Joggler Interview – Anders Kierulf Master Joggler

Here’s another interview that prove jogglers are not unique, but they are rare. See this link for the complete list of joggler interviews.

Joggler Introduction

Anders Kierulf, 46, was born in Norway, grew up in Switzerland, and currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. He used to work as a development lead on PowerPoint. Currently he’s developing software for the ancient Chinese board game called ‘Go’ (see www.smartgo.com).

JYAJ: When did you start joggling?

KIERULF: I learned to juggle in 1986 while I was a grad student in Computer Science at UNC Chapel Hill — people were juggling while waiting for their computations to finish. In 1987 or 88 I read about some crazy jugglers who were running while they were juggling, and thought that couldn’t possibly work, but had to try it. And to my surprise, not only did it work, but the juggling fits naturally into the arm movements while jogging.

JYAJ: Why did you start joggling?

KIERULF: It’s a lot more fun than just running. It’s also a better whole-body exercise, but the main reason is fun.

JYAJ: How many races have you done while joggling?

KIERULF: I participated at the joggling races at the 1990 IJA Festival in Los Angeles, but then didn’t get back to joggling races until Reno in 2003. I was out of shape and just planned to watch, but luckily got talked into running. I’ve since participated at the IJA joggling races in Buffalo in 2004, Portland in 2006, and Winston-Salem this year. I’ve also joggled a 5K race in Salt Lake City for the last two years.

JYAJ: What are some of your favorites?

KIERULF: Winning the 400m in Buffalo in 2004 (Masters category). This was the first time in my life I had ever won an athletic event. Growing up, I was usually the last one to get picked for any athletic team, so that was sweet.

JYAJ: What is your best story about joggling?

KIERULF: Michal Kapral and Zach Warren came to the Salt Lake City marathon this year to battle it out. We had both of them over for dinner the next day, and had a great time. It was really nice to meet both of them. And they are amazingly fast — a completely different league from me.

JYAJ: What kind of training do you do? How fast do you run?

KIERULF: I try to run once or twice a week, either about 5K or practicing shorter distances on the track. For the last year, I’ve also played Ultimate Frisbee several times a week, which seems to be helping for both speed and endurance. My best times are 14.91s for 100m, 32.78s for 200m, and 1:15.4 for 400m. The last 5K race I did in 26:15, which was two minutes faster than the year before — as long as I can get faster as I get older, I’m happy.

JYAJ: How long do you think you will keep joggling?

KIERULF: I always juggle while I run. So I’ll keep joggling as long as I can keep running.

JYAJ: Do you eat a special diet?

KIERULF: No.

JYAJ: Do you have any advice for would-be jogglers?

KIERULF: If you know how to run and know how to juggle, you can joggle. Just practice looking through the balls as you juggle, e.g. practice juggling while watching TV.

JYAJ: Where do you see the sport of joggling in 10 years?

KIERULF: There seem to be more and more young jogglers at the IJA Festival every year, so I think joggling will grow some. Realistically, I don’t think it will ever be huge, but I hope I’m wrong.

JYAJ: Is there anything I didn’t ask that you thought I should?

KIERULF: Hope to see all of you in Lexington, Kentucky next year!

Thanks Anders! We’ll be there.

For more on Anders check out his web page (www.smartgo.com/en/anders.htm) and be sure to visit his main website. www.smartgo.com