Index:
Trail Races: Increasing speed on the trails
Heading to out to run the alps
Trail Running: Running in the Alps
Trail Running: The Eiger Ultra-Marathon
Trail Running: Lessons Learned and Relationships Formed
After completing my spring marathon in Fredricton NB, I had to recover relatively quickly and then begin training for an extremely unique opportunity.
Starting back last summer, I had begun thinking that a running trip was something that I would like to experience. I spoke to my old running coach from Mile2marathon to see if he was going to do the northern Canadian trip in 2026, which he was not. I then checked in with another coach who was considering one in Newfoundland, which was not taking place either. And though I thought that it was out of reach, I decided to contact the founders of Marathon Training Academy, a podcast that I had been listening to for a couple of years now, to see what I could find out about their upcoming trip.
I had listened to the episodes from last year where Trevor and Angie and a group of listeners had completed the Tour de Mont Blanc. Though it sounded like something that I would immensely enjoy, I really didn’t anticipate going. Nonetheless, I sent an email to their website and Trevor responded quickly. We then had a chat on the phone and Trevor said that he thought that I should join them on their upcoming trip to the Swiss Alps. I told Trevor that it sounded like an amazing trip, but that I certainly needed to think it over and also discuss it with my wife. After some careful consideration (which really only took a couple of weeks), I decided that this was something that I had to do. I contacted Trevor and told him that I was in.
Having no experience on the trails, never mind no experience running mountains, I had to slightly shift my focus upon completion of my most recent marathon. Once I started to get my legs back, I began running my Sunday long runs on the trails. Not having access to significant elevation in my backyard, I would run in places like Hockley Valley and Mulmur in order to best replicate the climbs that I would be running in Switzerland. I recognized early, that running trails is a different beast from running the roads. In the trails it’s not unusual for very steep ascents and descents, while on the road’s climbs are usually much more gradual. Spending 3hrs running the trails is a lot more grueling than 3hrs on the road (though surprisingly much nicer on the body).
Trail Races: Increasing speed on the trails
In order to get to know each other, the group that would be running the Alps began meeting on Zoom about once a month. The only other Canadians in the group were a couple from Cobourg named James and Susie. James and Susie reached out to me prior to the trip and asked me to join them in a small trail race in North Umberland called Run Forest Run. So, about a month prior to our trip, I made the 2hr drive out to North Umberland and took part in my first ever trail race.
The race was a 24km run through some beautiful forests. I enjoyed running the first 8km at a very comfortable pace with my new (and instantly very good) friends James and Susie. Then, as we were traversing a steady climb, I started to gain some ground on them and decided that I would start running a bit harder. Knowing that we were way back of the lead pack, I had a lot of ground to make up. I ran the remaining 2/3 of the race at a hard pace and at about the 20km mark I passed some who told me that I was now in third place. The final part of the race was an “out and back” with a full 1km hill to climb, then to finish you got to run back down it. The lead pair were already done the hill when I started, so I knew that I had given them too much of a head start, but now was determined to remain in third place. Even better than the third-place finish was going back to James’s and Susie’s house and heading out to lunch with them. I now knew that I would have at least two great people with me when I headed to Switzerland the following month.
On the docket the next week (6 days later to be exact), was Rainbow Run where I was going to be running in another 24km trail race. Rainbow run is in my home of Alliston and South Simcoe Physiotherapy was providing the first aid to runners. This race was on grounds that I was familiar with and was 2 loops (in my case) of 12km each. I once again decided that I was going to run this one hard, but not “all out”. I went out pretty fast with a friend that stayed with me for the first few km’s, then I was on my own for the remainder. I ran hard for the duration of the race which took me less than 2hrs. I really wasn’t sure how many people had finished ahead of me, but was pleased to find out that I had finished second place to a rather pleasant man whom was visiting from Milan of all places!
The remaining several weeks leading up to my trip, I spent my usual weekdays and Saturdays running the roads around Alliston, while Sundays I would hit the trails in Mulmur, Tosorontio, or Hockley with a couple of buddies from the South Simcoe Breeze (a running group I started a couple of years ago). A couple of these Sundays in Hockley were brutally hot, and although I was able to get up to 1000m in total elevation one Sunday, it paled in comparison to the 2500m of elevation I would complete in Switzerland.
