By the end of 2026, Karsten expects to complete 14 Trifectas, earning the 13x Trifecta Shield for the second time in his life. For him, this chase is not about proving something once. It is about proving that the fire is still there.
“I love this sport,” Karsten said. “I would love to do the Shield performance for the second time in my life.”
That word matters.
Performance.
Because earning the Shield is not one race. It is a full year of commitment. A season built on planning, sacrifice, discipline, and the ability to keep going across every Sprint, Super, and Beast required to reach Sparta.
In ancient Sparta, the shield was never just a thing you carried. It was a symbol of what you were willing to stand for. It showed discipline. It showed courage. It showed that you had stayed in the fight.
For Karsten, the 13x Trifecta Shield carries its own meaning.
“So much,” he said. “It’s hard, expensive and I’m getting old, but young at heart. The Shield shows I’m not yet dead.”
There is humor in that answer.
But there is truth in it too.
Because every athlete eventually meets the question of age. How much is still possible? How much can the body still give? How many hard things are left to chase?
Karsten is answering that question the Spartan way.
By showing up.
By racing again.
By building another Shield season.
His favorite Spartan memory is Morzine Ultra in 2024. Brutal, by his own description. The kind of race that does not hand out pride easily. The kind of race that asks more from you with every climb, every mile, and every hard section of course.
But Karsten finished it.
And he was proud of himself.
That pride matters because it was earned in the exact place where Spartan becomes real. Not when everything feels easy. Not when the course is kind. Not when the body feels perfect.
But when it gets brutal.
And you keep going anyway.
For Karsten, one of the hardest parts of chasing the Shield has been the day Trifectas and getting enough days off to make the schedule work. The physical challenge is only one part of the pursuit. The logistics become their own obstacle. You have to find the races. Find the time. Make the travel work. Keep the body moving. Keep the goal alive.
Again and again.
That is how the Shield is earned.
Not through one big moment, but through a year of smaller decisions that stack up until they become something much bigger.
And Karsten has not chased this alone.
His girlfriend, Steffi, is one of the biggest reasons he keeps going. She often runs with him, supports him, and shares the goal. They earned the Shield together in 2024, and in 2026, they plan to do it again.
“We’ll both get this Shield, like we did in 2024,” he said.
That makes this chase more than personal.
It is shared.
Two athletes. One goal. Another year of race weekends. Another journey to Sparta.
Karsten’s advice to someone chasing their first Trifecta is simple and experienced:
“Have fun. Enjoy the beautiful venue. Don’t push too much, not at the first ones.”
That is wisdom earned over time.
Because Spartan can pull people into the fire quickly. The goals get bigger. The races get harder. The calendar gets full. But Karsten knows the point is not only to suffer. It is to enjoy the places, the people, the venues, and the feeling of becoming stronger along the way.
He chases Trifectas because he loves seeing what an old man is able to do.
His words.
And that is the heart of his story.
Karsten is not chasing youth.
He is chasing proof that strength does not disappear just because the years keep coming.
He is chasing the feeling of crossing another finish line.
He is chasing another Shield with Steffi.
He is chasing the reminder that the body may age, but the fire can stay.
By the time Karsten reaches Sparta, the Shield will represent more than 14 Trifectas.
It will represent every race weekend he made happen.
Every brutal course he survived.
Every day off he had to plan.
Every finish line that reminded him he still belongs out there.
And every hard-earned answer to the question he keeps asking himself:
What is an old man still able to do?
Quite a lot, apparently.
