Author Archives: Guest Blogger

Last summer Michelle Kho booked her first trail-running vacation, a self-guided Run the Alps trip from Courmayeur, Italy, through Champex, Switzerland, finishing in Chamonix, France – roughly following the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc CCC race route. Over five days, Michelle covered 94km and 4870m of vertical gain. She also learned a lot along the way! Here’s

We’re pleased to share this story from Run the Alps Ambassador David Laney. David was Ultrarunner magazine’s 2015 Ultrarunner of the Year, and has finished third place (2015) and fourth place (2016) in the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc. This short piece is the foreword to a new Run the Alps publication, the Guide to Trail

I realized during this run that my idea of a beautiful view in Colorado was nothing compared to what was to be seen here in Switzerland.

Editor’s Note: A long-time competitive trail runner from San Rafael, California, Victor Ballesteros ran Italy’s Tor Des Géants this past summer. “TDG” is, in many respects, beyond comprehension. The 330km race starts and finishes in Courmayeur, on the south side of Mont Blanc. It includes over 80,000 feet of climbing and descending. Victor is no

Running is especially wonderful when your daily agenda is to run through some of the most spectacular trails on the planet–the TMB.

Run the Alps is pleased to share this story from our self-guided guest, Carl Stauffer, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Carl and three friends trail ran the full, 100-mile long Tour du Mont-Blanc. Here’s their experience as they wended their way around Mont Blanc.  Ever since I was a young child and heard the story of Heidi, I have

Matt Flaherty is a US trail runner sponsored by Salomon, currently living in Geneva, Switzerland – just 60 minutes’ drive to Chamonix, France. He has had a number of strong results in the US, in a variety of trail and road races. (You can read more about him in this irunfar profile.) We’re psyched to share

Run the Alps is delighted to share a glimpse of running this year’s Marathon du Mont-Blanc, courtesy of Patagonia’s Jess Rogers. Jess is the Global Product Manager for Trail Running and Baselayers, at Patagonia in Ventura, California.  Two years ago, I experienced the magical mountain town of Chamonix, France, not quite knowing what was in

We’re pleased to share this story from Bret Bechis, who discovered the Alps trail running scene through Run the Alps’ Doug Mayer. Bret is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, works for Airbnb, and runs the outdoors clothing company HeyHeys. For his part, Mayer confirms the accuracy of the story, but wants none of

For almost a minute, we considered planning and mapping our trip ourselves. Then, we landed on a far better idea: a self-guided trip with Run the Alps.