A documentary that follows athletes attempting to Outrun the Sun around Mont Blanc, the ASICS Outrun the Sun challenge, will air on mainstream UK TV Channel 4 on 8 November 07:00 GMT. As the film is pushed out through a number of networks, ‘Outrun The Sun’ is set to air across over 20 territories globally this autumn/fall.
On Saturday 21 June 2014 – the longest day of the year – ASICS hosted a world-first trail challenge as two relay teams of trail runners attempted to Outrun the Sun around the iconic Mont Blanc – Western Europe’s highest peak. The challenge – to finish the race in the time between sunrise and sunset – was captured on camera and the result is a unique documentary, titled ‘Outrun The Sun’.
The show airs on Channel 4 on 8 November. Alongside this, the documentary has also featured on Eurosport in October. The 50 minute film, created by multi-award winning TV sports production company Sunset+Vine, follows the trials and tribulations of each athlete as they embark on one of the toughest challenges of their careers.
Using an extensive camera crew, including drones and motorbike mounted cameras, the films’ director, Marc Reeks, and his camera crew were embedded in the athlete’s chalet and dotted around the Alps over the course of five days ensuring every last moment of blood, sweat and tears was captured.
The documentary captures intimate moments with the athletes as they prepare mentally and physically for the gruelling challenge ahead, adapting from being individual trail runners to working as a team and the raw emotions as they complete a once in a lifetime experience.
The unique on-course footage of the athletes in the Alps brings the spirit of trail into the public eye and shows how they had to push their bodies to the limit in an attempt to complete the world first.
‘Team Ultra Trail’ – featuring the world’s best trail runners – successfully manage to complete the unique challenge in 15 hours, 3 minutes and 37 seconds, and in doing so beat the sun around Mont-Blanc by an awe-inspiring 37 minutes.
But the film ends in an unexpected and emotional way for ‘Team Enduro’ – the challenger team consisting of 7 top-level endurance athletes from an array of running disciplines. With time ticking and the sun setting behind Mont Blanc will American Megan Kimmel pull of a remarkable final leg and outrun the sun?
Michael Price, ASICS Marketing Director EMEA, added “ASICS Outrun The Sun shines a light on the sport of trail running and its fantastic athletes. We wanted to bring this to a wider audience through an adrenaline packed documentary.”
He continued, “Sunset+Vine have brilliantly captured the essence of the challenge, bringing to life the personalities involved and sheer impressiveness of human achievement.”
Ian Sollors, Head of Branded Content at Sunset+Vine, added “It was exciting to collaborate with ASICS to tell a story that is as inspiring as it is magnificent. Capturing the experiences of these athletes, as they strived to overcome the enormous task they faced, presented some formidable challenges for our own team. We hope that the final documentary did everyone justice.”
‘Outrun The Sun’ contains inspiring visuals and a heart-warming narrative as the athletes take on 8,500 metres of crippling ascent through France, Italy and Switzerland, tackling temperatures of 27 degrees at low levels and snowy passes at high altitude.
Sunset+Vine is a leading independent supplier of sports programming to broadcasters in the UK and overseas. It has won over 35 broadcast awards including nine Royal Television Society awards and six BAFTA’s most recently for ‘Best Sport and Live Event’ in relation to its production of Channel 4’s ground-breaking coverage of The London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Sunset+Vine was appointed as primary production partner for BT Sport (launched August 2013) and now produces the channel’s live English Premier League Football and Aviva Premiership Rugby matches and all support programming. The company was Host Broadcaster of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the Volvo Ocean Race 2014.
In the Middle East, Sunset+Vine has been Host Broadcaster for the Dubai World Cup for 17 consecutive years. A leader in Advertiser Funded Programming, the company devised the world’s most watched weekly sports’ show ‘Gillette World Sport’ (shown in 180 countries at its peak). Mobil 1 – The Grid is also amongst its extensive portfolio. The company is part of The Tinopolis Group.
