Author Archives: Doug Mayer

In the history of trail running in the Alps, there isn’t an event that goes back much farther than Trail des Dents-du-Midi, held in Champéry, Switzerland.

We get a lot of really nice reviews here at Run the Alps. Then, every now and then, we get a letter like this one — something that just stops us in our trail running shoes and reminds us why we love this work. Shannon, thanks. (And — oh! — read on for Simon’s response,

A long, alpine valley tucked away on Switzerland’s border with Austria and Italy, the Engadin is a special place – quieter, wilder and more remote than much of the rest of the Swiss Alps. Harder to reach than Chamonix, Grindelwald or Zermatt, it seems to guard its own special beauty closely. British-German track and field

“I didn’t come from a mountain background.” Mike Ambrose wasn’t kidding. Growing up in Washington Township, New Jersey, about 30 miles from Philadelphia, meant that the nearest rugged terrain was a nearly a day’s drive north. “The biggest adventure you can have in Southern New Jersey is trying out a new chain restaurant.” Add to

Sometimes, ever so rarely, the stars align. Run the Alps, in partnership with PatitucciPhoto, Swiss publisher Helvetiq, and freelance writer Kim Strom, is pleased to announce that together we will be producing a new book featuring some of the best trail runs to be found anywhere in the Swiss Alps. I could not be happier

Run the Alps friend Katie Schide likes vertical. Steep, unrelenting vertical. A PhD candidate at ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Schide found herself in Piotta, Switzerland, this past May 20, ready to run the steepest staircase in the world. Just what is the experience like? Schide sent us this report — and a few

Mention Switzerland, and most people will talk about Zermatt, Grindelwald and other internationally-known Alp resorts. Here’s a secret, though: the Swiss Alps are filled with beautiful villages and mountain ranges that have stayed very much under the radar. The Engadin, a region in Eastern Switzerland near the Austrian border, is one of those special places.

Some years ago, I remember Salomon’s Rickey Gates talking about losing a shoe in the mud at one of the most prestigious trail races in the Alps, Sierre-Zinal. The year was 2009, and he was in the lead group with a young runner named Kilian Jornet. It was a twist of fate that cost him,

With 2016’s race around Mont Blanc fresh in her mind, Run the Alps participant Sarah Hansel sat down and shared her thoughts about the event. As we head into another season of trail running—with many of us eyeing one or both of the two major, upcoming race series based in Chamonix—we thought you’d enjoy her story.  It has

Trail running is happening in Chamonix—and in a big way. Thanks to hundreds of kilometers of dramatic trails and several high-profile trail race series, the valley is a bright beacon to mountain runners around the world. Most trail runners experience Chamonix valley during the peak summer months, when the town is a beehive of rock