Category Archives: Friends

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

Summer is an action-packed season for our Run the Alps’ guides. Many, if not most days, they are on the trails, leading a trip, undertaking route reconnaissance, or exploring new regions. After our last tours wind to a close in September, however, the Alps empty out. It’s not long before the snow settles on the

“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

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

Since its inception, Run the Alps has been a member of 1% for the Planet, a non-profit organization whose corporate members donate 1% of their gross proceeds each year to support environmental initiatives around the planet. Started in 2002 by Patagonia-founder Yvon Chouinard, 1% for the Planet has the mission of to “build, support and

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

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,

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

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