I sometimes feel like something has been forgotten in the world of trail running.
We see a lot of people sharing their hundred kilometers, their five thousand meters of elevation gain, their training weeks of over a hundred kilometers. And that's great. Really. Those are stories of pushing your limits, and they deserve to be told.
But we shouldn't forget that the outdoors isn't only that.
The five kilometers after work
Running five kilometers after work, in the dark, with a headlamp and not much else. Heading out into the forest on Sunday morning, with no speed goal in mind. Discovering a new trail with friends, stopping to talk, walking a bit on the climb. That's trail running too. It's even, very probably, the reality for the majority of people who practice it.
The numbers confirm it: France counted 1.44 million trail finishers in 2025, a 150% increase over ten years, and trail running now accounts for 22% of reported running activity, nearly on par with road running (u-Trail, official running and trail figures for 2026). A mass movement, a world away from the ultras alone that dominate the news feeds.
Why this dominant image is a problem
It's a real issue in the outdoor world today: the disconnect between the image put out on social media and the reality of the practice. A lot of content has become very "performance"-focused: ultras, jaw-dropping elevation gain, high-end gear, spectacular landscapes. It's inspiring. But without meaning to, it also creates a barrier for people who are just starting out, or who simply run for the pleasure of it.
Zoom out to running as a whole, and the picture is even clearer: 12.4 million French people run regularly, nearly one in five French citizens, the vast majority of them far from ultras and podiums (Union Sport & Cycle, Running Observatory 2025). The best outdoor brands understood this a long time ago: they don't want to speak only to experts. They want to build a community, and a community is made up as much of the regular runner as the person training for their first trail race, the person hiking in the mountains, the person discovering nature for the first time.
The mountain doesn't belong only to those who go fast or go far. It also belongs to those who simply take the time to go.
Personal takeaway
That's also what I want to tell through Entre 2 sentiers. Not just the feat and the performance, but the Sunday outing, the five kilometers after work, the trail discovered with friends. Because that, I believe, is where a lasting attachment to the outdoors is truly built, not only in the performance of a few.
What was your last "no-stakes" outing — the one that wasn't training and wasn't a race, just a simple want to go?
