5 weeks, 5 races

In the spring of 2025, Nora and I sat down talking about what we wanted to do with the summer. We both knew we wanted to go to Chamonix but for how long, where else should we go, what races, was still uncertain. The only thing set in was that it we would a lot training, running, racing, biking, good food and great time together!

After weeks of planning, scrolling through race calendars, and swapping messages with friends living in the valleys, we finally came up with a plan. We would drive all the way from Romsdalen to the French Alps, stay in Le Tour, do a bunch of local races and then drive back home.. Our bikes on the roof, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 packed to the ceiling. We crammed in the tent, sleeping bags, ice axe, crampons, rollerskis and an huge amount of training clothes, gels, and sports drink. Seven weeks. Five races.

On the 15th of June, we rolled out of Romsdalen under a rainy morning, heading for Drammen to spend a night with Noras family. The next day we caught the ferry from Larvik to Hirtshals, Denmark.

We got into a good ruitine of driving, eating, charge and run. We’d swap places every few hours, one person driving, the other hunting for a charging station with a decent place to run nearby. It became a little game: the perfect charger was one where you could squeeze in a run, buy a smoothie, eat something, and come back to a car ready for the next stretch. We have gotten into a crim podcast rabitthole so there was a lot of that. The Daily paodcasts, music, audiobooks or sometimes we’d talk for hours and enjoy each other's company.

The first night we stopped in Hamburg, the second in Stuttgart with our teammate Janosch and his wife Miriam, whose hospitality made us feel at home in the middle of a long journey. On the 19th of June, after crossing into France and weaving through the mountains, we arrived in the Aravis to stay with our teammate and friend, Toni and Bastien. Finnaly the long road down was done and we have arrived to the alps.

Aravis Trail

Our first race was the Aravis Trail in Thônes, just outside Annecy, a friendly, local event but with a challenging course. We entered the mixed relay: 48 km split between us. Nora took the first leg, 24 km with 2,200 m of climbing. I took over halfway, facing 14 km with 1,200 m up and a long, pounding 2,200 m down.

The trails wound through green meadows and jagged limestone peaks, the air warm but not oppressive. The whole event had a relaxed atmosphere, no hype, no noise, just a group of people who loved running in the mountains. We pushed hard, but without overthinking it. It was a gentle return to racing in the Alps, a reminder of why we’d come. We won the mixed category and left Thônes for Le Tour in Chamonix Valley.

Marathon du Mont-Blanc

I have a complicated history with the Marathon du Mont-Blanc, some years it’s been magical, others it’s been brutal. This time, I came in with no real idea of my form. The spring had been broken by illness and antibiotics, and though I was training again, I hadn’t yet been tested against a field like this.

I decided to treat it as a checkpoint, a way to see where I stood. The start was early, the forecast hot. I tried to keep things controlled, but the first flat section already felt heavier than it should have. My legs were stubborn, slow to wake up. Up Col des Posettes, they were still refusing to come alive; down into Vallorcine, they felt even heavier.

But the second half is where I tried to turn it around. I started in 13th and clawed my way to 8th, the last climbs finally feeling smoother. It wasn’t a breakthrough, but it was solid, and it reminded me that the road back to top form is made up of days like this. The best part was sharing the weekend with my crew, Nora, her brother Olaf, and his girlfriend Racheal.

Montagn’Hard

The next race was a local gem in Saint-Gervais: 19 km with 1,300 m of climbing. One long climb up, a shorter drop into Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce, and nothing fancy in between.

I decided this would be a “from the gun” effort. I went out hard, letting the climb sting, and even with a couple of wrong turns, I felt sharper than the week before. I crossed the line first, lungs on fire but happy. Nora crushed the women’s race too. Our reward? Wheels of local cheese, jars of jam, and bottles of juice.

Trail Tour des Fiz

By week four, we were based in Plateau d’Assy, staying with our friend Holly Page, whose place sat right by the start of the Trail Tour des Fiz.

I took on the 34 km Tour des 5 Refuges with 2,330 m of climbing; Nora did the 11 km. The course was a so nice—technical in places, flowing in others, with panoramic views over the Mont Blanc that stopped you in your tracks if you dared to look too long. This was a key test before Monte Rosa by UTMB, and also a chance to fine-tune race-day nutrition and pacing ahead of OCC in August.

From the first step, it felt like one of those rare days when everything clicks. My breathing was steady, my legs light, my effort controlled. I pushed all the way, winning in 3 h 12 min, and Nora took second in her race.

Monte Rosa by UTMB

The trip’s final race was Monte Rosa by UTMB, 40 km with 2,900 m of climbing, starting in Gressoney-Saint-Jean in the Aosta Valley. We arrived a few days early to scout the course and adjust to the altitude, staying at the warm and welcoming Jolanda Sport Hotel & Spa.

The route were pretty brutal with steep climbs and descents. Technical terrain but also some fast runnable sections. Both me and Nora went with the Agravic Speed for confidence on the technical sections. The course started with 1,300 m of climbing, a long descent back down to the valley, a 3k flat, then another climb. In the first 20 km, we’d already racked up 2,300 m of vertical.

I set out at a pace that felt right on the edge, fast enough to challenge me but enough to be sustainable. There were moments when I questioned whether I could hold it, but they were drowned out by the feeling of running strong and free. The final kilometres ticked down, the finish line drawing closer, and I knew: I was back. Back to my old shape, back to the version of myself I’d been chasing for 2 years.

Nora ran a fierce race, especially on the climbs, and secured another top-10 finish in a by-UTMB event. We celebrated with some italian pizza, and then turned the car north. We stopped by Davos and also adidas HQ on the way back.

Equipment

• Adidas TERREX Agravic Speed Ultra

• Team Adidas TERREX Race Tee

• Adizero Control Running Tights

• TERREX Cap

• TERREX Socks

• Coros Apex Pro + HR

• CORE Sensor 2.0

Nutrition

• Nomnio pre-start

• Maurten 320 Sports Drink × 3

• Maurten Gel CAF 100 × 3

• Maurten Gel 100 × 3

Racing in the Alps & Driving an EV

We drove our Hyundai IONIQ 5 down from Norway on the 15th of June and came home 25th of July. 5,700 km in the Hyundai IONIQ 5. Normally it has a 500 km range, but with bikes on the roof and Autobahn speeds, we averaged 400–450 km.

Compared with flying and renting a petrol car, we estimated we saved about 74% in CO₂ emissions (674 kg vs 2,634 kg). Charging turned out to be easier than we expected, never once did we have range anxiety. Stopping every 300–350 km became a rhythm, a chance to eat, stretch, or run. On a 300 kW DC charger, the car could go from 20% to 80% in about 20 minutes.

It was slightly more expensive than we’d imagined, and every charging network seemed to require its own app (a mild but persistent annoyance). But those small inconveniences were nothing compared to what we gained: the freedom of the road, the slow unfolding of landscapes, the little moments you’d miss on a plane. We’d do it again in a heartbeat.