Runology Project, Running is the Excuse

"Running is the excuse; traveling is the way" is the slogan that Runology Project is based on and publishes every time they upload a photo to their Instagram account. This project was born just over three years ago, from a conversation between friends, where the idea of traveling and running took shape and led us, along with Maria Teresa Onetto and Soledad Hott - both Chilean runners - to spend much of our vacations getting to know new destinations, while running through them.

I have been running for several years now, but in a somewhat more "competitive" way and focusing on always being trained, for six or seven years. With Teté, we trained on the same trail running team, and she and Sole, longtime friends, had traveled to run the Nike 21K in San Francisco. I had just finished running 100K in three days in the USA. To make training a bit more enjoyable, we started putting together a list of races and places we would like to go running. The idea began to take shape and we added a date that Sole had in mind, in Utah, USA.

"We were clear that it was something we would do with or without extra support, but in just over two weeks, we had a name for the project, two sponsors, and tickets purchased for the first race. As Sole says: 'When the desire, the disposition, and the idea are there, things really work out well and quickly.'"

Initially, the idea was to use a race as an excuse and plan a trip around it, but we realized that races are interesting, but there are incredible places that are visited less. And that's where we focused. So far, we have taken eleven trips, and the next one, if all goes well, will be in October 2020. We have another one in November 2020 on the list, crossing our fingers that Covid-19 will allow us to go to both.

The first trip was in December 2016 to Cochamó and Puelo, in the X Region of Chile. Our faces upon arriving at La Junta must have been recorded by a camera because we couldn't stop marveling at what we were seeing. We were completely captivated by the beauty of the place! The granite rock there, with the color of the river and the green of the forests, had us completely mesmerized. Then, at Lago Tagua Tagua, we stayed at Barraco Lodge, where we combined running with learning how to fly fish. We also had Chilean cooking classes. "The idea is not just to run, we like to learn and do other things on our trips too," says Teté, who then affirms: "The project translates into discovering and exploring new places through running, without neglecting the richness that a trip brings."

The second trip was to the Lago Ranco area, where we ran through Parque Futangue and Parque Huishue, which was newly inaugurated at that time. Many people go to Futangue and do two classic trails, but we went to the other side and did a beautiful 25km trail, completely unknown. "We are showing new destinations. That is one of the values of Runology," say Sole and Teté. Then, in Huishue, everything was new, so any photo and information we shared would be welcome.

In the geopaleontological park La Cumbre Baguales, we searched for marine fossils. The only company we had that day was the guanacos that were showing us the way. They are the owners of the place, as the wild horses are more difficult to spot. We stayed at the beautiful Tierra Patagonia that night. And the rest of the days, despite being at the entrance of Torres del Paine National Park, why run on the trails that everyone goes to, when we could do it on others that are less known? We did three more remote routes in the area, and stayed the other two nights at Patagonia Camp, where an afternoon of kayaking would be the perfect way to return to Santiago with a complete trip.

In 2017, we took three more trips; two in Chile and one in the United States. In Chile, we went to Rapa Nui in September, and to San Pedro de Atacama in November. In both trips, as in the 2nd and 3rd, we had the pleasant company of friends. And since Runology started to have many followers, our friends are waiting for us to "launch" each trip to see which one they can join, understanding that it is not just about going for a run, our trips are much more than that. Both places, being very touristy, became a challenge, as we did not want to go where everyone goes, or do what most people do. And we succeeded!

In the island, we ran on more unknown trails, visited caves and volcano summits that you have to reach with a guide, in our case the great Mea-Mea Hoao Tuki. In addition, we added bike rides for those who couldn't run, went diving and snorkeling. Nobody wanted to leave the continent after five enjoyable days! In San Pedro, we went in search of unknown hikes and lagoons, also guided by a local guide with whom we explored more remote places, such as the whale trail in Guatin, or a hike at 4000 meters above sea level in Kulamar, this time surrounded by vicuñas and flamingos. We also met Alejandro Gonzalez, a craftsman from Toconao, who is sponsored by Smartrip, the travel agency we were ambassadors for.

