Run The Rockies

During the summer of 2018, a keen group ticked off what they deem some of the most classic trail runs in the Canadian Rockies.

- Greg Hill

Running is so simple; all we leave behind are footprints. The ego in me hopes that a set of my feet imprinted in mud will remain, the effects of my passage evident forever. Ironically, it is my carbon footprint that will echo far longer than my foot stepping in the mud. It’s not the running that is carbon intensive but the way we approach trailheads and our lifestyle choices.

This is a crazy conundrum since adventurers are the ones who appreciate and love nature the most. Last year, after completing an online carbon calculator, it became obvious that I needed to dramatically alter my lifestyle. My first, easiest step was to decrease my meat intake, so I became a weekday vegetarian, which is a great balance, some meat, just not always. As a professional athlete, the number of flights I went on each year was out of control. So I stopped all flights for personal adventures. I also sold my F-350 and purchased an electric car.

Having procured this conscience-clearing transportation, I and my friend Bruno Long, 39, of Revelstoke, British Columbia, figured it was time to embark on a project we had been scheming: to run several of the most classic, in our estimation, trail runs in the Canadian Rockies. Initially, we thought we would try to run them all back to back, but we knew in our hearts that we were not that skilled at running. We decided to run them over the summer of 2018.