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I wasn’t really looking for an antidote to the many big, famous alp mountain races that dot the landscape here. But this morning, in the Swiss canton of Valais, near the border with France and not too very far from Italy, I certainly found one. Part of the Valais Cup mountain running series—a collection of mostly short, steep mountain races that

When talking about trail running in the Swiss alps, discussions usually turn to the dramatic: the thousands of meters climbed, the peaks summited, the distances covered. For me, though, one of the great pleasures is the family farm. In Switzerland, many alp farms fly the Swiss flag, a sign that the farm sells its products and perhaps offers a few other local goodies and refreshments like homemade bread or hot coffee.  For

This past week, Jim Maddock and I found ourselves in the Val Anniviers, looking for great trail running routes along the course of the fabled Sierre-Zinal trail race route.  (We found them! But, that’s a story for some other time.) Running along, chatting, half distracted, we were enjoying a late summer, sunny alp afternoon on a ridge a thousand meters above the village

What makes Sierre-Zinal such a remarkable event? For what I look for in a trail race, there’s none better. In fact, nothing is even close.

When I registered for the Swissalpine half-marathon in Davos, I expected something … wild, just like its name implied. If you read my blog about the Aletsch half marathon, and after reading this one, you’ll probably think, “this guy is never satisfied!” Well, I AM French and, like a lot of French people, I complain