Elevation Profile #11: Chiang Mai, Nan, Cameron Highlands, Grindelwald, and London

Elevation Profile is a weekly column from doi trail research covering the world of trail running, running fashion, and outdoor culture, with a particular eye on Thailand and Southeast Asia.

From the trails of Chiang Mai to the misty peaks of Nan and the Cameron Highlands, a Josh Kerr world record in London, and a milestone week for running retail in Bangkok. A busy one. Let's get into it.

The Milestones Tour by Amazfit: Chiang Mai's Exclusive Asian Stop

The Milestones Tour by Amazfit is a global community running event building toward Chamonix's UTMB finals in France, with stops across some of the world's great running cities: Berlin, Milan, Paris, and London. And for all of Asia, the exclusive stop was right here in Chiang Mai at TANN Nimman on Saturday, July 18.

The doi team was invited to join, and the format was unlike any community run we have been a part of. Rather than a standard group run, the Milestones Tour runs as a pace challenge: teams of two, a 6km route across mixed road and trail terrain, divided into three sections, each with a specific pace target to hit. The goal is not to go fast. The goal is to match the pace precisely. The winning team, the one that dialed in all three sections most accurately, took home brand new Amazfit watches.

We were out there on the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra, the brand's flagship performance running watch, and the mixed terrain gave us enough variety to feel it out properly. Two-person team format, pace targets, and real stakes. It turned a Saturday morning run into something fun and competitive. The weather was s-tier as well, which added to how great the event was. Not to mention orange juice, bananas, and coffee waiting for us at the finish line.

When the group returned to TANN Nimman, we were greeted with more complimentary coffee and BBQ sandwiches from Joy and Pao from Treespoon. A solid way to close a Saturday morning.

The event was produced by our friends Xavi and Irene at Athletic Affair, and a big thank you to Sek, Michael, Bamboo, Nack, and the rest of the TANN team for such great organization on the day. Chiang Mai as the one Asian stop on a tour that hits Berlin, Milan, Paris, and London is something we are proud of for this city. The running culture here has earned that.

Faburuns: The Hideout Backyard

Faburuns, Chiang Mai's most popular run club, was back on the same Saturday morning with The Hideout Backyard, a community trail run starting from Wat Pa Phuttathamaram and heading up to the village of Khun Chang Kian and back.

If that route sounds familiar, it is a route that has been a feature of the CM1 race, which makes it a great way to preview part of the course before race day in three weeks. Smart planning by our friend Nook, the leader of Faburuns.

The numbers: 16 to 17 kilometers with over 1,000 meters of elevation gain. The level recommendation was intermediate, which makes it sound more manageable than it actually is once you are on it.

If you have been following the doi Strength for Runners sessions, this is exactly the kind of climb they are designed to build you toward, which reminds me: our next one is on Sunday, July 26 with XYZclub. Looked like a great day out there.

Nan Sakad Scenic Trail 2026: Chiang Mai Boys Show Up in Nan

The Nan Sakad Scenic Trail took place on Sunday, July 19, at Ban Sakad Tai School in Pua District, Nan, with distances of 50km, 25km, and 10km. The course runs deep into Doi Sakad, through the misty, emerald-green peaks of the north, combining steep ascents with highly technical, muddy descents.

During the rainy season, the cloud-covered ridgelines and lush paddy fields make this one of the most visually striking courses in Northern Thailand.

The 25km was where the excitement was. Sek Sandy of Hoka Thailand took the overall win, with Aunjerd of Brooo coming in 2nd overall. Prapat Soomtoom was 3rd, doi hardcore run leader Bas Narathip Chanwang of Fuga Kailas and Suunto Thailand came in 4th, and Big Parattakorn, also of Brooo, rounded out the top 5.

The Chiang Mai boys traveled north and they did not disappoint. Bas keeps delivering back-to-back weekends of strong results. The doi hardcore training has been a good part of his programming, so if you want to get better at trail, come join us at Basecamp Coffee Club every Tuesday at 6:45am.

Team Thailand Heads to SEATRC: Defending What They Built

The 2nd Southeast Asia Trail Running Cup takes place July 24 to 26 at the Cibodas Botanical Garden in Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia, gathering the top elite trail athletes from eight nations across five championship disciplines: Long Trail (75km), Short Trail (42km), Mountain Classic for seniors and juniors (10km), and the Vertical Race.

Team Thailand arrives with a target on their back. Two defending champions are in the lineup.

