This week we travel to France with Doug Mayer for an insider's view of how to navigate Chamonix during Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc. And Ashton Kutcher reveals why ultrarunners are such a hot romantic commodity.
Stateside, the trail media landscape is changing, but Zoë Rom, Editor-in-Chief at Trail Runner, offers a bright outlook in the Drop Bag. And down in the DFL, Ashton Kutcher explains why ultrarunners are a cheap date.
– Jenn Hughes & Matt Hart
THE WEEKEND COOL DOWN
Gotta Get Up to Get Down
The HURL Elkhorn Endurance Runs delivered an authentic Montana experience this past weekend. Hal Koerner called their 50-miler — a remote backcountry jaunt with big vert (13,500 ft) — “one of the most challenging courses I have ever run.” (?: 1)
In Utah, the Cirque Series took to the slopes of Snowbird for a 8.7 mile jaunt with 3,566 ft of rugged uphill. Christian Allen kept a sub-9-minute per mile pace for the men’s win, and on the women’s side of the ledger — Allie Mac is officially undeniable (?: 2). Check out the race video.
? In FKT News: Joe McConaughy, aka Stringbean, set a new JMT/Nüümü Poyo record with an astonishing 3 day and 59 min unsupported effort on the 223-mile path through the Sierra Nevada, finishing on the highest peak in the contiguous United States — 14,494-foot Mount Whitney (?: 3).
Want more racing? Check out these upcoming events still open for registration:
Each August, the small mountain valley of Chamonix swells from 4,000 locals to more than 100,000 visitors during the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc. Resident Doug Mayer provides a local’s look at everything from scoring the perfect croissant to finding a semi-quiet hike amid the madness.
Whether you’re about to pack your travel-racing kit or if a French trail experience is on your someday-bucket list, this invaluable and entertaining guide to Chamonix is one to devour now, then bookmark for the future.
☀️ The Future is Bright: Zoë Rom writes about the future of Trail Runner magazine now that it’s no longer making a print product. “Even a good run’s gotta end,” she writes, but the “spirit of Trail Runner lives far beyond glossy paper pages.”
