Beginnings and the Path to the Mountains 🏔️
My name is Marko Leban, and I come from the beautiful small mountain village of Lazec, located on the southern slopes below Bevkov Vrh. After a few moves and attempts to start over, my wife and I built a house in Vrsnik and settled down. Later, this gave me the opportunity to get to know mountaineering up close. Maybe that’s exactly why I also started flirting with running — as a way to gain as much endurance as possible for the long approaches beneath high mountain walls. 🏃♂️⛰️
When I was looking at photos from the first run to Bevkov Vrh, I think it was in 2006, I told myself that maybe I could do that too. And that’s how it all began.
Races, Motivation, and Goals 🏅
Each year brought another race or two, until 2011, when I finally decided to run my first GM4O, a race I had always looked at with great respect — it even counted as a World Championship event. With good preparation, I completed the marathon without problems, finishing with a huge smile on my face. 😄
Being surrounded by many positive people, whom I later got to know personally, gave me a lot of motivation to continue. Naturally, a group of “rivals” formed, and we competed against each other — and over the years, results and podium finishes came as well.
A great source of motivation for me is also an easy run through the forest, where you can let go of certain thoughts or focus deeply on specific ones. 🌲
Since I’ve already competed twice at the World Masters Championship, this year I’ve set myself a really tough goal: PTRF 100+ km, supposedly the hardest ultra race in our country. My goal for this ultra is simply to reach the finish line in one piece, haha 😂 — maybe within 24 hours? Otherwise, I just hope to keep running for many years to come, as long and as far as possible.
Training, Mindset, and a Message to Others 💪
Training depends on the race I’m preparing for; otherwise, I train roughly every three days. For more demanding races, active rest right before the race is very important to me. In general, I train by feel, without professional supervision. Alcohol is definitely something to cut out. ❌🍺
One thing is a relaxed run for enjoyment, but preparing for a race is something else entirely — because once you step out of your comfort zone and start pushing yourself, that’s when real training begins. 🔥
To beginners, I would recommend starting easy — the most important thing is to enjoy it. Results will come on their own if we stay persistent. There are also many running clubs and associations with coaches, which are certainly not a bad choice. Of course, it all depends on what each individual wants — as I said, the most important thing is that everyone feels satisfied with themselves. 🙂
I don’t know if I have any powerful life motto. Maybe it’s simply this: even when things don’t go well, I try to forget it and look ahead to what’s still to come. And in running, what matters to me is that we encourage and help each other — and after the race, enjoy spending time together. 🤝🎉