Technical Races Aren’t Dead Yet

Back in January I shared Kilian’s post titled “Trail Running 2026, where are we, where are we going.” and added the following note: “I largely agree with him and see similar trends and issue emerge.” The one point he made I sort of overlooked but is often being quoted is this one:

3. The Death of technical races?

The general consensus is that as races get longer and more professional, and as UTMB is taking over the attention of the elites, events get “tamer”, easier to control and manage, and safer.

I wonder though if this is the right perspective. Are events really getting tamer, or are athletes, including Kilian just choosing the more popular races, which have always been “easier”?

There was a time when Kilian himself raced skyraces and selected events all over the world that he decided were “fun” and “unique”. Nowadays his race calendar rarely includes events off the beaten path and he replaced it with his own FKT mountaineering projects. When he does race, he runs WSER, UTMB and Zegama. I wonder though if these races do actually still exist. Elite runners just only pick the events that have media attention, sponsorship dollars, and the opportunity to present their brand attached to it?