I'm fully motivated, ready to give everything, to get everything out of my 65 kilos. I don't know why that is the case with me. The only thing I do know is that I'm the competitive type. I love the physical challenge, the tension and also the "exhausting myself". I really enjoy that.

TOUR: With all the medals you've won, it's easy to lose track. How many times have you been world champion?

Ferdinand Kraller: I have won 30 medals: 16 gold, ten silver and four bronze. And I'm still ambitious. At the Masters World Cup in Seefeld in the spring, I won another silver medal with the German relay team. My friends and acquaintances, on the other hand, often don't understand. "Ferdl, how much longer are you going to do this to yourself?" they ask.

TOUR: So? How much longer do you want to put up with this?

Ferdinand Kraller: Thomas Gottschalk once said that he was glad that people still wanted to see and hear him. It is therefore a great honour for him to be able to grow old in his profession. I feel the same way about my sport. The big difference to him is that I only do my competitions for one person in the world: for me. So why should I stop if sport is so good for me?

TOUR: You're not alone. Professor Andreas Nieß, Director of Sports Medicine at the University of Tübingen, says that cross-country skiing is "an almost perfect form of exercise from a health point of view". It is easy on the joints and trains the leg and core muscles as well as the often neglected shoulder girdle and arms. Cross-country skiing promotes strength endurance, but it also demands and trains coordination and balance.

Ferdinand Kraller: I stopped jogging 15 years ago. Cross-country skiing always works. I still like to go for a long run today. It's easy to do 100 kilometres. Five hours and you've already got 100 kilometres in your training log.

TOUR: What was your favourite experience?

Ferdinand Kraller: The 2011 World Championships in Canada. I won four gold medals there, which was the best time of my career. And the funniest. My neighbour Herbert was there too. He was constantly sending daily stories about me back home. I just thought to myself the whole time: "What is Herbert writing about all day?" It was only later that I learnt that Herbert had called me "Russenschreck". That's what it said in the "Südostbayerische Rundschau". When I got home, all hell had broken loose in Teisendorf.

TOUR: What do you mean by that?

Ferdinand Kraller: They closed the streets in Teisendorf because of me, accompanied me home together with the Teisendorf band and later that evening we marched to the town hall. I didn't like that, I'm not the type of person who likes to be in the limelight. After 25 hours of travelling, all I really wanted to do was fall into bed. Instead, I stood on the town hall balcony in front of hundreds of people.

The only thing I know is that I'm a competitive type. I love the physical challenge, the exertion and also the "spending myself". I really enjoy that.

TOUR: How many hours of training do you get in a week?

Ferdinand Kraller: In summer I train for up to 25 hours, in winter only 10 or 15 hours. In winter, I also achieve an average heart rate of 155 and a maximum heart rate of 160 during competitions. I don't achieve that in summer.

TOUR: Do you still have goals?

Ferdinand Kraller: I've actually done everything I wanted to do on earth. I hope that it's as beautiful in heaven as it is down here in Bavaria. And that the good Lord has provided a pair of cross-country skis for me up there. And I wouldn't complain about a good bike either (grins).

About Ferdinand Kraller

Ferdinand Kraller was born and grew up on a farm. Football was his first passion, which he had to give up at the age of 34 for health reasons. On the advice of a friend, he took up mountain running and quickly discovered his passion for endurance sports. He has won a total of 16 Masters World Championship titles in cross-country skiing, but he also completes up to 10,000 kilometres a year on his racing bike and mountain bike. The 72-year-old is married, a grandfather of two and lives in Teisendorf in the district of Berchtesgadener Land in Upper Bavaria.