Is anybody in the Lake Geneva area interested in getting together for some long (20+km) trail runs? I moved here from Vancouver, Canada last month and was expecting to quickly make friends with some hardcore Swiss mountain runners who could show me the trails...no such luck yet. I'm looking for training buddies who want to get off road and get their runners a little muddy, and who won't mind getting lost in the woods from time to time :-)

yes,yes,yes well soon anyway.

I'll be moving across from Zurich in the autumn. So you'll have to show me round when I get there or help me keep my sanity whilst house hunting. I love trail running and if you want info on mountain races let me know. I was hoping to do the Mt Blanc marathon on the 28th june but haven't been able to squash enough training so maybe not this year, although there is a half and it is some of the best running terrain in the world (see recent runners world rave run)

Another problem is that the 2,000 places were filled 10 minutes after booking opened! The Tour de Mont Blanc race has been a phenomenal success. There are lots of nice smaller races on the french side: e.g. Tour de Flaine, "Le Bellier" at La Clusaz. Even shorter is la montée du Salève, just outside Geneva. Even I've done that . Of course all real swiss mountain runners should do the Sierre-Zinal, which is probably the world's most prestigious mountain race. The competition at the top is ferocious and very international. The final 1000m descent is also ferocious, espeically after several hours of steep climbing.

Are you sure? It doesn't say anything on the Marathon du Mont Blanc website. I'm not talking about the mad Tour du Mont Blanc - well out of my league, it took me 4 and a 1/2 days to jog/hike that one.

Hey Kate - I actually noticed your profile on the forum before and thought "too bad she lives in Zurich...". Well now you're moving here! I shall do my best to find some good trail in advance of your arrival. Do you know where exactly you will be living? I live in Chexbres, which is 15km east of Lausanne.

PS. I am doing some research right now on trail events in Switzerland. It seems that many are hard-core elite. I tried to get into the 50km Tour de Mont Blanc earlier this year and didn't get a spot in the lottery system for internationals. Will try again next year!

Just started the house hunt hence the lack of training and hoping for St Cergue but who knows were we'll end up.

Why not do the Davos mtn marathon - it seems to let anyone in, has lots of different distances, good scenery and a great atmosphere. The 28k was my first ever race a few years back so i have fond memories of it. I'm not sure what distance to go for but will hopefully do one of the courses, depending on how much running i can do, now I've got the new bike!

Hey Kate,

Send me the specs on what sort of home you are looking in a private message and I will keep my ears open. We hear about accommodations through friends and colleagues form time to time; its how we found our wonderful apartment in Chexbres .

Davos looks like a great race. It's a place I have been meaning to visit anyway, so this could be the perfect reason to go. It means I only have 6 weeks to get into running shape though...the plethora of good cheese and chocolate that seems to trip up most North American when they move here has gotten to me and I am feeling the extra 5 pounds on the climbs...

Trail running around Geneva? Sounds awesome.

I am also from Vancouver, just got here a couple of months ago. I love trail running but have spent the last summer trail biking in Whistler.
If you're ever doing some short runs...as in a little less than 10km I'd love some company running.
Can't wait!

My mistake. Apologies. I was thinking of the 160km monster. This one looks much more sensible, altho' not many women in the 2007 results. It still looks pretty formidable. Good for you if you have a bash!

Awesome - send me private message and we'll coordinate a shorter run! I am horribly out of shape right now, so somethign under 10km is not such a bad idea for me.

Rachel.

Hi Trail Runners

Anybody can point me in direction of some great trail running events this fall. Living in Zurich so if you know of any clubs or trail meetings please sent me a message.

Further on I am looking for my last point to have access to UTMB next year so desperatly need a race before december which is approved by the UTMB anybody know of such an invent here in europe.

BR

Frederik

My last hike in Switzerland (about ten days ago) included the section of the Sierre-Zinal from the Hotel Wiesshorn to Zinal.

The descent to Zinal is indeed steep. And though I was not running (too old for that) I was going as fast as I could in the hope of catching the 15:12 bus back to St-Luc (otherwise I would have had to wait a couple of hours). Just got there as the driver was about to start; he saw me running and was kind enough to wait

I would love to hear about any good fall/early winter trail running events too. I am near Lausanne but would travel for some good muddy trail.

Rachel.

I had a quick check on the french side. All I found was a couple on 28th of September. Most likely is the "Trail des aiguilles rouges". 54km from Servoz, just before you get to Chamonix. Kick off at 5am . 13 hours to get home. The course looks superb, up the crest of the north side of the Chamonix valley with views over Mont Blanc and the Aiguille du midi.

The web site is a bit hard to navigate, especially if you don't read french.

I'm off to Chamonix next Sunday for an adventure race. We get the cable car from Les Houches and then navigate back down through the forest on a proper orienteering map. More details available on request...

5am...that is palatable if it is rewarded with a beautiful sunrise in the mountains. Unfortunately I'm out of town on both of these weekends, but I'm curious - where do you go to find out about these races?

Yep, i think the Aiguilles rouge race is the only one to get you your point and it does look a fantastic course just some fearsome climbing (+3600m!) good training for the race next year though. Have you checked the Sky race series i had a feeling there was one in Italy coming up?

Aside from that theres also these 2 races that probably don't get any points but might be worth people looking at wwwsavoierandolac.com also on the 28th Sept and

http://www.tourdetirol.com in early October. Nothing local to Zurich I'm afraid.

I did the alpenmarathon; Anzere - Leukerbad (+/- 1500m) a couple of weeks back and would highly recommend it for next year to anyone who loves trail running - spectacular course including alphorns, running across the top of a dam, a set of stairs so steep they had a handrail and paramedics camped out at the bottom of a particularly scary descent. Oh and only 100 people did it so not so much of the razzamataz that accompanies the more well known courses.

As to finding out about races - no single source that i know of just alot of searching and picking up flyers at events.

Hi Trail Runners

Anyone living in/ near the Geneva region? I've been running consistently over the past few years and most recently ran my first race along the run rhone evasion. i love trail running and would like to meet a few similar minded runners and learn about local routes/ training tips, etc.

Please PM me or ...

Cheers
Christoph

Hi Christoph

we spoke on the phone the other day, I'm in St Cergue so do a far amount of my running in the Jura, the ridge from Col de Faucille being one of my favourites. Know doubt you've already discovered the other EF running threads, lots of top tips and I'm sure I'll make it eventually to one of the geneva runners evening runs.

hello

a year or so late but I'll give it a shot anyways... are you still in the VD area? still running? I'm also looking for a group of trail runners. I plan to run both Zermatt (relay) and Sierre-Zinal this year. Get in touch, merci.

Hi Runners,

Is anyone interested in weekly 20k + trail runs in the Geneva/ Vaud region?
I'm Geneva based but flexible to move around. I'm planning to run both Zermatt & Sierre-Zinal so additional training is imperative if interested.

Cheers and hope to hear from someone soon.

TrailRunner