Words by Like the Wind – Photography supplied by New Balance
THERE IS A SAYING – BORROWED FROM CYCLING – THAT IT NEVER GETS EASIER, YOU JUST GET FASTER. AT SOME POINT ON THE ROUTE OF A RACE CALLED THE VERTICAL KILOMETRE – WHICH CLIMBS (YOU GUESSED IT) 1,000M UP THE SIDE OF THE CHAMONIX VALLEY IN FRANCE – EVERY RUNNER HAS THIS REALISATION. FROM THE FASTEST OF THE PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES, HOPING TO WIN THIS PRESTIGIOUS EVENT, TO THOSE INTREPID SOULS SIMPLY LOOKING TO TEST THEIR METTLE: LUNGS AND LEGS BECOME FLOODED WITH PAIN. AND THERE IS NO ESCAPING THE DISCOMFORT UNTIL THE FINISH LINE, OBSCURED FROM VIEW, SOMEWHERE HIGH UP ABOVE IN THE JAGGED PEAKS.
The route of the Vertical Kilometre (or the VK as it is known) is special. It is by far the shortest of the races that make up the Marathon du Mont-Blanc weekend in Chamonix – and also the most brutal.
Each runner sets off, time trial-style, at 20 second intervals from the start on the Place du Triangle de l’Amitié, in the heart of Chamonix, France. The first few hundred meters of the course are up Rue la Mollard, an almost arrow-straight, treacherously steep road which climbs towards the start of the trail itself. After the tough tarmac start, the runners turn onto a narrow, rocky trail which winds its way beneath a cable car, via dozens of switchbacks, towards the plateau of Planpraz. But there is a sting in the tail. At the very top, the well-worn trail gives way to steel rungs hammered into the rocks – suddenly the athletes are practically rock climbing rather than running. Finally, there is a short section of wide pathway and then the welcome sight of the finish line.
The VK route takes just 3.8km to climb 1,000m up the side of the valley. And on the way it cuts across several trails circumnavigating the mountain. Which makes it relatively easy for spectators, fans and supporters to get alongside the route.
This is what members of the newly formed New Balance Trail Team did this year – yelling their encouragement to all the intrepid athletes tackling this lung- and quad-busting challenge. And the cheers were most enthusiastic for Adkin and Humbert, New Balance athletes racing the 2024 edition. Even Théo Detienne, who had finished a 90km race just a short while earlier, was there to give his enthusiastic support to his team mates.
In 2023 New Balance made a commitment to build a trail running team. It was clear that with all the right ingredients in place – innovative world-leading products, top class backroom staff and great athletes – the brand could make a significant impact on the off-road running world. And in no time at all, that is exactly what has started to happen. The 2024 edition of the Marathon du Mont-Blanc was perhaps the most significant expression so far of that commitment.
For Jean-Michel Faure-Vincent, the team coach, creating a strong group dynamic is the first step to success. “For now we’re building,” Faure-Vincent explains. “We started just six months ago with recruitment, by setting structures up in France, Italy, Spain and the UK.”
Faure-Vincent goes on to explain that the team has a varied group of athletes. Some, like Italian Davide Magnini, have already achieved superb results in trail running (Magnini is what could be described as a short-course specialist with several wins on vertical kilometre races under his belt since he took up the sport in 2017). Other members of the team are also seen as having huge potential in the future. And aside from their varied experience, the athletes who make up the team also focus on different types of trail racing. “We want to develop the athletes together,” explains Faure-Vincent. “But each in their own speciality – we have sky runners, ultra distance runners, fell runners. They can share their own moments from their experiences and learn from each other.”
One of the members of the team, from the French Alps, is Candice Fertin, a local from the Haute-Savoie region. In Fertin’s case the Chamonix valley could be considered home territory. And indeed Fertin got her first proper start in racing on the trails here. “I’ve always done endurance sports with my family,” says Fertin, “but never in competition.
My first real proper race was in 2021 at the 23km Cross du Mont-Blanc when I was 23. I won it – so it made me want to try myself in the sport.”
