For elite athletes like Lina and Sanna El Kott, racing in the Merrell Skyrunner® World Series is, and always has been, about more than pushing limits at high altitude — it’s about discovering the world, one summit at a time. With races held in some of the most breathtaking and remote mountain regions on Earth, each destination offers an opportunity not just to compete, but to connect with local culture, explore wild landscapes, and turn a race trip into a full-blown adventure. In this article, Lina and Sanna share how they transform every Skyrunning journey into a meaningful holiday — blending competition with curiosity, and racing with real-life experience.
OUR FAVOURITE RACE / ADVENTURE TRIP SO FAR HAS BEEN…
…Peru when we did the Cordillera Blanca Skyrace a couple of years ago. Since it is at high altitude we wanted to acclimatise and did some amazing runs before in the area and after the race we went to Huayhash and did an 8-day trek with our tent there, which we also filmed and can be watched on Youtube 👇
We often travel with our motorhome when we have races in Europe, then it’s perfect to drive around and explore. Some years ago we went from The Dolomyths Run via France and the Riviera to Andorra to Skyrace Comapedrosa and had a bit of everything from mountains to city to countryside to sea along the way. But we have also done the same hitch hiking with tent which we did after a triple VK (Redbull K3 in Susa) and ended up having fantastic days around Mont Cenis.
HOW TO PLAN AN ADVENTURE AROUND A RACE
We look a lot on maps, maps for trails and also overnight parking if we are traveling with a van. We look on green places on a map, or if their is an attraction to see, or a circuit to run that can be intereseting. Often after a race we like to go somewhere with a big lake, and that is also easy to find on maps. We may also search for the best coffee places in the area. We use Gaia GPS, Alpenvereinaktiv, Park4night, Varsom and even Chatgpt.
If we plan to go adventuring we for sure bring a tent, sleeping bags, mattress and a small outdoor gas kitchen so we can cook food outdoors, but sometimes only a food box and cutlery so we can make picnics. We always have rain gear and a warm clothing with us since that is what we are used to at home. It feels good to be prepared for cold weather to hit. And also, first aid gear, a mini towel and soap. Occasionally a mini drone, or just our phones to capture videos and photos.
We are terrible with planning and booking in advance. We often check options beforehand, but mostly we make the actual booking on site. Options often appear when you are there that you didn’t think about before, like meeting new people on your travels that you can accompany, instead of taking that booked train, or whatever, or you can spontaneously change idea and go by the weather, for example. But it’s for sure a good idea to sometimes book far ahead in advance to minimise stress, and also make it cheaper.
HOW MANY PAIRS OF SHOES DO YOU NEED?
We would recommend 2 pairs of running/hiking shoes, one lighter and faster and one more steady with more cushioning, but also a pair of sandals/after run shoes so the feet can rest, and easy to slip into. We would choose Merrell Skyfire 2 matryx, Agility peak 6, and Hut ultra wrap sandal. For hiking and running, Merrell Agility peak 5, and also the Agility peak 6 (available from february 6th 2026).
TRAVEL TIPS WE HAVE LEARNED OVER THE YEARS OVER THE YEARS?
It’s great to have a bike, so much easier to get around and also rest the legs from running a bit if needed.
Always bring cash, and the right currency of the country you are in. You may encounter portages in national parks for example where you have to pay cash, or for food in hut out in the wilderness.
If you have searched for information on the internet about timetables of buses for example, they might not always run the time you happen to be there. Make sure to check those beforehand.
In remote places, there aren’t always opening times for small shops or supermarkets, but if you knock on doors sometimes, they may know the local owner of a shop and can open up for you. Sounds strange but this happened in Peru, for example, in a little mountain village, where most of the people in the village had their own little markets in their doorway.
Always have some sort of snacks if you can’t find food. It might be a “holiday” and everything is closed.
Bring a water filter to filter your drinking water if you can’t find clean or be able to buy fresh water.
THE BEST LOCATIONS WITH RACES TO STAY LONGER AND EXPLORE
Scotland has some really cool mountains and races and there is so much more to discover there.
Norway, beautiful mountains and fjords, Besseggenlopet in Jotunheimen is fairly short, but is a cool experience where you take a boat to the start and run back over the mountain. Then there are many options to do a multi-day tour and run from hut to hut there.
So many more, but hard to pick !
/Lina and Sanna
