Sporting role models: 450 km to tackle girls’ dropout from sport

How the project began

It all started with a statistic. According to Santé publique France, only 33% of girls aged 6 to 17 meet the WHO’s physical activity recommendations, compared with 51% of boys. The gap widens particularly when children enter middle school, a pivotal period when girls’ participation in sport drops sharply. Today, they account for nearly two-thirds of young people who do not engage in regular physical activity.

For the runners from Le Pack, an athletics club in Paris’s 12th arrondissement founded three years ago, that reality eventually became a project. “We immediately focused on girls’ participation in sport, because the statistics speak for themselves,” says Justine de Paoli, one of the eight relay runners.

The original idea was more modest: bring eight runners together for a relay covering several hundred kilometres and use it to support a cause. “At first, it was simply a project involving eight runners. As we talked about it, it really gathered momentum. From May and June onwards, everything accelerated and we started looking for sponsors,” Justine de Paoli recalls. The route itself came together almost naturally. “We were looking within a radius of around 450 kilometres. There are quite a few women from Rennes in the group, and that’s how the idea came about.”

Beyond the sporting challenge, the group is driven by a deeper conviction: that sport plays a decisive role in shaping who we are, particularly during adolescence. “Sport has always been important in our own lives, but we know it isn’t easy. There are very few female role models in the spotlight. We want to show girls those role models and tell them that sport can bring emancipation, wellbeing and independence. It brings so many positive things. We also want to show them that women are capable of taking on projects like this, that they aren’t reserved for men,” Justine de Paoli explains.

That belief in acting early, while habits, self-confidence and perceptions of one’s own abilities are still taking shape, has defined the project: offer accessible female role models, challenge stereotypes and give young girls the means to believe in their potential through sport.

The eight runners taking part have very different sporting backgrounds. Justine has been doing athletics since high school, Elisa has been running since she was 11 and Eva for 10 years. Marie came to running from gymnastics nearly a decade ago. Clara also grew up on the gymnastics floor before swapping the apparatus for the asphalt. Ombline has been doing triathlon and running for four years. Katell and Myriam complete the team. Eight journeys, one starting line.

© Elisa Combes

Training for repetition

Running 450 km as a relay is not something you improvise. Since the end of August, the eight athletes have been following a specific programme designed with their coach to prepare their bodies for an unusual challenge: not running fast or far, but running often for three days.

The coach put together a training plan for the period from late August to early September. The aim was to increase our weekly mileage, and ideally he had us do several sessions a day to simulate the repetition.

A strategy shaped by the coach’s experience “According to him, that will be the hardest part. We’re used to running 5 km, but stringing the efforts together will make things a bit more demanding,” explains Justine de Paoli, one of the relay runners.

Weekly mileage ranges from 40 to 60 km depending on the runner. In the final stretch before the start, several runs on the same day will help their bodies get used to setting off again without being fully recovered.

How will the logistics work?

On the road, the relay will follow a well-drilled routine. Each runner will take turns covering 5 km, never alone: a teammate will always accompany her by bike. Nearby, a car and a van will follow the group’s progress, while keeping their distance rather than sticking to the runners “we’ll be using a lot of greenways”, Justine de Paoli explains.

Night-time calls for a different rhythm. “At night, we’ll work in slightly larger shifts. We’ll form teams of four for around four hours, while the other four girls sleep. We’ve booked two Airbnbs, which means we can get at least four hours’ sleep each night. It also means there will never be a full stop.”

A relay with a message to deliver

Although the route is designed to keep moving, several stops are planned to meet young people. On Tuesday, September 29 at 2 p.m., the first stop will be in Saint-M'Hervé, a Breton town around 50 kilometres from Rennes. The runners will visit a primary school before heading to a gathering organised by the department at the Saint-M’Hervé water sports centre. The event will bring together female middle school students to promote women’s sport and its benefits through a Color Run.

The aim of these events is to embody accessible role models. “To show them a few ‘everyday women’ who take up sport, and show that it really is possible for everyone,” the team explains. Each stage combines a section of running shared with the pupils and time for discussion. The runners will talk about the challenge, the benefits of sport and its impact on confidence and mental wellbeing, backed up by a few key figures. The pupils, meanwhile, will arrive with questions prepared beforehand with their teachers.

On Thursday, October 1, two further stops will punctuate the final stretch: a session at 1 p.m. at Louis Pasteur Primary School in Clichy, followed by a visit to Denis Diderot Middle School in Aubervilliers, before the relay reaches Paris later that day.

Finding partner schools was far from straightforward. , because the outreach campaign, launched in May and June, coincided with schools gradually closing for the summer. Many doors eventually opened through word of mouth and the group’s personal connections.

The project’s partners

The Graines de sportives project is supported by the Alice Milliat, whose commitment to women’s sport naturally aligned with the eight runners’ initiative. “ Women’s sport is part of its values, so they connected with our project and found it really interesting. They want to diversify and modernise their communications, which fit perfectly with our project,” the team explains.

The run also found a patron in the person of Anaïs Quemener. For the athlete, passing on the joy of sport to children was especially important. She wanted to send a message to the eight runners before their departure, highlighting the importance of taking part in sport and sharing that passion with younger generations.

What I love about Graines de Sportives is this determination to act from the earliest age. To give girls role models they can identify with, and show them that they belong wherever they want to be: on a playing field, a track, a stadium or anywhere else. If my journey can inspire even one young girl to dare, persevere or pursue a dream that seems out of reach today, then I will already have achieved something essential.

A documentary to give the project a lasting impact

Three days of running, intense though they may be, are not enough to create lasting change. That is why the team has chosen to film the entire adventure and turn it into a documentary, conceived as a natural extension of the relay. The aim is to screen the film in schools, as well as at festivals dedicated to women’s sport, such as Sportives en lumière, in Lille in January 2027.

For the group, it is a way to keep the Graines de sportives message alive far beyond the roads linking Rennes and Paris and continue reaching new young girls. A second edition? Nothing has been decided yet. “We’re not sure, but we’re not ruling it out,” the team says, still focused on the kilometres ahead.

How to follow the project

The eight Pack runners’ relay can be followed in real time on the club’s social media channels, throughout the three days of running between Rennes and Paris.