Trail Running - Italia

No, we're not still on holiday, as you can see it's back to the nitty gritty!   

What better way to start the week than a spot of trail running in the beautiful Val Ferret, Italy.  

Richard considers this to be the most beautiful running trail in the 'whole world' , so as the kids went back to school on Monday, I decided to blow off all my chores for the morning and take him up on his offer of a guided trail run.

Chores, chores go away, come back another day!

Le Val Ferret is only a short drive from Chamonix, through the famous Mont Blanc tunnel which links the two countries so handily! I've skied lower down in this valley and biked here with the boys, but this is the first time I've gone up onto the 'balcon'.

The Mont Blanc from the Italian side

My neighbor and running pal Jane came along too!

The terrain varied between grassy paths, snow and iced over streams which afforded a nice bit of scrambling here and there.  Kept it very interesting indeed!
The trail is part of the Tour du Mont Blanc, a fantastic 7-10 day, 170km, hike which starts and finishes in Chamonix, going through Italy and Switzerland on the way.  Although, some crazy people have been known to do it much quicker, in 21 hours to be exact - yes 170km in 21 hours, as part of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc.

Our turn around point was the Bonatti Hut, which was unfortunately closed so no warming 'grappa' for us that day.  Probably for the best as we had another 5ish km back to our starting point - via a different path and all those pesky chores waiting for me at home!

Rifugio Bonatti

Keep up with Richards many mountain adventures on his new facebook page Mont Blanc Loisirs