Well it’s done, Chiang Mai – Chiang Rai is tracked and ran! The first GR footpath in Thailand does exist, we’re a living proof. We can witness the first long mountain trail is born, we’ve ran it in 7 days and 6 nights. Of course it is not marked yet; of course it doesn’t officially exist. Anyway it’s already in our GPS records and Google maps; it’s already in our bodies and minds.

This adventure has been lived in our hearts; it will stay there forever. It was a great parenthesis like a journey on another planet through an incredible amazing and surprising Thailand. This week was almost unreal as it was wild and far from any civilization. It was almost unreal as the landscapes we crossed were so diverse and the atmosphere was so unique. It was almost unreal as it went ideally well despite the difficulties and the unavoidable surprises. I still cannot believe that it was both so easy and difficult.

Three weeks before starting, everything was not set. Despite a detailed organization and planning and all the energy I spent in the last months, much remained to be done: some parts of the track had to be found; the arrival of athletes had to be organized as the support and assistance during the race. As an innovative and unique project I knew it would not be easy to implement. Thailand has its own pace. Wanting to go fast and requiring quick answers is the best way to be pretty sure to fail. To succeed here it’s better to observe and understand, wait for the right moment and adapt. Acting like this with patience and confidence and at the end everything will go well. It is eventually a great way to proceed; Thailand is a Buddhist country which teaches life is governed by many different forces that one must understand.

The day before starting, everything was perfectly organized and done. This is the way I wanted to leave. It was not an unhealthy desire for perfectionism; when I do things alone I like to let me a room for improvisation. Anyway this time I knew the race would be difficult to achieve. So during the race week I wanted to focus only on the sport side and avoid wasting unnecessary energy in the organization. I knew I would have to cope with unavoidable issues of all kinds. Leaving well organized would give us energy for running and lucidity to face any problem.

On Monday the 9^th December we left Chiang Mai from the university (CMU). Our group of 6 runners left the ‘’Rose of the North’’ in a confident mood, apprehensively but happy with the idea of spending 7 days of trail running in the mountains. We crossed jungles, rice fields, alpine mountains and hills, rivers and hill tribe villages; we experienced small injuries, unexpected bad weather conditions (such as an exceptional flood in dry season ), wasp attacks, difficult rivers and jungles to cross; we arrived late (walking 2 hours in the jungle at night ) an change our route; we discovered beautiful landscapes, share delicious meals and nights with tribes, sleep in the most beautiful villages in the region. After an amazing week we finally arrived at the Night Bazaar in Chiang Rai the eyes full of stars, the head full of memories, and the body full of 330k of happiness.