Eric Lepers, publishing director of the Nord Littoral group: “The Calais Urban Trail allows the influence of heritage and the discovery of the City in the most friendly way possible”

With 2,500 registered, the UT of Calais is gaining momentum and is starting to become an unmissable event in Calais. How to explain this success ?

It is indeed a success which is based on a few essential points: loyal partners who are as regular as they are important, a team and volunteers committed to making this evening a collective success in safety, support from the town hall and associations for allow participants to discover the Calais heritage differently each year. But the success of this event lies above all in the participants who return each year and are even more numerous than the previous one. We have increased our number of participants by 66% in 3 years and this is the best sign of confidence that runners and walkers are sending us in 2024.

What’s new in this fourth edition? And without revealing too many surprises, what should participants expect?

I force myself, with difficulty sometimes, not to know the path that I discover like everyone else, I am very attached to this to respect the fantastic work of Valentine Thorez who draws alongside Ahmed Kara a path different from year after year. This allows me to share my feelings directly with my team upon arrival. I can reveal my regret at not (yet) being able to enjoy our magnificent theater, but we do not despair of being able to do so in 2025.

Why does NL organize this type of event? What does this Urban Trail bring to the Nord Littoral group?

I would like to take advantage of this question to quote my predecessor, David Guévart, who first initiated this project with a wish: to create a local, friendly event, allowing the influence of heritage and the discovery of the city in the most convivial way possible. . When the initiative is well established, it must be made to grow and I wanted to add events to the strategy of the Nord Littoral group. We are a global media: read, seen and heard, we have audiences, visibility, readers, advertisers, each month the group’s brands are seen nearly 5 million times, we have never been so consumed . But how can we shine more and better among as many people as possible? This is where the UT intervenes and allows us to put the Nord Littoral group and its brands at the heart of the territories: we are an economic player, a balanced and responsible media, an organizer of events which highlight our cities and our local cultures, the investment of residents, elected officials and businesses and for each of us the pride in being who we are where we are.

How will or can this concept of Urban Trail evolve? Is the Nord Littoral group working on other event ideas?

We went from one Urban trail in 2022 to four in 2024 (Neufchâtel-Hardelot, Calais, Ardres and Dunkirk), so yes we want to go a little further and diversify the sporting and friendly events that are our trademark, while keeping in mind that the commitment of partners and municipalities is essential to have more participants and different events: you can imagine that putting more than 2,500 people on a 10 km course is a strong responsibility so that the safety of all is ensured, this is the sine qua non condition of our development. Let us progress with intelligence and patience to make these wonderful collective moments last. I will conclude with a very personal remark: I am always very touched to be at the start and to see the smiles and the pleasure of people in meeting again, it seems to me even more so in difficult times, of doubts, of questioning and sometimes gratuitous aggression that modestly contributing to bringing a moment of lightness and sincere joy to being together is the greatest success for the Nord Littoral group.