This post is part of the I’m a Running Researcher series. See all profiles in this series here.
Who are you?
François Madoré: I am a professor at the Institute of Geography of the University of Nantes and a researcher in the ESO (Espaces et sociétés) research team at the Nantes site
Stéphane Loret: I am a CNRS engineer in digital humanities within the ESO (Espaces et sociétés) research team at the Nantes site
What is your background?
François Madoré: I was trained in urban social geography, specialising in social segregation and housing
Stéphane Loret: I am a geographer with a specialization in urban studies in the cultural area of the Arab and Muslim world. I have specialised in digital humanities for the past fifteen years
How long have you been researching running?
Our research on running started in 2017.
How did you get into researching running?
We began researching running by collaborating on the Challenge research programme, coordinated by Mathilde Plard, a researcher in the ESO (Espaces and Societies) team. We sought to better understand the spatial logics of the geography of running in France, thanks to the exploitation of a database created within the Challenge programme. Our interest in this research object is also linked to our passion and practice of running, which sharpens the geographer’s curiosity, as it is true that all spatial dimensions are challenged by this practice.
What running research have you done?
We published our first article in 2021 in the journal Cybergeo, which allowed us to propose for the first time a geography of running in France, thanks to the exploitation of a database created in the framework of the Challenge programme.
How do you research running?
Construction of an event database on running events in France, based on data accessible (scraping / crawling) mainly via the web, which is now the essential medium for the dissemination of this type of data
What is the most significant, important, surprising, interesting, unusual, or favourite finding emerging from your research?
Running has taken off in France and in other countries to such an extent that it has become a local event, even in many small towns
Do you run?
Yes
Where can I find out more?
A small reference to the running board in Nantes (https://asmn.univ-nantes.fr/index.php?id=278 or via DOI: https://doi.org/10.48649/asmn.278 )
Jographies 