Heading to out to run the alps
Fast forward to July 11th and I headed to the airport after dealing with the typical triad of issues at work before I left; a broken AC unit, have to hire a new administrator the day before I left, and a broken toilet that I had to tend to. Leading off the trip I had the opportunity to meet one of my fellow MTA listeners and Run the Alps participants at the airport. Robin, from Cleveland, had a stop-over in Toronto and then we would be on the same flight to Switzerland. We instantly connected and were able to pass the time (while our flight was delayed by a couple of hours) getting to know each other better.
The flight was rather uneventful and though I’m not sure that I got more than a couple of hours of sleep, it went by faster than I thought it would. We landed in Zurich at 11:30am and quickly met up with another in the group Candis whom had the unfortunate experience of having her debit card eaten while trying to get local currency out at the airport. The 3 of us traversed the Swiss train system (quite easily thanks to Kate whom had already landed and kept notes), then walked the remaining 10 mins from the train station to the Hotel Adler where we would be spending the night. As per usual I had lots of energy, so after we had some amazing pizza in one of the many patios that lined the cobblestone streets outside of our hotel, I met my friends Susie and James from Coburg whom had already met up with Bekah from Ohio (whom ended up with an extra connection and landed without luggage).
The first “large group meeting” (though not yet a full group) was for dinner that first night at a restaurant that Susie had booked for all of us. Aside from those that I have already mentioned, Trevor and Angie the hosts of MTA and organizers of the trip, Brad from Oregon, as well as Kate and Marcia (both from Florida) all joined us for a delicious Swiss dinner of cheese fondu and some gelato to wash it down!
The next morning I headed out for a run with Susie, James, Marcia, and Bekah. Then, not feeling quite satisfied with one short run, went for a second run with Kate before we headed to our starting destination. The “second Marcia” (this time from Washington state) met us in the morning before we headed out. We rented a van to make our way to Mürren, but had decided as a group to stop in the beautiful city of Lucerne for an informal tour of the historic city led by our very own Trevor (whom demonstrated an uncanny knowledge of the city and a profound knowledge of both history and architecture). After our “pit stop” we took the steepest cable car in the world up to the beautiful village of Murren where we would spend our first two nights. There Mindy from Montana joined as, as well as Liz from Pennsylvania. We were put in the premium rooms at the hotel and premium they were: I’ve never had a room with such a view! We explored the town, checking out some local shops and walking a few of the trails that we would run the next day, and then met up with our amazing guides for the trip from Run the Alps, Alistair and Marion. We had a briefing on the trip and the following days schedule and then had an amazing dinner (on a rather chilly patio) before retiring to our rooms for the night.
Trail Running: Running in the Alps
The next morning was the official beginning of our running tour, unfortunately our group was going to start a few people light. Trevor, Susie, James, and Kate had decided to use the opportunity to do a Via Ferrata (think rock climbing but in a safer way) while Liz and Brad had already fell ill and would miss the first bit of our running journey. The rest of us ran from Murren to Winteregg where we stopped for lunch and had the pleasure of witnessing an alphorn player. The scenery was of course absolutely breathtaking with mountain ranges like I’d never seen, villages undisturbed by urban pollution, and livestock left to free range all over (you just had to be sure to “close the gate” when you left one pasture to enter another!). We were also blessed to have Sam, a Run the Alps guide and photographer, and his partner Alice join us and capture some of our running tour on camera for the day.
We made our way back to Murren in the early afternoon to pick up the “rock climbers” and then some of us headed out for an optional second run (sign me up!). This time we ran some other trails around the Murren village and returned in time for another wonderful dinner at the hotel. Dinner was inside due to rain, but we all escaped to the patio to witness the most clear and colourful rainbow that any of us had ever witnessed (and it turned into a double rainbow!).
On Monday we had to pack everything that we would need for the next night and 2 days into our running vests (including our trail snacks, toiletries, rain gear, cold weather gear etc) as we were headed for a “candle light motel” (ie no electricity) for the night and our full luggage would not be joining us.
This was also one of our toughest climbs of the trip, our distance covered 9 km’s and an elevation gain of over 1000m. Alistair, our guide extraordinaire (and perhaps my equal on a sarcasm level), gave us the opportunity to take in an extra climb to what is known as the “dance floor”. Though not a hike for the faint of heart (as evidence by the couple people who decided not to join us for this portion), the view was well worth the work and proved to be one of the highlights for me. From there we made our way to Obersteinberg, certainly our most peaceful stop on the journey. I was even given the freedom to go on a second run solo, and I found a taker to go with me in Mindy, so we snuck a good 5km harder effort in before dinner. We had a wonderful late lunch of soup and sausage prior to this run, but were sure to finish nearly all of our beet salad, mashed potatoes and meatloaf as there were death threats made to our guide if we didn’t leave room for dinner!