Fertin considers herself to be an athlete suited to longer trail races. When asked about one of her best race experiences, she says that racing the 30km Trail du Gypaète with her boyfriend is a great memory. But she says that she “can’t fully express” herself over such a short distance. Her focus for 2024 will be the 100km CCC race, part of the UTMB race week also taking place in Chamonix.
Sticking with long distance races, one of Fertin’s team mates Théo Detienne was fourth overall in the weekend’s 90km race. He then hiked up alongside the VK course to cheer on his friends. Detienne’s race came down to the final decent, with four athletes battling for the top spots. “I decided to go for it – but I missed a kilometre or so to be able to catch the [runner in] third [place].”
Théo’s career started at school where he raced on the track, before moving to cross-country and road races. But by the time he was 19 years old, and living in the French Alps in a town called Chambéry, Théo was running almost exclusively in the mountains. The 90km race in which he narrowly missed the podium was only his second ultra distance race. But he has developed a taste for longer races.
“In the future I’d like to move to 100 miles, to run for 20 hours straight,” Detienne explains. “But I’m aware that I need more experience and miles before I can attempt that.”
One of the most experienced members of the New Balance Trail Team is Davide Magnini, who, despite being only 26 years old, has already racked up very impressive results. Magnini started out as a ski-mountaineer who saw trail running as a way to stay in shape for the winter season. Then in 2014, he was part of an under-18 team that competed in the World Mountain Running Championships in Arco di Trento, in Trentino, Magnini’s home region. Magnini won the individual race and helped the Italians to win the team competition as well. “From that moment,” explains Magnini, “I decided that I could have double seasons – so skiing in winter and running [during the rest of the year].”
What coach Faure-Vincent is most excited about is how the diversity of the team can contribute to its future success. Indeed, Faure-Vincent’s background might go some way to explaining his philosophy of creating a great team spirit above and beyond anything else. In his younger days Faure-Vincent competed in snowboarding, free skiing and skateboarding. But for the past 20 years he has managed trail running teams exclusively. Nevertheless, his experiences as an athlete inform his approach today.
“I live in the mountains, in the southern French Alps,” says Faure-Vincent, “and I enjoy trail running. It’s a natural thing for me. I love the spirit of trail running.” Faure-Vincent believes that there is an “aspect of cinematography” in trail running and that the sport is packed with stories. Which makes it one of the most compelling sports both for the athletes and the fans (who are often one and the same). “Look at Théo for example,” says the coach. “Today he was third. Then he fell in a hole and didn’t know what to do. So I tried to help him out. He picked himself up and sprint-finished a 90km race – that’s a full story.”
Turning to the athletes, it becomes clear that the team means different things to each of them. For Théo Detienne, having the opportunity to contribute to product development and test prototypes is an exciting perk of being on the team. Candice Fertin says that after the team’s first training camp in April, “we felt like a family.” Fertin knows that when she returns to Chamonix in August to race the CCC, she will benefit from being part of a group: “I’m super confident – not necessarily in terms of results. But in terms of feeling supported leading up to the race and at the aid stations, or mentally to help pick me up if I have a low.”
Davide Magnini agrees with Detienne and Fertin; he suggests that one of the best aspects of the way that New Balance is building the trail team is the long-term vision. Magnini points out that the sport of trail running is “skyrocketing in terms of people doing it, as well as its commercialisation”. But the ‘team spirit first’ approach shows that New Balance is building for the future. Coach Faure-Vincent makes the same point.
“In the second year,” Faure-Vincent explains, “we want to get better, and maybe in the third year we’ll start having some results. If the wins come earlier, so be it. But if we don’t, it won’t be a problem – as we’re really here to build a strong base first.” With athletes such as Théo Detienne, Candice Fertin and Davide Magnini, the right coaching team and New Balance’s long-term thinking, all the right ingredients definitely are in place.
As for the results, Théo Detienne and the rest of the New Balance team who hiked up to watch the runners in the VK saved an especially loud cheer for one of their own – Jacob Adkin, a 28-year-old from Edinburgh in Scotland, as he passed by on his way to second place overall against an incredibly competitive field.
It is commendable that the team is prepared to wait for results. But it looks as though they won’t need to.
