Imagine; you started running only two and a half years ago. Then you surprisingly turn out to be an extremely good mountain runner and you are invited to compete with the international elite of trail and mountain running. On top of that, you finish second in the Golden Trail World Series, the world division of international trail and mountain running. This unbelievable story happened to…
A lot of us, trail and mountain runners, frequently visit the Alps to compete in famous races like the Matterhorn Ultraks, Sierre Zinal or the Zugspitz Ultratrail. When we have the opportunity we also like to train there and combine it with an active, outdoor holiday. But what do we actually know about the origin of these mountains? To learn more about the formation of…
Running on the boundaries between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. Where the earth’s crust cracks open, steams, hisses and where volcanoes regularly spit out their lava. There are few places on earth where you can experience this, but within Europe Iceland is the place to be. The landscape is developing so fast in Iceland. Almost every year new pieces of land are created…
Running through Iceland sometimes feels like running on another planet. We went to the relatively unknown north of the country to see breath-taking landscapes, meet some prominent members of the northern running community and run the Súlur Vertical mountain race. Akureyri, the “capital of the north”, is the largest city outside the capital area of Iceland and although it has only around eighteen thousand inhabitants,…
Since 2018 the city of Antwerp has an urban running tribe called Negative Split. When hearing their name, you imagine city streets, graffiti and noisy traffic. But this tribe prefers the forest trails and single tracks, and we are invited to join them. We meet in the small village of Cens for a 30k trail run. When we arrive in their weekend residence, the Negative…
Barbara and her family went to the French Vosges for a camping holiday. This range of lower mountains near the Swiss border has beautiful forests with mountaintops up to 1.400 meters. For Barbara these days away from home are nog complete without some nice runs, so read her story about her holiday trails. The air is hot, even at 1000 meters above sea level. Crickets…
If you follow the international skyraces, you must know Stian Angermund. The Bergen based runner was world champion Skymarathon and VK in 2016 and winner of the Golden Trail Series in 2018 and 2021. But more than that he is a very open hearted and warm person. When we asked him to show his home trails he immediately said yes, so off we went to Bergen…
Running up the Italian Monte Cistella is a tough climb. It leads you through a remote area where you hardly see anyone. But the reward is a worth while and spectacular view on almost all 4.000 + peaks of the Alps. Tom took us up there to show his home mountain. Tom van de Plassche (1999) is a born Dutchman, but his father’s career brought…
Running on Swiss glaciers and having lunch just above 3,000 meters altitude. That was the plan when mountain runner Siebrig Scheeres and her dog Max took me on their home trail through some of the most beautiful places in the canton of Valais . We meet in Saas Fee and take the bus all the way through Saas Valley to the Mattmark reservoir at 2200…
Dining in an old Norwegian barn with a spectacular view on Geiranger Fjord. That was the promise of the Basenibba Community Run. As a part of the Stranda Fjord Trail Race (SFTR), this community run was more or less a warming up for the real stuff coming up in two days. Nevertheless it was a small adventure on itself. It was not the 8.5k distance…
