New Athlete for The North Face

Ultra runner Jez Bragg sets his sights on world domination

The North Face UK is proud to announce the sponsorship of a new The North Face athlete – Jez Bragg, the top trail and road ultra runner in the UK.

Jez, 26, who hails from Solihull has taken the world of ultrarunning by storm in the few years since he first started running longer distances.  Cutting his teeth on the 175 mile off road Marathon of Britain in 2004, in which he secured first place in 32 hours and 58 minutes, Jez has gone from strength to strength, smashing several course records in the process. In the process of winning the West Highland Way race in 2006, not only did he secure first place, and knock 42 minutes off the existing race record, but he also beat Topher Gaylord, ultra distance runner and Managing Director of The North Face EMEA in the process!

Having broken into the 100km scene in May 2007 and become the UK 100km Champion (Edinburgh), Jez was selected to represent Great Britain.  His biggest achievement to date was the 100km World Championships in September 2007, where he was given a World Ranking of 18, and placed 10^th in Europe. He followed this with an impressive 5^th place in the IAU World Trail Challenge in December. Jez commented, “My aim in 2008 is to maintain my position as the number one ultra runner in the UK and be competitive in international races.  Ultra running is increasing in popularity worldwide so I am thrilled by the support and enthusiasm from the team at The North Face”. 

UK & Ireland Country Manager for The North Face, Andy Barker said, ”Jez’s recent successes in the field of ultra running have been phenomenal and we are very excited by his prospects this year.  Endurance is the underlying ethos to all that we do at The North Face and Jez embodies this philosophy perfectly.”

Firm plans for 2008 are still to be confirmed but Jez is making sure his debut year of running for The North Face will be a busy one. His hectic schedule will definitely include the Western States Endurance Run (100 miles) in June and the Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Blanc (163km/100 miles) in August, as well as a selection of 12 races from the UK Ultrarunning Championships and possibly one of the big UK Mountain Marathons.