The North Face Boss Wins Top Ultramarathon

Overall boss of outdoor giants The North Face, Topher Gaylord, recently won the legendary Nemea-Olympia ultramarathon in Greece.

Gaylord - pictured during the race, below - is President of VF Outdoor & Action Sports International, which comprises The North Face®, Vans® and Reef® brands and if The North Face is really just a fashion brand, no-one appears to have told him.

The race is staged every two years and runs over 180km between two legendary stadia, starting at the at the Nemea stadium and finishing at the Olympia stadium, the birthplace of the Olympic Games where the first Olympic flame was lit in 776BC.

It's a tough old race with runners given 28 hours to complete the route which includes 3,700 metres of height gain. No support vehicles or bikes are allowed and runners carry their own water between 19 village supply points along the route.

Gaylord ran through the night and crossed the finish line in the early morning with a final time of 17 hours and 35 minutes, which is a course record.

'It was powerful and humbling to participate in this celebration of international friendship and cooperation,' he said after finishing.

'This was the longest race I've ever run and my fellow competitors were very strong," said Gaylord. "I was so grateful to have my wife, Kim, cheering me on, and to have the collective support of all my friends at The North Face®.'

Elke Streicher, also an athlete for The North Face®, took first place among the women and sixth place overall with a time of 22 hours 35 minutes.

Pretty impressive stuff. More about The North Face at www.thenorthface.com.