Anne-Marie Flammersfeld has a degree in sports science and has been a very successful participant in international ultra trail running competitions and stage races since 2012.
She ran 1000 kilometers through the driest (Atacama), windiest (Gobi), hottest (Sahara) and coldest (Antarctica) deserts in the world. Since then, Flammersfeld has been constantly seeking new sporting challenges in competitions and in her own projects. Since 2013, she has been on the road with her “Bottom Up Climbs” project, conquering the highest mountains in a country from the lowest point – all using her own muscle power and without mechanical support.
Since 2014, Anne-Marie Flammersfeld has specialized in the “Volcanic 7 Summits” and has already travelled to Asia (Iran), Africa (Tanzania), North America (Mexico) and South America (Chile) to start from the lowest point of the country by bike and reach the highest volcano in hiking boots. She recently climbed the highest volcano in Europe in Sicily in May 2019, running 38 kilometers and 3300 meters in altitude from the sea to the upper edge of the crater.
In 2015, she set a new female German speed run world record on Kilimanjaro. Anne-Marie Flammersfeld managed the 4100 positive altitude meters from the “Umbwe – Gate” at 1800m to the summit of Africa’s highest mountain at 5895m in 8 hours 32 minutes (almost 3 hours faster than the previous record).
Anne-Marie Flammersfeld Lecture topics
- Moving mountains: How to be healthy and fit for success
- Extreme sport and entrepreneurship – the parallels in high performance and attention
- Think Big – Running with enthusiasm
- The fantastic world of fantasy: Mental fitness in everyday life
- Motivation at the limit: 1’000 kilometers through the world’s largest deserts
As a keynote speaker, she regularly gives talks on the topics of motivation, enthusiasm and overcoming limits. She works as a freelance author for the running magazine “Aktiv Laufen”. Anne-Marie Flammersfeld is the honorary president of the “Engadiner Sommerlauf” running event – a two-day summer event with over 2,400 participants in St. Moritz.
Takeaways for the participants
Motivation: How do you manage to stay motivated for over a year and a half and never lose sight of your goal? What can you learn from the lows and how much can the highs inspire you? Is it possible to over-motivate yourself and how does your environment react to the endless training?
Mental fitness: Your head is the decisive motor, your feet don’t stop on their own. They carry you wherever you want to go! With the right attitude, even crises can be used in a positive way. One motto is: “Only those who know themselves well can act calmly and confidently, even in difficult situations. Pack what you need in your rucksack. Pack the most important things. But also leave room for new things!”
Training planning and the parallels to everyday life: Every desert has its own story and Anne-Marie was able to explore and experience many parallels to everyday life and work in every race. Always give 100%; never slack off; crises come and crises go; never talk up your opponent; always strengthen your own strengths.
How does a novice runner manage to run 1000 kilometers through the four largest deserts in the world in one year and then become the first woman in the world to win them all? In 2012, Anne-Marie made history in the extreme competition “Racing the Planet 4 Deserts”, in which she ran 250 kilometers through the driest, hottest, windiest and coldest deserts in the world.
Such a year-long project requires enormous stamina, ambition, motivation and a unique strength that keeps you going. However, according to Anne-Marie, such a workload can only be achieved if you really enjoy yourself and have fun. The enthusiasm has to come from within, then you are able to achieve great things. Then this power drives you forward and acts like a constantly recharging battery.
In 2015, she set a new female German speed run world record on Kilimanjaro. Anne-Marie Flammersfeld managed the 4100 positive meters in altitude from the “Umbwe Gate” at 1800m to the summit of Africa’s highest mountain at 5895m in 8 hours 32 minutes (almost 3 hours faster than the previous record).
Anne-Marie Flammersfeld holds course records for the North Pole and Volcano Marathon.
The sportswoman works with her own company “all mountain fitness” as a personal coach in St. Moritz, Switzerland. She coaches people in the areas of active training, mental training and writes training plans. Anne-Marie Flammersfeld is currently studying for a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the FernUniversität Hagen in order to combine sport with the psyche in her coaching later on.
With her projects and competitions, Flammersfeld supports the “Paulchen Esperanza” foundation, which helps disadvantaged children in emerging countries such as Tanzania, Argentina and Sri Lanka.