Phitchanan Mahachot returns to defend her Women's Mountain Vertical title after winning the inaugural SEATRC in 54:40, and she arrives in strong form: she won the Trail Masters Series 45km just two weeks ago in EP#10.

SuperJay Jay Jantaraboon Kiangchaipaiphana, the doi hardcore run leader himself, is back to defend the Men's Long Trail title after his championship-winning performance of 11:04:24.

Indonesia brings home-field advantage with defending Men's Mountain Vertical champion Yusri Nanda competing on his home trails. The eight nations in the field are Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

This is the Olympics of Southeast Asian trail running and the competition will be serious. We will have the results in EP#12. Come back next week.

Cameron Ultra 2026: Tea Plantations, Mossy Forests, and Thai Friends on the Start Line

The Cameron Ultra celebrated its 10th anniversary this past weekend at its base in Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia, drawing 3,600 runners from 33 countries across distances from 4km to 100km. The official motto is "breathtakingly beautiful, yet relentlessly brutal," and anyone who has been in the Cameron Highlands during race season knows both halves of that are true.

The course moves through endless green tea plantations and deep mossy forest before demanding steep, technical climbs and even more technical descents back down.

In the flagship MOSSY100, Daved Simpat of Malaysia won the men's race in 14:17:14, returning eight years after his 2018 title to prove that history can repeat itself. Ritzy Amor Ectin of the Philippines won the women's race in 19:04:30, a performance described as what it looks like when a woman simply refuses to break. In the BEREMBUN60, Oswald Maikol took the men's title and Yinn Zhao Boon won the women's race in 8:42:09.

Our friends from Bangkok were in the field representing Thailand too. Bas from Neighborfoot and Yo, Thailand's favorite Metal Runner, both made the trip to the Cameron Highlands and ran in the ASICS Trabuco 14.

The Trabuco 14 has been making quiet noise in the trail community this year. It carries ASICSGRIP technology in the outsole for advanced traction on wet and unpredictable terrain, comes in approximately 4 grams lighter than the previous version, and adds 2mm of FF BLAST MAX cushioning underfoot for more softness at impact with better energy return through toe-off. The updated fit offers a more supportive midfoot lockdown alongside a wider forefoot for comfort on longer efforts.

If you want to know whether a trail shoe handles wet, rooted, mossy terrain, the Cameron Highlands in the rainy season is about as honest a test as you can find.

Eiger Ultra Trail by UTMB: SATISFY Wins in Switzerland

The Eiger Ultra Trail by UTMB took place this week in Grindelwald, Switzerland, centered around the legendary Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau massifs in the Jungfrau-Aletsch UNESCO World Heritage region. The E101, 101 kilometers and 6,700 meters of elevation gain, produced two results worth talking about.

Stian Dahl Sommerseth of SATISFY Running won the men's race in 11:44:03. His shoe choice caught our attention: after wearing the Hoka Tecton X3 at Cocodona 250, Sommerseth chose the La Sportiva Prodigio Pros for Grindelwald.

The Prodigio Pro showed up on Ryan Montgomery's feet at Western States 100 in EP#9 as well. Two very different races on two very different terrains, and the same shoe keeps turning up on the podium. That is a conversation worth having.

On the women's side, Alina Wylezalek of the Dynafit Team took the win in what was described as an outstanding performance through the Swiss Alps. She ran the E101 in the Dynafit Ultra DNA 2, the brand's top trail racing shoe, built around a highly responsive INFINI midsole and Pomoca rubber outsole designed for alpine terrain. A strong case for both the athlete and the shoe.

The Eiger finish in Grindelwald village is one of the more visually spectacular in trail running and has been on my bucket list for a while now. As part of the UTMB World Series, finishers earn Running Stones toward the UTMB World Finals. Maybe this one will be ticked off after my big loop at UTMB, hopefully in the near future.

Josh Kerr Breaks the Mile World Record

At the 2026 London Diamond League, Josh Kerr ran 3:42.66 to break the Mile World Record, becoming the first person ever to run a mile under 3 minutes and 43 seconds. The previous record had stood for 27 years.

What makes the story compelling is how deliberately it was built. Kerr had been nursing a calf injury after the Tokyo World Championships 1500m final and four weeks later he was already pitching "Project 222" to Brooks, his sponsor, naming the 222 seconds that go into 3:42. He formally announced the plan in March.

The preparation included highly specific race-pace training, a lot of 400m intervals at target pace, and extended altitude work in Albuquerque with the Brooks Beasts. The mantra, as he put it: "We're not chasing world records, we're creating the conditions where world records become inevitable."

