It was difficult for Team Panda to imagine, just a few years ago, being lined up for the Nice Côte d’Azur by UTMB. Yet it’s all very real. This weekend, this group of Nice friends is about to move mountains, and it’s Quentin Brondeault who will take on the biggest challenge by tackling the 100 miles for the first time.
Quentin, Kevin, Nicolas, Cédric, a bunch of friends who had nothing to do with running just a few years ago, yet this weekend, all four of them are preparing to travel through the Nice hinterland during the Nice Côte d’Azur by UTMB, each on a different distance.
It all started with a bachelor party. After a few beers, the idea of taking up running together was born. A panda tattoo later, here they are with running shoes on, as a team. « At first each of us ran a bit on our own, then we did some hiking and we said to ourselves « why not try trail running? » Since then, we’ve been hooked for five years, it’s an adventure all the way », says Quentin Brondeault, entered for the first time in a 100 miles race.
The story built itself little by little for the Team Panda. First with road racing, no elevation gain, for a few kilometers in 2021. Then, gradually, everyone got into it, the team grew, some became fathers, and the adventure takes on proportions that no one could have imagined.
In 2024, Quentin and Nicolas made headlines by running the Berlin Marathon and the 50 km of Nice Côte d’Azur by UTMB just six days apart, a real physical feat.
In 2025, the two Azureans took on the CCC, a 100 km race in the Alps, contested in hellish conditions that year: « with Nicolas we suffered a lot from rain, snow during the night. We didn’t panic and we made it through. Now they’re announcing good weather conditions, so that’s great. »
Quentin Brondeault takes on the queen distance
Don’t talk to him about precisely measured training volume or hundreds of kilometers per week, between work and family life, training time is limited: « if we go by social media, we’ll compare ourselves to the elites, and as an amateur it’s impossible to run 150 km per week. For me it’s around 40 – 50 kilometers. There are priorities in life, and we chose family. »
With a time limit of 50 hours to finish the race, Quentin would symbolically like to cross the finish line in less than two days, under 48 hours. When asked about the difficulty of spending two consecutive nights outdoors running, he answers with humor: « I have the joker card, being a dad for a year and a half I’m used to short nights. »
Photo : DR – Instagram @teampandarunning
As for the course, playing at home is a real advantage, even though he dreads certain sections: « the hardest part on this terrain is the first section. Once we leave the Mercantour and pass the 100 km mark, we start to see the sea and that’s a real motivational element, we know the finish line is straight ahead even if it still represents several tens of kilometers. »
Finally, for the Maralpin, it’s the team spirit that will make the difference: « the fact of doing this as a team changes everything, alone it would be different. Now our wives and our children are in the loop. I know that when I see them during the refueling stops, it’s going to be a huge boost. »
The spirit of Team Panda is above all about sharing. Sharing during long Sunday outings all together, sharing during the race with family and children, and sharing after the race, over a beer. Proof that by combining patience, team spirit and good humor, you can accomplish great things.
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