The next morning we had breakfast in the dining room, then unshowered and many of us wearing yesterday’s running clothes, we started out what was largely a descent to our next stop in the rain. Our descent was through some dense forest in places, which reminded me of some of the Canadian forests that I’ve grown up loving. Careful of slippery rocks and tree roots, we all made our way down to the village of Lauterbrunnen unscathed. There we took another optional detour and went to see some beautiful waterfalls called Trummelbach Falls. The falls, (which actually run inside of the mountain) flow from the glaciers at a rate of 20 000L/s. From Trummelbach falls, some of our crew opted to take the train to our next stop Wengen, while the more sadistic ones in the group (yes that’s me again), decided to make the remaining 10km on foot (which also included a steady climb of 550m known as “the wall”).
Wengen was another cute village with some trendy little shops and some tourist activity. Another nice hotel with good food (albeit with a forgotten desert order) and a peaceful town made for a great stop over on our trip. We spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring the town, where Trevor and I had a beverage at a local shop, (mine of course was non-alcoholic) then toured an old church. After briefing for the next day’s run, we had another great group dinner, and then all headed off to bed.
Wednesday morning started with about another 1000m of climbing to get to Kleine Scheidegg which would be our stop for lunch (or “light refreshments”). Many of us indulged in a flatbread for lunch while we sat high up looking down on the valleys below. It was certainly a bit chilly sitting at about 2000m of elevation, but our waitress (who was also going to be participating in the Eiger Ultra) graciously passed us all fleece blankets to cover ourselves in while refuelling our tanks.
After lunch, part of the group decided to take the train to what would be our final destination, while the rest of us made the 1000m descent over a total of 10km on foot. Certainly, most people assume that descending a mountain is much easier than ascending that same mountain, though in some respects that thinking is flawed. When running up a mountain, the workout for your muscles (think quadriceps, glutes, and calf muscles) is largely “concentric” meaning that your muscles are shortening as the contract. Meanwhile, when running down a mountain, your muscles are primarily working eccentrically meaning that they are lengthening as the contract to slow your body’s momentum as you go down the hill. Both the climbing and descending take some getting used to, and in fact many people find that they get more muscle soreness from the descending. Consistent with this statement, many of us were complaining of sore knees the next couple of days. Despite our muscle soreness, we made it to Grindelwald that afternoon and were finally able to unpack our bags knowing that this would be where we were staying until Sunday morning.
Thursday morning, we set out on what would be one of our “neatest” adventures of the trip. We boarded a train from Grindewald to Wilderwill where we took an old (and slow moving) rack and pinion train up the mountain. There, a couple of more guests (and fellow podcast listeners) met us as we began our hike to the highest point, the Berhotel Faulhorn, which was at an elevation of 2681 meters. Prior to the final climb, Alistair gave me permission to race my way up the mountain to the hotel, the challenge which I of course accepted. After a traditional lunch of macaroni and cheese with potatoes and served with apple sauce (why?), we began our descent down to the valley floor where two small nearly incandescent lakes sit in an area called Bachalpsee. After waiting for the group in the valley floor, we enjoyed one more climb and a beautiful cliff walk across a metal walkway at an area called “First”. With spectacular views and only the metal grates between you and a few thousand-meter drop, this experience wasn’t for everyone in the group, but worth it for those of us that experienced it. A gondola ride down from first, brought us back to the village of Grindelwald. Another big dinner, a recap of the day, and a discussion about an easy day on Friday, capped off our last day of exploring.
Friday started off as a bit more of a relaxed day. We headed down to breakfast at our leisure and then got showered and ready to meet Alistair and Marion in the lobby by 10am. From there we made the 5min walk to the expo to gather our race bibs and spend some money on unnecessary but always desirable race swag! For once, I showed some restraint and walked away with only a commemorative Eiger Ultra T-shirt and some stickers for my daughters. After getting the swag as well as the obligatory bib photos in front of the race poster, we reconvened for a wonderful picnic organized by Alistair and Marion. Alistair, in trying to make vegans out of us all, included some vegan food mixed throughout (and admittedly some were quite tasty).
