In the presence of Rock Stars in the Alps

Today we stopped for a bit of lunch at the popular Rifugio Maison Vieille high above Courmayeur, IT.

While we were there, four American women decked out in running attire came in and sat down in the lively, cozy interior (I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of this great place and these awesome women – here are a few I snagged off the internet of the rifugio).

We had been seeing signs for The North Face Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc race to be held this week and week-end, so we went over to ask the women about the race.

Turns out, we were talking to some amazing people here.

Linda Quirk will be running the 100-mile race starting Friday. Among many other accomplishments, in 2008, Linda ran seven marathons on all seven continents in under a year and in 2010 she completed Racing the Planet’s 4 Deserts “Grand Slam” in one calendar year (becoming the first American women and oldest person in the world to complete prestigious event in one calendar year).

Moreover, Linda is the founder of RunWell, her foundation “to raise awareness and money for addiction treatment and recovery.” You can check out her amazing work at RunWell.com, but here’s a sneak preview:

RunWell’s job is to help make drug and alcohol addiction treatment accessable to all.

Together, with its partners, Runwell will:

• Raise awareness for treatment and long-term recovery
• Award grants to accredited treatment facilities to extend existing treatment scholarships to patients
• Distribute grants to improve the education and training of treatment providers throughout the world

  The VP Marketing at RunWell, Pam, was there also, and she is running the 100km race starting Friday. And Dina, who did the Coeur d’Alene Ironman in June among many others, and supported Linda at the Badwater 135 in Death Valley. I’m not sure of Sarah’s running history (I’m sure it’s also phenomenal), but her brother was one of the original organizers of the Mont Blanc event when he worked for North Face (he now works for Mountain Hardwear and the ladies were all sporting the new Ghost Whisperer windbreakers – “A wind- and water-resistant shell so crazy lightweight and compressible you can pack it in your pocket.”) Mark and I will definitely be putting these on our wish list.

Linda, Pam, Dina and Sarah were so enthusiastic and delightful and fun to talk to, and we are grateful to have met them as part of our Alps experience. Good luck ladies!!