project 001 · ireland → l'etivaz, switzerland

the long way to l'etivaz

ten of us are training together in ireland for six months, then travelling to l'etivaz, a cheesemaking village in the swiss alps. we'll share a house there, run supertrail du barlatay and stay on afterwards.

register your interest

when: february to august 2027
where: belfast and the mournes, then l'etivaz
group: ten people
covered: race entry, a shared house and kit

we'll confirm anything left to pay before you commit

A runner on a gravel road high above a valley, a snow-topped range in the distance

01irelandfebruary to august 2027

six months before switzerland

we'll run together through spring and summer, mostly around belfast and in the mournes, with some longer days and a few weekends away.

there's a weekend camping near kilkeel, an evening at mike's fancy cheese in newtownards, a day foraging, and a local race to see where everyone has got to.

running with us

you don't need to have run an ultra or spent years in the mountains. you need the time to train, the six months in ireland, and some interest in the people you'll be running with.

we'll work out distances with each person as the training goes on.

Four people at the open boot of a car, sorting kit at the roadside

Someone crouched on gravel, fastening a shoe, poles and a pack beside them

02the cheesenewtownards → l'etivaz

A cheesemonger leaning over a counter stacked with wheels and boxes of cheese

two raw milk cheeses

we want to take young buck out to l'etivaz and eat the two cheeses together after the race.

young buck · newtownards

mike's fancy cheese

a raw milk blue, made in county down.

l'etivaz aop · vaud

made up on the alp

raw milk heated in copper cauldrons over wood fires through the summer, then aged in the cellars in the village.

03l'etivazswitzerland, august 2027

the village and the race

l'etivaz is a small village in the vaud alps, in the pays-d'enhaut. we'll have a house for the stay, buy food where people there buy it and eat in the village.

supertrail du barlatay starts and finishes at the cheese cellars. a barlatay was the man who brought the cheese down from the high chalets to those cellars, a mule under a thirty-kilo wheel on each side, until lorries took the job over in the forties.

we'd like to give a day to a local conservation project while we're there.

A group walking up a gravel track between pines, one of them glancing back

04the dinnerafter the race

cooking at the house

food from ireland and whatever we find around l'etivaz, with the people we've met asked to come.

People sitting outside eating together, food and bottles spread around them

A hand reaching across a table for two bowls of oysters, a glass of wine beside them

05the details

where everything stands

001 is in development. nothing here is a booking.

race entry: covered for the group, with support from visit belfast
accommodation: a shared house, paid for by the project
kit: provided with support from hoka
food and travel: we're working on support for food, transport in switzerland and travel costs
your cost: we'll confirm anything left to pay before you commit
the days in ireland: being planned, dates not fixed
the 2027 race: the organisers haven't published the date, distances or entry requirements
maker visits: intended in ireland and switzerland, not arranged
conservation: a day we'd like to arrange with a local organisation

06supporting 001partners

supporting the project

visit belfast and hoka are backing 001 with funding and kit. more support would go towards food and travel, a meal cooked with a local maker, or a place for someone who couldn't otherwise come.

if you'd like to help fund 001, use the form below and say you're asking about supporting the project rather than coming on it. we'll come back to you directly.

07taking partten people

register your interest

leave your details and we'll be in touch as dates and costs firm up. there's no payment and no commitment at this stage.