Stories

Alma joined the RunUphill team last year for our “Learn to Run" clinic.  This Spring, she trained hard for the half marathon at the Rocky Mountain Soap Co. Women’s Run. On May 16th 2020, Alma ran her own virtual half-marathon in 2 hours and 46 minutes!

If you follow the American trail running and ultra-running scene, you might already be familiar with rabbit, the cool kid on the block. After launching in December 2015, rabbit quickly made a name for itself by creating some track and field-inspired apparel and funky patterns. 

The Marathon du Mont-Blanc has become an iconic race on the European calendar. With over 10 500 racers and 30 000 supporters from more than 80 countries, it is one of the biggest trail running events in the world. 2019 marked the 41st edition, and with eight different races races (from kid’s races to a 90 km race) to choose from, there was definitely something for every level of runner. RunUphill’s Gavin and Joel were in Chamonix to race the 42 km event last weekend and both had a blast! Thinking about signing up for 2020? Here are some of their thoughts. 

Spring seemed to be setting up nicely. Some rain down low on Friday followed by a punch of sun on Saturday that’d level George Foreman. Most of the stuff that would’ve fallen off the steep solar headwalls probably had so Matt and I made some plans to minimise overhead by playing under them.

After the 2019 Ski-Mountaineering World Championships in Switzerland, we asked some of the Canadian athletes to tell us more about their experience racing on the world stage. Here is what they had to say about the racing on the other side of the Atlantic.

Every two years, the world's best ski-mountaineering racers meet for the ISMF World Championships. This Winter, the action is taking place in the Swiss village of Villars-sur-Ollon. While most world champions will be Italians, Swiss or French, it's a great opportunity for athletes from across the globe, including Canadians, to see how they stack up against the best.

After putting it off for a number of years I finally made my way further west than I’ve ever gone before. With what looked like a good weather window and some ok stability I threw my fat skis in the car (yeah, 106’s alright) and headed over to Rogers Pass to see what all the fuss is about.

2019 is here already and in a few months we’ll be back on dry trails. Tons of racing, adventures and wicked days out will likely entertain our Summer, but first, let’s take a few seconds to look back at 2018 on the local trail running scene. Lots was acomplished, records were broken and tons of miles were raced. Here are nine of our highlights, in no particular order. What are yours?

 “This can end anytime you want”, is what one of the last three runners whispers to the other after running over 200 miles at last weekends Big’s Backyard Ultra. 

The race is held on the race director’s property, near a small town, Bell Buckle in rural Tennessee. It’s name derives from the fact that it is in his dog’s “Big” actual backyard. Things are simpler in the south so why not have a race that the race director walks to the end of his driveway and hosts a race there. The race director, Lazarus Lake, is well known now for the The Barkley Marathons held in nearby Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee. Laz, as we know him, describes the race as the following:

We are lucky to have tons of high-quality trails here in the Rockies. Although great views are in our backyard, a few more difficult and longer trails deserve the status of “Classics” by the quality of the scenery and the world-class trail running that they offer. Think Northover Ridge, Skyline, Berg Lake or the Rockwall for example. No wonder why so many backpackers have these on their bucket list! 

Another high pressure weekend this late in a hot spring could only mean one thing: Columbia Icefields Adventure. Or any other glaciated area with mountains. Or a high sheltered north face. But we chose the icefields.

Matt had spied a descent off the classic route up Kitchener; the East Ridge. Earlier this winter we drove past it and took some photos, it seemed like the hanging glacier wasn’t too hanging so it was worth having a look. After getting myself stoked on some minivan alpinism stories Matt showed up and we lumbered up to the Columbia Icefields Centre. After some quick recon on our creek crossing we cooked some eats and passed out, hoping that 4hrs sleep would be enough to function on.