Vlad Ixel

runner 

Vlad Ixel is a runner who competes in the extreme sport of ultradistance marathon running and has made an amazing impact on the sport.

    • Course records at TNF100k and 50k races
    • Age group winner at the Australian National Triathlon Championships
    • Competitor at the World Ultra Trail Championships

Vlad started running in 2012 and turned vegan shortly afterward.  In June 2013 he entered the 75km Kep ultramarathon in Perth, Australia and won by over 5 minutes, setting a course record.  Vlad also won the North Face 100km in Singapore and TMBT 100km in Malaysia.  The Atacama crossing in Chile is a 250km race and Vlad recorded a second in this event, and also a second in the North Face 50k Hong Kong.

Since then Vlad has continued to excel, as he competed in the Vibram Hong Kong 100.  This 100km event is one of the biggest in the world and attracts many of the world’s top runners.  His third place showed that he can compete with the best.  In Feb 2014 Vlad competed in the North Face 100km Thailand Ultra, which he won and set the course record (read more here).  A week later he ran in the Hong Kong 100km Ultra, and came third.

In March 2014 he ran in an extremely tough 50km in Hong Kong (more here), winning by 30 minutes.  At the end of April 2014 he won the overnight 54km Yam 2 Yam, from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (more here).  In October he overcame food poisoning to win TNF100km (more here), and he followed this up with races at 25km and 10km, winning two and placing second in the other (more here).

In November he won the MSIG Action Asia 50km trail race by 41 minutes (more here) and in December he won The North Face Hong Kong 50k by 26 minutes, breaking the course record (more here).

Vlad was a finalist in Vegan Athlete of the Year 2014.  Soon after he returned to TNF Thailand and won the 100k race (more here).

In March 2016 he ran three races in which he took his third Translantau win and took wins and course records and the other two (more here.) Shortly after he took another win and course record (see the same link).  In October 2016 he took on the Translantau Two Peaks, which included nearly 4000 metres of height gain, in extreme heat and humidity, taking the win (more here).  He then went to the World Trail Championships and was the second-fastest runner from the Southern hemisphere (more here).

2017 saw him take a course record at the 32km Ultra Angkor Wat, a win at the 9 Dragons 50k ultra in Hong Kong, and a win at the MSIG Sai King 50k (more here).  He placed a relatively lowly 4th at Ultra Trail Australia (more here).

In 2018 he entered 23 races and won 16 of them, setting four course records (read more here). He also made a remarkable transition to triathlon, with an age group win at the Davao Half Ironman (more here).  Later that year he was ranked #1 in his age group, globally (more here).

In 2019 he took a convincing win at TNF Thailand 50k (more here).  By the end of August he’d entered 16 races and won 12.

In 2020 he won 12 races, and in 2021 he took 16 wins.  He has seven victories in 2023 from 10k up to trail marathon before competing at the World Trail Championships (more here).

Finding vegan

“Sometimes I ask myself how come not everyone is vegan?  How come I never knew how good it is being vegan?”

Vlad has been a big meat eater in previous years, and in September 2012 started cutting down on meat consumption.  On Christmas Day 2012 he had his last steak and knew that he was making some good changes to his life.  He had already stopped drinking alcohol and smoking – and used to do both heavily (more here).

“The main motivation was for my health and to be a better athlete. It gives me so much more energy and I recover quicker from my runs. I’m also doing it for environmental reasons because a vegan diet has so little impacts on our planet compared to a meat based diet.”

The decision to change his eating is not one he’s ever regretted.  His skin soon looked better and he stopped using energy drinks to stay alert, and is sure he would not be able to train as he does now, if he was not vegan.

Like many vegan athletes, Vlad was influenced by one of the greatest Ultramarathoners of all time, vegan Scott Jurek.  “The more I read and learned about it the more I wanted to be a vegan. Reading Scott Jurek’s Eat and Run was very inspiring to me and definitely influenced my decision on becoming vegan.”

Vlad now drinks a lot of smoothies, and it isn’t unusual for him to eat 20 bananas in one day.  He also likes dates, which he finds are excellent for providing energy.

Positive energy

People around Vlad have been overwhelmingly positive.  “Most of my friends are inspired by my diet and what I can achieve with that. They see how healthy and happy I am and very often I get to hear that they also want to give it a try. That makes me really proud and happy and I hope one day everybody realizes how much better it is for you and especially what a great feeling it gives you.” 

The discoveries Vlad have made are ones he is keen to share and he tells us he hopes people will read this profile and be open to giving veganism a try.

Click this link to see a video of an interview with Vlad, (he discusses veganism at 4:15).

“Two of the best things I have ever done for myself and my body was start running and become vegan. My life is full of goals and joys and its all thank to a healthy vegan diet.  Sometimes I ask myself how come not everyone is vegan?  How come I never knew how good it is being vegan?  I wish everyone just gave it a go for a few days/weeks and see the difference for themselves.” 

No Meat Athlete is a great running resource Full disclosure: 50% of any book you buy on there goes to support this website but there’s also a ton of free resources there

Vlad’s own site

Vlad’s Facebook page

Video – Vlad explains going vegan

Vlad’s YouTube channel

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