Afterwards, I spent some time souvenir shopping for both myself and my family. After spending way too much money on some overpriced (but delicious) swiss chocolate, we reconnected as a group for some race day logistics including travelling to the start line (for those of us completing the 35k race), the course itself, and some fueling and racing strategy. After a great carb load at a local pizza restaurant (washed down with gelato of course) we all retired to our rooms early in order to get our race kits ready for race day and to get to bed early. Before bed we got the news that with a pending thunderstorm for Saturday afternoon, those of us doing the 35k race would now be running a 32+k race and those running the 51k race would now only be running a 42k race (in order to avoid being out on exposed parts of the mountain during an electrical storm). It might sound strange to those non-runners, but the majority of us were disappointed not to be able to complete the full scheduled distance.
Trail Running: The Eiger Ultra-Marathon
I was up at 5am to get showered and down to breakfast for 5:30. My typical marathon day breakfast of a white bagel with Kraft PB and a banana would not cut it for the length of event that was before me. This time, my meal included more fats and proteins in order to keep me satiated for longer. Since I would be running at a lower intensity, my body would also be able to tap into fuel sources other than just carbohydrates. Upon finishing breakfast, we went back to our rooms to give one final check to our race day kits and outfits. Due to the terrain and inherent risks of this race, there was mandatory gear such as rain coats and pants, 800kcal of food, 1L of water and more.
There were 4 of us (myself, Angie, Mindy and Kate) that were running the 35k event and we were the only ones that would need to take transit to the start line. Alistair would accompany us to the start line, which was surprisingly comforting (despite our ongoing sarcastic banter). Upon arriving at the train station, there was a notice that the train was out of order. Numerous figures were racing around attempting to come up with alternatives to the train in order to get the 750 racers to the start line in time. After a couple of charter busloads of people were whisked away, it was the three of us remaining racers (Mindy got on one of the earlier buses as she was starting 30 mins prior to the rest of us) that were piled into a cube van and driven to the start line (despite my joke, we were not kidnapped by the unknown driver). Start times were pushed back about 5mins, but we had plenty of time to warm up, have a final potty break, and contemplate our life’s choices prior to heading out on our journey.
First out of the gate was Mindy, with a 30 min head start (she and I had a friendly wager on whether or not I would catch up to her on the course). Then finally it was Angie, Kate and myself that took off with a running start. Leaving Burglauenen we were able to run at pace for only a very short period of time before we would start with a rather cruel climb to begin the race. Starting at an elevation of 900m, our first climb was up to almost 1600m and seemed relentless. Most of the climbing was single track and I had to be very strategic in passing some slower individuals. At the top of this climb, my fellow MTA runner Kate’s friend Kevin was there to greet us and cheer us on. It always surprises me how nice it is to see a familiar face on course, and though I barely knew Kevin, this was certainly the case.
From the peak of our first climb, we had a small downhill reprieve as we made our way back to Wengen where we would be met with our first aid station. As a marathon runner I am not used to stopping at an aid station, instead just grabbing a cup on the fly, but during a trail race like this a quick stop at the aid station was necessary to fill my water bottles and then move on. I didn’t find the route all that well marked in Wengen and had it not been for some spectators on a balcony helping me keep on route, I might very well still be running! After Wengen, we once again began climbing and headed the 800m to Manlichen. Climbing through the initial forested area shielded you from what was ahead in the course. Once we hit an opening, initially thinking that the first part of our climb must have been nearly finished, I looked up and saw that our journey wasn’t even close to complete. Instinctually I looked up and said “Oh, f@&*!” and was met with a chorus of laughter around me. A gentleman in front of me with a thick European accent turned and said “some things are universal!”.
After summiting at Manlichen we ran some of our flattest ground for about 6km. Being a road runner, this relatively flat ground played into my strengths and I passed several people in this stretch of the race. There was a small climb up to our next aid station at Kleine Scheidegg. As I was coming into the aid station, I saw Mindy heading out of the station with our guide Marion whom was there to support us. On her way by I made sure to tell Mindy that I was going to catch her! At this aid station I had a small piece of banana and some Swiss chocolate as I was already running low on the fuel that I had packed (I’ve always brought enough fuel with me for my marathons, but this time I only had caffeinated gels left in my pack). Marion came back to help me through the aid station and then began my run out of the aid station with me. Hitting mostly a downhill portion of the course, I began picking up speed (in part because I was determined to catch Mindy). Just before I got out of Marion’s range, she updated me that Mindy was now only 2mins ahead of me. Within a couple of kilometers, I had Mindy in my sight and soon passed her. We wished each other luck and I carried on.
