Alpine Run Project
Changing the face of trail running
A project like no other
At Cut Media, our mission is “To use our love of sport and creativity to deliver a positive impact on the world.”
So imagine our excitement when the inspirational Nike athlete John McAvoy (formally one of the UK’s most notorious armed robbers turned athlete thanks to the transformative power of sport) got in touch about a new project from Youth Beyond Borders (YBB), supported by Nike Running and JD Sports: The Alpine Run Project.
John and YBB’s mission is clear: to open running and nature to young people from all backgrounds. They set the bar high, aiming to get 100,000 young people across Europe into trail running by 2027.
In 2023, we followed the story of 12 incredible young people from cities around the UK. Young people who have not previously been trail running and, for some, have never experienced nature.
The Alpine Run Project took them into trail running and the mountains, culminating in taking part in a race at the iconic UTMB event in Chamonix.
Our challenge was to capture the action and tell the story of these young people's journey to UTMB for Nike and JD Sports channels.
However, this wasn’t traditional film ‘storytelling’. The aim was to inspire more young people, so we needed to package and tell those stories in a way that finds and speaks to a young generation—particularly those not already engaged in trail running or outdoor sports.
Vertical-first approach
If we’re creating content to inspire more young people to experience the mountains, we best ensure we speak their language.
That’s why we’ve taken a vertical-first approach, making social assets the heart of our content strategy.
To reach our audience, we’re working with teams at JD Sports and Nike to deliver a vertical campaign through their channels, directly reaching our young, inner-city demographic.
We utilised a dual capture setup to create early access 9:16 social assets while still shooting for our YouTube documentary later in the year.
Creating high-energy hype reels for Nike Running and JD Sports’ vertical social channels immediately puts us in front of the core audience, showing them relatable characters in a new environment.
One of the best things about this project is that we released content as the journey went on, allowing us to capture and share the story as we go, including live at UTMB.
We’re just getting started
After tracking the team’s initial journey, we were privileged to join them in the Alps for the project’s grand finale back in August. Trust us, there was nothing as inspiring as seeing how these young people responded to the challenge of UTMB.
High-energy vertical content remains the priority as we tap into Nike and JD’s youth audience to build awareness of the project.
In October, we also celebrated the end of this first stage of the Alpine Run Project with a documentary charting the whole programme.
Being part of this project is a genuine privilege. Creating a vertical campaign focused solely on youth audiences has been amazing, and we can’t wait to see its impact on inspiring young people across Europe to head to the hills and take up trail running.
“I wanted to work with Cut Media because of how important it was to capture the powerful stories of the young people. Seeing the content, I made the right decision.”
JOHN MCAVOY
ALPINE RUN PROJECT LEADER
