It’s been a little while since we’ve seen Kilian Jornet racing. That’s because the legendary trail runner and mountaineer has been launching busy NNormal – an outdoor sports brand created in partnership with footwear company Camper.
But on Sunday, he returned in winning form taking the top step at the prestigious Zegama-Aizkorri alpine marathon in Northern Spain for the 10th time – the first race of the Golden Trail World Series (GTWS). Happily, he was donning a pair of NNormal trail shoes.
Ahead of the race, the official NNormal Instagram account Steve Madden Shoes shared that the race was an opportunity for it to test a prototype of its new trail shoes ‘against the best competition’ – and it certainly delivered.
The race, which starts from the small village of Zegama in the Basque Country and climbs an eye-watering 5,472m of elevation, notoriously attracts some of the world’s best male and female athletes, and this year was no different, with the likes of Rémi Bonnet, Davide Magnini, Courtney Dalwater and Nienke Brinkman lining the startline.
Fellow NNormal athlete and Jornet’s partner Emelie Forsberg also ran in a pair of NNormal shoes, winning the 3km VK race the day before the marathon, which consists of a 1,015m climb ending at the top of the Iraule peak.
NNormal products are set to launch in autumn/winter this year and will include shoes, apparel and accessories for trail running and hiking.