Dec 20, 2023 · Gravel ·

24 Hours with No Borders Emmie Collinge, racer, translator and photographer

BMC | Emmie Collinge 24 Hours with No Borders

Ottsjö Northern Sweden

The alarm rings briefly before it is switched off. Life slowly rustles under the sheets. Outside it’s still pitch black, and the sun won’t rise for another few hours; there are only six hours of daylight up here in the middle of Sweden.

Lights from the houses nearby reflect off of the deep blanket of snow that throws everything into silence, as the cold bedroom temperatures are braved by Emmie Collinge, gravel racer for the No Borders Gravel Team, who now starts another 24 hours in the off-season.

‘I travel a lot so sometimes it is hard to keep the consistency needed during the off-season. At the moment I’m in Northern Sweden for work, where the daytime highs are around -6 to -10 on a warm day. There is already a lot of snow, so my days are spent fitting in cross training with time on the indoor trainer’ Emmie begins

A translator and photographer, Emmie took a silver medal at the World Mountain Running Championships in 2015 before becoming European Champion in the sport back in 2016, so donning a pair of running shoes is not unusual for this gravel racer.

‘I have to be really careful in the off-season when it comes to how much I do a certain sport. The main reason I transitioned into gravel racing was because of the many injuries caused by running. I'm lucky that the sports are very much related in their demand for strong endurance,’ adds Emmie.

As we catch up with Emmie, she is spending time with one of her key clients: Fjällmaraton, Sweden’s biggest trail running event. ‘Giving back is always something that I think is so important. I’ve been in sport all my life, and I feel that working on an event such as this, where the experience for the runners is paramount, inspires me and is also a change from everything else I do,' Emmie confesses.

Much like her training, her work is done in a polymath style, whether it’s translating for the cycling industry and tourism clients (German, Swedish and Italian into English), marketing and social media jobs, copywriting, podcast producing or photography, constant change is synonymous with Emmie’s life. ‘It can be a challenge to keep fit when on the road so much [Emmie is based in Northern Italy], but that also keeps me inspired. Whether I’m in a hotel gym, on the home trainer, riding on the road, or running and skiing on the snow like I am here, training is probably the only constant in what some might see as a chaotic lifestyle.’

Recovering from a broken wrist, Emmie is focused on finally getting to ride the Gravel World Championships, which she had qualified for this year but had to miss due to wrist complications. Other events that keep her motivated are the Gravel Earth Series and Grinduro.