“The world of trail running owes a lot to UTMB”

The vast majority of the ‘world’ of trail running knows Quim Farrero (Barcelona, ​​1964). In any case, if you don’t know him, surely you have seen him on some peak or corner of one of the many races he covers for Trail Magazine, waiting for the runners to pass by with his camera ready. All this week, one more year and there are already 18 editions, Farrero will be working following the DACIA UTMB Mont-Blanc to portray the protagonists of this exciting sport.

How many editions have you been working to follow UTMB?

With this edition it will already be 18 times in UTMB. Trail Magazine was created in 2005, the first issue came out in July of that year. It was to get that number and we received an invitation from UTMB to go as press. The second issue of the magazine has already come out with a report on the Ultra Trail of Mont-Blanc. From there I have been doing all the editions until now.

With your experience throughout these years, you have seen the evolution of this highly mediatic career. What is UTMB for you currently?

First you have to be clear that like all races there can be good and bad things, you can like it or not, but in the world of organizing trail races there are two worlds: one is UTMB and then there are the rest. UTMB is a type of race that, at a show and organizational level, plays in another division, it is beyond the rest. That doesn’t mean it’s better or worse. It is a very specific type of event and it is also true that the evolution that UTMB has made over the years is something from which many other events have been fed. It is clear to me, regardless of whether I like it or not, that the world of trail riding owes a lot to UTMB.

Does trail running still retain the spirit of solidarity or is it becoming more competitive and more similar to other sports?

I come from the world of the mountains and it has always had a bit of this aura of solidarity, but I have always quarantined it a bit. Mountaineers are not saints just because they are mountaineers, and the same goes for runners. The world of trail running is very diverse and it is one of the best things about this sport. Run from the most educated person to one who is not, run the poorest or the richest. There is such a variety of profiles that this solidarity thing is more of a legend linked to the mountain. Actually, whoever is a good and caring person is, and whoever is not, well, no. The fact that the world of trail running is more or less supportive does not depend on the organizations, it depends on the people who run. You can go to a race run by a company that has its business, but if you as a runner are supportive of your colleagues, that is regardless of whether you have paid a more expensive registration fee or whether or not someone lives from organizing that test. The fact that a race is from a large organization such as UTMB does not determine whether trail running is more or less supportive.

Do you attribute it to the evolution of the trail?

Another thing is that the world of trail running is evolving and there is a more sporty part that is based on the possibility that there are professional people who earn a living with this sport and this generates tensions and interests, which does not mean that there should be bad vibes. . But they do look for this excuse that since everything is for the money… when it is the people who manage the money. What is clear to me is that the fact that a race is larger or smaller does not condition this behavior. Having said that, what I do think makes a difference is that more and more people are coming to the world of trail riding, which is great, but the profile of the people who come has changed. Before, the trail was fed by people who came, above all, from the mountain environment with a certain philosophy. I don’t know if this has been lost, but each time it feeds on more people who do not have this mountain culture. And there is a sporting and competitive factor that is becoming stronger and this makes the difference.

Little by little, the world of trail running seems to be becoming more professional, although with inequalities. Do you outdoor sports photographers still have to financially vindicate your work?

Yes, but it doesn’t only happen in the case of photographers, but above all in the case of any minimally creative profession, such as a graphic designer. In the case of trail running, this happens for a thousand reasons, because there is a fragmentation, because there is a lot of unfair competition from many people who do not earn a living with this and can explode prices, there are people who have other jobs and do the same. It doesn’t matter to me, if the issue is not that there are many… if you’re good, perfect, but charge for it. But with this professionalization of the trail, you have to insist and fight even with big brands so that the work is respected to a minimum and that there is an intention to pay for it, at least. It is incredible that very powerful brands ask you to leave the photos by your face, when they do not take them directly to use them on their social networks. This is our daily bread.

And how is this sustained?

I’ve been doing this for many years and I could make you a huge list of people I’ve seen go through with this dynamic and I’ve seen them after two or three years burn out because they’ve seen that they won’t do anything with this. Evil has already been done and another will always appear. It is what it is. I also have to tell you that we see fellow photographers two or three times a year and each time we cry about the same thing, but we always say “a year has passed and we’re still here.” One way or another, better or worse, we are moving forward, but it takes a lot of energy to survive this at a professional level. It is like that and that’s it.

Did you start in trail running photography in Trail Magazine or had you already done something before?

No, at a professional level the beginning was with the magazine. I had always done things, but apart from the professional world. I have done some occasional work for a report published in Desnivel on climbing or ski mountaineering, but in a very specific way. More consistently and regularly it was with Trail Magazine.

In two years you will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Trail Magazine. Is keeping a magazine in these times pure passion?

On paper, the last number we did was in December 2020, the year of the pandemic. We had been thinking about it for a long time, but the pandemic accelerated it and we saw that we could not keep the magazine on paper. There was a liquidity issue and it was a very difficult time. In January 2021 we already moved completely to the digital world. We spent a year following the magazine format, with one issue, with some articles in digital format, until we were convinced that what works best on a digital level is the article alone. Despite this, maintaining a magazine like this requires putting a lot of faith and a lot of desire into it. We have had opportunities throughout the magazine’s history to pull down the blinds and say goodbye. From the outset it is difficult to maintain a paper magazine, being a very small company, we do not have an editorial group behind us or anything like that, it has always been a game of balance, especially financially it is very difficult. Today, despite the fact that expenses in the digital field are greatly reduced, it is still very complicated because it is increasingly difficult to obtain financing. Brands seem to be moving a bit again, but in recent years they have opted a lot to do their own advertising in their own environment, with inbred advertising. There is a lot of fragmentation, with self-styled media and websites that publish things and the cake is what it is and more and more have to be distributed and it is distributed at a cheaper price. Trail Magazine is a project in which we believe a lot and it is our project. In many cases it has moved forward because we have said “if you have to row, you row”. There is desire and passion to continue doing it.

Do you have friendships among elite trail runners?

Yes, throughout these years based on following careers. In the case of UTMB, I have been following it for 18 years. I get there and I feel at home. Not even out of boredom, many already know who I am. And in the case of UTMB, the truth is that it is an organization that personally treats me fantastically well. In addition, throughout these years I have made friends throughout the Peninsula. For example, I go to the Basque Country and I have friends, and look how selective I am with the concept of friendship, also in the Canary Islands, in Castellón…and not only photographers like Jordi Saragossa or Ian Corless, but also organizations and athletes with whom you coincide along these years. Above all, with those who have been around for a few years, such as Miguel Heras or Iker Carrera, for example. They are people that perhaps because they are more veterans I have a certain affinity for them and these years I have a list of people that I consider friends.