After several kilometers of downhill running, I soon began to think that another hill would be welcome. Unfortunately, you have to be careful with what you wish for. We did, in fact, have another couple of steep, albeit shorter, climbs before we would finish our trek. One last aid station at Brandegg where I had one more quick water bottle fill and I was back out on the course. Since I was down to only caffeinated gels, I was hopped up on 200mg of caffeine (keep in mind that I’m not a coffee or pop drinker) and ready to finish off the race. Our final destination was Grindelwald which seemed like a mirage in the distance. We could both hear and see the village, but we seemed to be taking the longest possible route to the finish line. We danced around the rim of the valley for a while, once again with some aggressive downhill (now on asphalt) and then finally came into town. Just when we thought that we were in the home stretch, there was one more steep climb that took us right up to the front door of our hotel. Seeing the hotel, I knew the finish was close and I started to turn it on again. We went down the main street, over a wooden bridge, then had a strange steep climb up and back down a descent with a rubber mat on it to the finish line. I crossed the finish line with a time of 4:34, surpassing my original goal of 5:00. At the finish line, I had 4 small glasses of coke and some bananas to replenish my fuel. As it turned out, I finished sooner than others had expected, so nobody was there to see me finish. I did reconnect with some of my MTA teammates after I had finished and celebrated our achievements. The final stats showed that I had finished 76th out of approximately 750 runners that started the race, and 11th overall in my age-group. I was also the first Canadian to finish.
Upon completion of my own event, I was able to get to the hotel, have a quick shower and change, and then head back to cheer on my teammates. I decided that we needed some support right in front of the hotel where we could give everyone one more push as they headed towards the finish line. Myself and Candis spent the rest of the afternoon there, where I was able to even run in with a few of the finishers. The rain eventually did come meaning that many of the MTA members got to cool down during their events. Every single member of the team was able to complete their respective event, nobody was injured, and I think that every member was happy with their result. Once everyone was finished, we took a little bit of time to gather ourselves, bask in the post-race euphoria, and then eventually headed down to the restaurant for one final team dinner. The next morning, we all gathered for breakfast and started to say our goodbyes as parts of the group would be heading in different directions. From there, some of us took a series of trains back to Zurich, where we had dinner together (capped it off with a final Swiss gelato).
Monday morning, James, Susie and I took one final run through the streets of Zurich, then walked Bekah and Candis to the train station where the three of us (and Robin) would soon return to in order to get to the airport, thus effectively ending the “trip of a lifetime”.
Trail Running: Lessons Learned and Relationships Formed
As part of the MTA podcast, Trevor asked each one of us what the highlight of our trip was. My answer to him was two-fold; from a physical experience standpoint, it was the day that we headed to Obersteinberg when we did the climb up to the area that is called “the dance floor”. For many, that was a tough climb that challenged us physically and also took many out of their comfort zones. Once we got to the top, there was a sense of accomplishment because it didn’t come easy and the views from the top were incredible.
We played music, danced, and acted like a bunch of teenage kids celebrating our achievement. We truly do value the things that we have to work for, and getting to the top of the dance floor was worth every bit of work that we put into it. The second (and most important) highlight of the trip, was the relationships that we formed. At the clinic leading up to my Swiss excursion, I was asked over and over who I was going with. Almost without exception, when I said that I was going alone and that I didn’t know anyone that I would be touring with, my response was met with hesitation. However, from meeting Susie and James a few weeks prior, to meeting Robin at the Toronto Airport, to meeting Candis in the Zurich airport, to the individual meetings of everyone else on the first day or two, it was as though we were just a group of long-lost friends reconnecting for another big adventure. Despite being from all over North America, being from very different backgrounds, and ranging in age from the mid-twenties to the sixties, we already had one very common bond: running. Starting with our love of running and a need to explore, we had something to build off and our relationships grew very quickly.
Throughout the week, we all spent time running with different people and had the opportunity to get to know each other on a much deeper level. We spent so much time together running the trails, walking through the villages together and eating meals together that our relationships spawned very quickly. I know now that though this was a running trip on the surface, and I truly enjoyed every bit of the running, the trip was about a lot more than that. Prior to the trip, I thought that this was a once in a lifetime trip, but if I can control it, it won’t be the last!
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Ryan is a well accomplished marathon runner and has an extensive background in treating runners for running related injuries. Ryan is co-founder of the Real Running Course where he teaches other health professionals the most effective and efficient ways to treat the running population. Get better. Faster.