Salomon Ambassadors.

I was recently privileged to be mentioned amongst some incredible athletes sponsored by an incredible company. Salomon have made a lot happen for me by not only providing the best trail gear in the world but by also supporting Running for Pearl, a cause that is dear to mine and many other peoples hearts. Its always a joy for me to wear the 'uniform' when out in the woods and at one with the trail. Below is the text from the article and the original post can be seen here. The picture is a glimpse from a recent photo shoot with my talented friend Christian and I look forward to posting more in the next blog. It was an incredibly enjoyable experience with him last Sunday morning and I learned a lot, about photography and life.

At Salomon the belief is that the outdoors are a place for inspiration, discovery and enjoyment - and as part of that trail running is an activity that helps place the runner in that environment. Salomon also think that life is not all about competition, but also about being the best you can and challenging yourself in the outdoors. As a long-time 'athlete' I consider myself more of a 'soul runner' these days, and find running at one with nature the most rewarding of all my running experiences, so I think I fit into this category. Of course we have some of the very best endurance athletes in the world as part of the Salomon International Team, and our very own Salomon Trail Team in the UK. But we also support some very different individuals, who we consider as ambassadors for the brand. One such runner is Mark Hines www.markhines.org . Those of you who follow ultra running will have heard of Mark. His achievements in such events as the Yukon Arctic Ultra Trail have been phenomenal, and as a speaker and writer Mark has developed a great following for his humble attitude and great achievements. Another couple of ultra athletes are the Accelerace Challenge crew. Ross and Chris are attempting to travel over 2200 miles from London to Calenzana at the north end of the GR20 on Corsica, via mountain bike, kayak and trail and mountain running in just 14 days - culminating with a 3-day, 112 mile trail running over the GR20! The guys have also just completed a grueling 50 mile run across Snowdonia too, watch it here http://vimeo.com/23493075 Malcolm McLoughlin, is running for Pearl. www.runningforpearl.com. On July 4th 2011 Malcolm will start running from Mizen Head (Co.Cork) to Malin Head (Co. Donegal) in Ireland, a colossal 587 kms. Malcolm states: "Running for Pearl came about in late 2009 as my daughter Pearl was diagnosed with Autism on July 21st 2009. The idea was to combine endurance events with Autism awareness in the hope of making sense of this handicap, not just for ourselves but for other families too." You can follow his blog here too www.runningforpearl.blogspot.com. These guys are just a few people that we support with Salomon product. We do not wish to buy their faith, we merely want to help them on their journeys and gather their feedback after they have achieved some of these amazing goals. They exemplify the spirit of Salomon, and alongside the array of elites athlete are also testimony that our product and philosophies hold true to the ethos: "Salomon is athletic outdoor".

Matt Ward.