In late May, more than 140 Salomon employees headed to the respective starting lines of the various races of the Salomon GORE-TEX® Maxi Race in Salomon’s hometown of Annecy, France. That’s not uncommon, as many employees are dedicated trail runners (and skiers and hikers and bikers) and run the Maxi races each year. What was different in 2019 was that this group ran the 10 different races held on the trails around Lake Annecy wearing specially designed shirts designed to race awareness for the Salomon Foundation (or Fondation Salomon as it is known locally).
The Salomon Foundation helps mountain professionals in need as well as their families. Specifically, it aids mountain professionals like guides and monitors when they are no longer able to practice their profession, such as after an injury or a disease. The Foundation also helps the families of those who lost their lives in the mountains, including mountain guides, ski patrol personnel and paragliding instructors. So far, over 300 people have benefited from the help of the Fondation Salomon.
The Fondation Salomon helps mountain professionals like guides and monitors when they are no longer able to practice their profession, after an injury or a disease. The also help the families of those who lost their lives in the mountains. Mountain guides, ski safety patrollers, paragliding instructors: so far, over 300 people have benefited from the help of the Fondation Salomon.
In total, the Salomon–GORE-TEX® Maxi races featured more than 9,000 runners from 55 countries here in Annecy. The now famous event offered 10 different races, from the 16km Short Race to the 110 km ultra. The T-shirts worn by the 140 Salomon employees were made inside Salomon ‘s Annecy Design Center (ADC) especially for the occasion to represent and raise awareness for the Fondation Salomon.
For the Salomon employees, running the Maxi Race was about supporting a great cause and raising awareness regarding the dangers that we face in the mountains. They also had the chance to meet with Salomon athletes in the weeks before the race to gain precious advice on how to tackle the race.
Congratulations to all Salomon employee who took part and everyone who got outside and cheered them on. To learn more about foundation Salomon, visit fondation-salomon.org/fr.
