Behind the Scenes of The New Film—Every Single Street: Le Tour

Trail Runner is pleased to host the premiere of this film. The filmmaking vet Katie Moore, of Chamonix, France, followed three trail runners as they sought to take athlete Rickey Gates’ Every Single Street concept to its next level. Or, at least, an entirely different kind of level. Moore has produced videos for Kilian Jornet, along with numerous brands and editorial outlets.

Gates, a Trail Runner Contributing Editor, started running the streets of San Francisco on November 1st, 2019. Over the course of 46 days, he ran—yes—every single street, tallying 1,317 miles in the process.

Filmed this past spring in the high Alps hamlet of Le Tour, not far from Chamonix, France, Every Single Street: Le Tour follows three trail runners as they tackle this … unusual project.

The stats speak for themselves:

Time: 13 minutes 31 seconds.

Distance: 1.23 kilometers.

Vert: 34 meters.

The film also features cameos from several notable runners, who participated at great risk to their professional trail-running careers and their reputations. The elite list includes Black Diamond athlete Hillary Gerardi, Salomon athlete Mimmi Kotka and Gates himself, also sponsored by Salomon.

“I don’t know what 1.23 kilometers is in miles,” said Gates, referring to the project. “I’m guessing it might be close to a mile?”

Apparently duped by a barrage of texts and emails from a variety of fictitious marketing companies, Trail Runner interviewed the team behind the film, which included runners Mike Ambrose, Steph Lefferts and Doug Mayer, along with filmmaker Moore.

Trail Runner: Who dreamt up this concept?

Mike: Not me. Never in my wildest dreams …

Doug: I’ll take the blame. I admit it. I dream big. Really big.

Steph: Let’s just say Doug’s not a “What if” kind of guy.

TR: There’s some palpable tension within the group at a few points in the film. Care you talk about that?

Steph: It’s true, but I also think that’s part of every epic adventure.

Mike: Well if Doug wasn’t such a–

Steph: Let’s not go there.

Doug: I get feisty when I’m hungry. I’m a two-croissant guy when it comes to breakfast.

Mike: We got through it. We’re alive, and better for it.

TR: Katie, there’s always a give-and-take between capturing a moment and not trying to impact it, as with Jimmy Chin filming Alex Honnold on El Cap. How did you balance that challenge over the course of the run?

Katie: I try to take an observational approach. I don’t want the camera to influence the action during those critical dozen minutes. The challenge was staying one step ahead. That’s no easy feat with athletes like these three. My experience working on Kilian’s record attempts definitely paid off.

TR: Rickey Gates said your project was at the intersection of brilliance and athleticism. How does that make you feel?

Doug: Rickey’s a personal hero. He’s on my short list with Neil Armstrong, Captain Sully Sullenberger and Carson and Joe from Team America.  So, yeah, it means a lot.

What Rickey accomplished running every single street in San Francisco was impressive, but—and I don’t mean to take anything away—I just thought there was … room for something entirely different.

TR: Gates’ new film, TransAmericana, is also out now. Does that help or hurt you?

Mike: The timing is pretty coincidental. Maybe a little too coincidental.

Doug: I would expect his cameo in our film would help him out quite a bit. We’re expecting royalty payments.

Steph: Our film is around nine minutes long. So, if you don’t have an hour and 15 minutes, you can watch our film and still go for a run.

TR: What’s next for your team?

Steph: We’re looking for a town with a stop light. We’re also eyeing a few Fastest Known Times.

Mike: It’s 300 meters from my apartment to a donut shop.

Doug: We’re ordering Spot beacons and an official announcement will be coming soon. That’s going to be bigger than the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim. I guarantee it.

TR: Good luck with that guys.  It’s been … interesting. Thank you.