He ran it in bespoke Brooks mid-distance spikes developed specifically for this attempt, with a higher stack height than conventional track spikes, and wore an aerodynamic speed suit for the race. Both of which look sleek and fast as anything.

Rivalries in track are good for the sport. Josh Kerr versus Jakob Ingebrigtsen has been one of the more compelling storylines in middle distance running over the last few years, and a world record at the mile is the kind of result that makes people who do not normally follow track pay attention. The sport needed this one. What a time for running.

Brooo Opens Their Flagship at Central Chidlom

Brooo has opened their first and largest flagship store at Central Chidlom, on the second floor, and it is the fullest expression yet of what the brand has been building toward.

For those who have not come across Brooo before, they are a Bangkok-based contemporary streetwear and activewear brand making gear that works on the trail and transitions easily into the city. Think oversized tees, utility jackets with great pocket logic, trail running socks that hold up, and a design language that is clean and performance-driven.

Their Grid Flow and Cotton Felt fabrics are built for breathability and moisture management in the kind of heat and humidity we run in here, and their gear has been showing up on podiums all year, including at Nan Sakad this week.

The Central Chidlom store brings everything together in one place, from the latest collections to releases that do not make it to every outlet. They also have a presence at CentralWorld and Mega Bangna. Congrats Fiat and Ong.

MAW10 Opens at One Bangkok

MAW10 has opened a new location at One Bangkok, and the timing sits well alongside Carnival's flagship opening in the same complex earlier this month.

For those new to MAW10, they are a specialized curator of premium outdoor and mountain lifestyle gear in Thailand, best known as the official distributor of SCARPA climbing and hiking footwear in the country. Their brand roster includes Norda, SATISFY, ROA, and Ridar, and their stores carry the kind of depth across trail running, climbing, and mountain gear that you do not find at most general sporting goods retailers.

Their spaces are typically built with a raw, industrial aesthetic, featuring artificial climbing holds, which signals the actual culture behind the gear.

Two serious running and outdoor stores now in the same complex in Bangkok. The city's running infrastructure keeps growing.

Carnival x Adidas Adizero EVO SL: "The Grey Console"

Carnival and Adidas have dropped "The Grey Console," a collaboration built around the Adizero EVO SL and inspired by the nostalgia of classic video game consoles. As a millennial, I'm a true sucker for nostalgia, and this one cooks.

The shoe (KI0025) is priced at 5,800 THB and comes with a Special Box Set for members who registered through the early access window from July 17 to 20. A full performance running apparel line runs alongside it under the same "Grey Console" concept, all in the silver and grey color language that made early gaming hardware iconic before color became the standard.

The concept hook is clean: "Press Start. Run Forward." Carnival does these thematic drops well, and the video game angle gives them room for the kind of accompanying creative that actually gets shared. Available from July 22 at Carnival stores.

Yupster LightStride Singlet

Another Bangkok-based trail running brand, Yupster, has dropped the LightStride singlet, and the construction is worth a look for anyone looking for a locally made option built for this climate.

Four features drive the design: perforated ventilation panels for airflow in high-sweat zones, all-body seamless bonding to eliminate chafe on long efforts, an ultra-lightweight single-layer construction, and a racerback silhouette for full shoulder range of motion on climbs.

At 1,190 THB in-store or 1,490 THB on Shopee, it is priced for accessibility. Yupster has been building a real foothold in the Thai running community with gear that takes the heat and humidity of this climate seriously, and the LightStride fits that brief.

Merrell x P.A.M.: The Hydro Gets a Makeover

The collaboration between Merrell and Australian design studio Perks and Mini, abbreviated P.A.M., on the Hydro Next Gen Moc is one of the more interesting projects to come out of outdoor footwear this year.

P.A.M. brings their signature "bubble eye" detailing and speckled lenticular sidewall patterns to the silhouette, landing on something that looks like a shoe that spent too long in a tide pool and came out better for it. The upper is lightweight EVA foam, the midsole is BLOOM performance foam made from recycled algae biomass, and the fit comes with a wider toe box and more accommodation than the original Hydro Moc. The overall construction keeps the easy-on-off waterproof logic that made the Hydro Moc a staple, and adds a design layer with a clear creative point of view.

The brand was transparent about using no AI or CGI when producing this project, and honestly the result looks sick. Pure creativity — take that AI.

Retail is around $130 USD through Merrell and select distributors. A good shoe, a good collaboration, and a refreshing project overall.