Togs Jogs

live from UTMB in Chamonix France

I feel like I’ve only just now recovered from the emotions of the Olympics and once again I’ve found myself crying in public watching an athletic event, add in the start of the Paralympics and the thrilling finish of the Tour de Femmes and well lets say I’ve been testing my tear ducts.

Louis Gabriel Nouchi’s designs for the Paralympics Opening Ceremony-so good!

UTMB (ultra trail du Mont Blanc) week started on Monday and the town of Chamonix has been transformed into a sea of sneakers and running vests. UTMB is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, event in trail running. There are 8 races culminating in the pinnacle event that circumnavigates the Mont Blanc Massif for 176km/109 miles (though don’t overlook my personal favorite the TDL partner race that’s a whopping 300km!).

The event, like all things in life, has it’s shadow side of consumerism, tourism, traffic, and environmental strains AND at the same time it’s pretty dang moving to see thousands of people out seeing what they can do with their lungs and feet-elites and amateurs alike. The races all finish downtown-the runners running or limping along with locals and tourists strolling while picking up groceries and gelato. The energy is great with a constant soundtrack of clapping and cheering nearly 24 hours a day for 5 days straight.

My own relationship with running is nothing short of entertaining. Consistency is not a thing with me and running except that I consistently sign up for races and then fail to train for them. I go for what my brother calls the “surprise your body” technique. From the NYC Marathon to a design your own Run the Rut 50k where I mis-converted 5000meters of elevation gain thinking it was 2000 feet (duoh)…let’s just say I’ve tested the surprise a lot.

What I love about running is the idea of seeing what my body is capable of doing on any random day.

You didn’t train for a 50k…surprise! your legs have cramped and you can only seem to walk backwards.

I figured, with my wild card running theories, that this week I’d look to the professionals to see what their running togs consists of. I spent a few hours every day chasing after strangers awkwardly with my iphone to catch interesting trends and chatting with North Face teammates about what they suggest to wear trail running for us Toggsers.

From the Boys