Interview with XTERRA Champ Alex Eiler

Mountain Man Champ Alex Eiler has made a big impact on Hawaii's multisport landscape- finishing at or near the top in every race he enters. He graciously agreed to answer a few questions for 808RaceReport.

ATHLETE: Alexander Eiler "Alper"
HOMETOWN: Linz, Austria
AGE: 32
YEARS IN TRIATHLON: 2
RACES COMPETED IN: 9 Triathlons and more than 100 MTB races

BEST FINISH(es): 12th MTB Marathon World Cup Bourg d' Oisans, France 2005,
58th UCI MTB Marathon World Championships, Lilehammer, Norway 2006,
20th UCI World Cup Falun Sweden 2006,
1st Amateur Xterra Worlds Maui 2007,
1st Xterra Mountainman Oahu 2007, 2008,
2nd Tinman 2008

FAVORITE RACES: UCI World Cup Bourg d'Oisans, Xterra Mountainman, Xterra Worlds Maui

808RR: Alex, what do you do when you're not Training and Racing?
AE: Research on Marine Microorganisms, playing with my 7 month old daughter

808RR: Growing up in Austria apparently was good for your endurance and mountain climbing abilities!
AE: Japp. My grandparents had a house in the mountains. Running and cycling up steep hills comes pretty natural.

808RR: You came into Saturday's race as the defending champ and as the reigning top age grouper in the XTERRA World Championships. I have to imagine you were pretty confident. Was there any doubt during the race? When did you feel like you had it in the bag?

AE: Since the course was new, I did not know if I could make up the time lost in the swim during the bike and run. But when I passed Chad Seymour in the second climb of the bike split I was feeling pretty good. But you can never feel too sure since technical problems can cost you a lot of time. When I put my running shoes and I left T2 with no one in sight I was pretty confident.

808RR: What does a good training week look like for you with the world championship race a couple of months away?
AE: Right now I am in Cairns Australia on a conference in microbial ecology (2000 geeks are gathering that are working on microorganisms and their interaction with the environment). I will get up early in the morning for a ride or run (the MTB World championships where held in Cairns a couple of years ago, there are some nice tracks here). For the lunch break I will go for a swim. The rest of the day I will listen to scientific talks and prepare my talk that I will present on Friday about the dynamics and diversity of one of the most abundant organisms on our planet (a marine bacteria). The evenings will be spent with meeting other scientists and talk some more science.

808RR: What are your favorite training rides on island?
AE: MTB around Olomana, Peacock flats. On the road from Kaneohe to North Shore, running in Lanakai and up the pillboxes. Swimming around Coconut Island and to Flat Island

808RR: What other races/events are you doing this year?

AE: Dick Evans Memorial Race, Xterra Worlds in Maui

808RR: Do you have long term goals for your racing career or are you taking it one season/race at a time?

AE: My goals are having fun, enjoying life and staying healthy!

808RR: Alex- see you at the races... Danke!