Crossing Borders

The fourth trip, in June 2017, has been our most envied gem so far. It was the only trip abroad so far and it was built around a race, the Bryce100K, in Utah, USA. With this excuse, we spent fifteen days visiting five of its national parks, The Mighty 5: Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce, and Zion. This tremendous race was the basis of an incredible adventure of kilometers and kilometers through land of deep canyons, lots of sandstone in different colors, excessive heat, and moving at constant altitude. Utah is a place to marvel at how small we are and how incredible the earth is as an organism. It is enjoying pure geology within everyone's reach. It is constantly looking back in time.

Utah is colors, intense almost purple red, lots of yellow, orange, and green! What tremendous sunsets, sometimes I thought it was my glasses that were adding color to the landscape, but no, they were natural colors without a filter! Utah is heat and cold, it is spaces full of details to look at, with rock walls with beautiful formations. It made you wish you had a macro lens to capture some textures in the photos, or a 500 zoom to capture distant details. In addition, it is full of shapes, cliffs, and arches everywhere, there are thousands of walls to climb and trails that invited us to run, despite the heat. Perhaps if you stand on any trail in the world, you might think the same, that it is a spectacular place, but the truth is that Utah leaves no one indifferent.

We discovered things that are not in the classic books, like the 22 kilometers on a trail in the 10Mag area, near Arches, where many people bike, but we decided to run. Also in Escalante, when we reached a lesser-known but equally impressive waterfall. Or in Capitol Reef, when a guide left us stranded, and in return we found a note indicating how to reach a Slot within the park, which we found and explored feeling like Indiana Jones!

It was an unforgettable trip and while we were there, we envied ourselves for the tremendous experience we were having. And now, when we look at the photos, we relive every moment; and we enjoy it again. I teleport myself and slowly a smile reappears on my face.

In 2018, we only took one trip because I was in Spain doing a Master's degree. In fact, my return was advanced due to this crazy emotional trip. We put trail running aside for a few days and went backpacking to explore the new Parque Patagonia in Aysen. We covered over 50kms in 4 days between Chile Chico and Valle Chacabuco. With the help of Patagonia Huts, we went under glaciers, crossed countless rivers along the way, and played more generala than I have played since!

2019 was filled with slightly shorter but beautiful trips, full of discovery of customs, more unknown areas of Chile, and handling slightly more complex groups. In Ahibueno, the area aptly named the Patagonia of the central zone, we enjoyed camping and living with two tremendous guides who showed us the way while carrying our things on horseback. The weather, as always, was on our side. Just like in Chincolco, a "lost" town in the Andes that suffers from drought. This trip was different, we split the groups and while some walked, others ran, to then all enjoy horseback riding on the last day. Bahía Esperanza at the end of 2019 was not indifferent and the visit to Patagonia, once again, was a delight of colors, landscapes, and lots of laughter.

Changing Paradigms

In March 2020, we took our (so far) last trip which we called DExperience. A different trip, where we were not going to run, but to make others enjoy crossing their limits and enjoying the nature of the Cochamó area. We returned to where we had started, but this time accompanied by 13 people with type 1 diabetes, plus two doctors in charge. It was a unique and very different experience. People who are normally told they cannot do extreme sports or adventure activities due to their condition, pushed their bodies and paradigms to the limit, learning that with teamwork and care, everything is possible! Of course, we are already planning the next one, for 2021, in Brazil.

Some people ask us when we will turn it into something commercial, and our answer for now is: "Not yet, we like the freedom we have on each trip to do and undo as we want and see fit." We like to have friends, nature lovers, and trail runners join us, but as Teté says: "Runology stands out from other projects in the way we do tourism, as we travel while doing sports, and we rarely go to the most touristy places."

If there is one thing we always agree on, it is that "Runology is a lifestyle, and we would love to spread this spirit to many others." If you don't want to miss the track of our trips, you can follow us on Instagram (@runologyproject).