Author Archives: Doug Mayer

It’s been a great season. Looking back, it feels like a crazy whirlwind of gorgeous alp trail running, huts, friends new and old, croissants, cafe au lait, wine, mud, cows, alp horns, trail races, glaciers… it’s all a blur. In the meantime, we already have some news to report: our 2015 summer schedule is here! Doug

So… what just happened? That was the thought Troy Haines and I had last week, after spending 24 hours with Holimites, on their last trail running tour of the season in Italy’s Dolomites. We had headed from our respective corners of Switzerland to Igor Tavella’s village of Badia, to talk about a partnership between Holimites and Run

Sierre-Zinal is arguably one of the best-known trail races in the world. Here are Run the Alp’s tips for having a great experience.

As 2014’s Matterhorn Ultraks comes to a close, it’s worth taking a look back at a remarkable story behind the scenes from last year, involving Jim Maddock from Run the Alps. We thought you’d enjoy this story of what happens when you have one of those days, when everything falls beautifully in to place. This is a story about a friend from my town

Smooth and easy going, with no shortage of sheer lusciousness, punctuated by moments that demand the participant’s attention. Generally goes down easy and leaves one with a poignant memory. Best sampled with fine company, on a fair day. Admission: I don’t know wines. At all. Connoisseur is never a word that would be applied to me,

Years ago, I saw a photo of a high alp mountain hotel. It looked like it had welcomed guests to its corner of the Alps for a century or more. Weather beaten pine boards showed the consequences of facing mountain storms over many years. In reality, the look wasn’t all that unusual for the Swiss

It’s 4:30 in the morning, and I am lost, wandering through a construction zone in the middle of Grindelwald, Switzerland. I am surrounded by concrete and rebar. Across Dorfstrasse, the latest watches from Tissot and Breitling are expertly arranged, ready to catch the eye of cash-burdened tourists arriving daily from London to Dubai. I am

I’ve observed over the years that Euro trail runners tend to be quite a bit more fashionable on the trails, than my American trail running pals. Well, I finally have some good news on that front. We’re catching up! (I know you’re all greatly relieved.) Okay, maybe I’m overstating the case here, but I am

Shortly before packing up and joining the Swiss Run the Alps contingent, we were delighted to have a table at this year’s Mount Washington Road Race. One of the really famous hill climbs in the US, the 7.6-mile run to the summit of the Northeast’s highest peak features world-class runners. This year’s race was won by

In honor of David Letterman’s recent announcement that he’ll retire sometime in 2015, we here at Run the Alps have pulled together a Top 10 list of our very own—the Top 10 Reasons We Love Trail Running in the Alps. We’ll share the full list over the coming weeks. Ready for the first two? Here we