Author Archives: Doug Mayer

Editor’s note: Mark Brightwell is a guide for Run the Alps. He grew up in suburban Hampshire – England’s gently rolling South. He served from 2005 to 2011 with the Royal Gurkha Rifles and was injured during the Iraq war. Trail running has since become an important part of his life: a way of experiencing   Continue Reading →

This coming trail-running season, Run the Alps is excited to be offering the Via Valais, a new multi-day, trail-running route developed by the team over at ALPSinsight. A new twist on the classic hiker’s Haute Route, the Via Valais focuses on the very best mountain running available in the region. Run the Alps has just   Continue Reading →

“The beauty is unparalleled, the trails are dreamy, and the peaks are inspiring, but what never leaves you is the spirit of the people.” That’s US ultra runner David Laney, who finished third in the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in 2015, sharing his thoughts about what makes trail racing in the Alps so special. (You can   Continue Reading →

“Still living the dream, are we?” Simon, arguably the funniest of our Run the Alps guides, shuffles out into the living room of our staff apartment in Chamonix, France. It’s 7:00 am on an August day last summer, and I’ve already been working for two hours. I sigh loudly. “Ah! There it is! The famous   Continue Reading →

Got plans this March? Join us for something new and totally different! For our first time ever, Run the Alps is offering a winter “Ski Mo” trip! You can check out trip details here. Based in Chamonix, France our winter trip includes time training and learning Ski Mo skills with two of Europe’s best-known ski   Continue Reading →

Salut! Run the Alps is going on tour! Run the Alps is in the U.S., and we just might be coming to a town near you. Here’s the schedule! Bay Area, California Location: Tamalpie, 477 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley CA Date: Saturday, November 24, 5:30 pm (After the Quad Dipsea, of course!) What’s Happening: Join   Continue Reading →

It’s early morning in Chamonix, France, as I write this sentence. Outside, the streets are deserted. People like to say that Chamonix never stops, but when you live here, as I do now, you realize it stops twice a year, late fall and again in late spring. But especially now, when the nights are getting   Continue Reading →

For all intents and purposes, trail running season is fading away in Chamonix, as it is for much of the Alps. It starts in early summer with the Mont Blanc Marathon races, and slowly builds toward UTMB’s many events at the close of August. Then, as the first snows appear on the peaks above town,   Continue Reading →

Recently, US trail runner David Laney and I had a chance to visit with the organizing committee of Trail Verbier St-Bernard. “TVSB,” as it’s known, is one of the great trail races in the Alps. In fact, it’s not just one race but four, high in the beautiful Valais canton, often meandering along or near Switzerland’s   Continue Reading →

This summer, Run the Alps was pleased to help Hillary Allen as she trail ran around Mont Blanc, getting a sense of the route in advance of supporting Colorado’s Zach Miller during the Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc. Here’s her story.  Have you ever been so lost in a moment, so lost in a space in   Continue Reading →