Asics Selects Beat The Sun Amateurs

Asics has announced the 15 amateur athletes from around the world who will be taking part in the annual ‘Asics Beat the Sun’ challenge, which returns to Chamonix on June 21st, the longest day of the year.

The UK will be represented by Loughborough University student Charlotte Love, joining Team Northern Europe alongside fellow amateurs Finn Volger (Germany), Benjamin Druml (Austria) and pro athletes Holly Rush, Christian Schiester and Lukas Naegele.

The opportunity to work together with pro runners as part of a team saw over 8,000 amateur runners across the globe apply to take part in ‘ASICS Beat the Sun’, which will see five continental teams relay race around Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Western-Europe.

Each team, made up of 3 pro athletes and 3 amateurs, will need to relay across three countries – France, Italy and Switzerland – as they attempt to complete the course in the hours between sunrise and sunset. This gives them precisely 15 hours, 41 minutes and 35 seconds to cover 148km course and ‘beat the sun’.

UK athlete Holly Rush will act as Charlotte’s mentor over the coming months and is also receiving dedicated training and support from the Asics trail team.

Charlotte commented: “I’m extremely excited to be involved in ‘Asics Beat The Sun’ and running alongside so many well-known athletes will be incredible. I started running after I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lyphoma as a way to keep healthy and do something for myself. It carried on from there and I have been looking for more extreme challenges to do. This came along at the right time and it will be great to have the opportunity to inspire others to get outside and run”.

Holly Rush, UK pro athlete and mentor, commented: “I can’t wait to get back on to the trails of Mont Blanc, it was one of my highlights from my racing season last year. The race had such a great atmosphere, even though we just missed the sun by seconds, the team spirit was high and we all knew we had achieved something great. I’m looking forward to taking Charlotte under my wing and helping her with her training for this year’s event. Team Northern Europe are looking strong, I think we are in contention for a win!”

The route is divided into sections with each athlete completing two sections of between 3km-19km each across varied altitude and terrain.

As part of the challenge, Asics is partnering with Strava to give amateur runners around the world the chance to take part. ASICS and Strava have created a dedicated ‘ASICS Beat the Sun’ challenge on the app. The Strava ‘Beat the Sun’ challenge will run for 3 weeks prior to the event and will give users the chance to complete a 148km course in their area by 21^st June, the longest day of the year.