The French Circuit – Golden Trail National Series

If you are passionate about trail running and the elite inspire you, you’ll probably be aware of the Golden Trail National Series (GTNS). Whether it’s Thibaut Baronian's haircut, Sara Alonso's spectacular falls, Marianne Hogan's pate sandwiches or Rémi Bonnet's KV training, there’s a chance you want to emulate some of mountain running’s heroes.

Are you inspired by their performances and dream of competing against them? Or you just want to validate your last training block on an official course? Or even simpler, do you simply want to experience an iconic route?

Whatever your motivation, I have the solution: to run the official courses on which your favourite elites compete all year round. To do this, I've put together the four French races in the GTNS: the Ergysport Trail du Ventoux, the Trail de Guerlédan, the Mont-Blanc Marathon and the legendary Skyrhune.

The GTNS series begins with three qualifying races and the fastest runners qualify for the final. There are also separate series in Italy, Spain and the UK, among others. You can find more information here: goldentrailseries.com/series/gtns.htm

The four French GTNS trails are scattered across the country, from Brittany to the Alps, via the Pyrenees and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. While each of these four events offers several race formats, I’ve put together the official distances of the competition here. The shortest, at 23 kilometres (14 mi), is the famous Skyrhune, while the longest is the Trail de Guerlédan at 65 kilometres (40 mi).

These races are not reserved for the elite, anyone can take part in them. The routes in the Collection don’t follow the official routes to the Nth degree, as the races obtain permission to pass through private grounds. However, they are as close to the official routes as possible.

All you have to do is put on your trail shoes, fill your flasks and prepare your snacks for the road.

Have a good run!