June 5 is Global Running Day, but it's also the third European edition of Running Up For Air (RUFA), organized by Patagonia. Whether you run for an hour or 24 hours, you're doing it to fight air pollution.
Always committed to the environment, Patagonia puts the spotlight on an essential but invisible element: air. Today, air pollution particularly affects athletes. To raise awareness of this major issue, the brand founded by Yvon Chouinard is relaunching Running Up For Air, an endurance challenge that calls on runners to gain altitude while raising funds to combat air pollution.
Objective: to climb ever higher!
Each runner chooses the distance, location and duration of his or her race. Whether it's for an hour or 24 hours, the aim is to accumulate positive elevation gain. In the great outdoors, on a ski slope, in town or up a flight of stairs: it all counts!
From June 1 to 9, a Strava challenge has been set up to accumulate the most elevation gain and raise funds for the preservation of the air.
Running in a group to motivate yourself
Although the challenge is virtual, you can also take part in various events organized in Paris and Chamonix. Here's the list ICI.
"I imagined this event so that everyone can get actively involved against air pollution," explains Jared Campbell, Patagonia ambassador and founder of RUFA. "This involves education, communication and community spirit."
800,000 deaths linked to air pollution
Every year, nearly 800,000 people die as a result of air pollution, mostly children and the elderly, says the brand. This pollution also threatens ecosystems. Most crops are exposed to ozone levels above EU standards.
Jared CampbellPatagonia ambassador and founder of RUFAlooks back at the genesis of the event: " Fifteen years ago, I was one of the few people doing post-holing in winter. Climbing again and again out of the air pollution, it was exploding in my eyes in every curl. So I decided to do something about it. "
To accompany the 2024 edition, Patagonia Films presents a 17-minute documentary tracing the beginnings of RUFA, when Jared Campbell decided to climb up and down Salt Lake City's Grandeur Peak without stopping for 24 hours, to raise funds for organizations working for better air.
So to raise awareness of this issue even further, join us on June 1st with your shoes on!