Undertaking long-distance running: Thirty years of studies on the sociology of sport in France

Abstract

This article offers a review of the literature on long-distance running, i.e. marathon, ultralong-distance and trail running, based on French studies in the sociology of sport. The interest of such a synthesis lies, firstly, in its affording better understanding of the continued craze of runners for those running disciplines, which are now major practices on the sports scene; secondly, in its presenting to the sociology of sport in English the premises and theoretical conceptions which in France have examined "the wave which has swept the country" (Segalen, 1991, p. 21). The articles collected on the theme range over a period of thirty years and more, from 1982 to 2015, and were produced by French sociologists of sport. The majority of them have examined the phenomenon through the question of undertaking such sports. Therefore it is the question: "Why do people take up those forms of running?" which is addressed in this synthesis and round which its presentation is organised.

Spotify as a technology for integrating health, exercise and wellness practices into financialised capitalism

“…Spotify's commercial framing of the value of exercise above stands in contrast to how most amateur athletes understand their activities. For instance, in existing work running has been identified as enabling individuals to form community ties and as an embodiment of social demands for autonomy and self-determination (Cubizolles et al, 2018: 340–344; Haberman, 2017; Pedersen et al, 2018). It is also seen as an activity which enables embodied interaction and integration with natural environments and social fields which increases bodily, social and existential capital (Allen-Collinson and Owton, 2015; Nettleton, 2013; Tulle, 2007).…”

Citius, Altius, Fortius: Managers’ quest for heroic leader identities

“…France, where approximately 12 million people (17% of the population) run at least once a week (French Athletic Federation, 2016), was an appropriate context for our research. In common with other European nations, the French populace has been subject to numerous Government-inspired educational programs designed to persuade individuals to take personal responsibility for their health and fitness and which position those who do not as inferior and sometimes morally deficient (Crawford, 2006;Cubizolles et al, 2018;Lupton, 1995). Recent corporate initiatives focused on encouraging workers to participate in sports have also been influential (Barbusse, 2009).…”

“…The discourse and practices associated with “healthism” constitute one “technology” of governmentality, such technologies being “always local and multiple, intertwining coherent or contradictory forms of activating and managing a population” (Donzelot, 1979: 77). In France, as elsewhere in the West, it is associated with multifarious national and local government departments and agencies, mass and social media campaigns, support for prestige sports events, the development of knowledge and standards that allow people to be measured and ranked, and outliers problematized and subject to programs of medical correction (Barbusse, 2009; Cubizolles et al, 2018). Such initiatives serve to induce in people a calculative, responsibilized relation to their future health and well-being with specific implications for how they are meant to lead their lives, for example by taking regular exercise, eating healthily, monitoring their weight, and attending health checks.…”

Ultra-Trail: Inside the Event Community, Nature, and Wildlife: An Authentic Trail Running Experience in Canada’s Wild Backcountry

“…In fact, within the scientific literature, existing research on running and trail running is mostly centered on several main approaches: in the field of natural sciences, the focus is on physiological, biomechanical, and nutritional factors; in the field of sports psychology, researchers examine participant motivation and the beneficial effects of the activity (Bridel et al, 2016). Examining engagement in the sport (Buron, 2020) provided a useful entry point for researchers looking to explain why individuals took part in this activity, including that "the main principle is the demand for autonomy that our modern societies bring to bear on the individual" (Cubizolles & Lacroix, 2017). In the humanities and social sciences, however, less attention is paid to the emergence and trajectory of one or multiple ultra-trail events, with the exception of the work of Olivier Bessy (2005Bessy ( , 2014Bessy ( , 2016.…”