When a Sporting Challenge Becomes a Collective Commitment
Thibault is 27. An aeronautical engineer, he took on an extraordinary challenge last year: the Infernal Trail des Vosges. One hundred kilometres of mountain running, two sleepless nights. And every kilometre linked to a Mieux Donner fundraiser.
For Thibault, this challenge was never purely a sporting endeavour. From the very start, he'd made himself a simple promise: to ensure that every kilometre covered would serve a purpose beyond personal performance. To turn an individual effort into concrete impact, in favour of charities selected for their effectiveness by Mieux Donner.
"Honestly, I was suffering a little that day. But when I compared what I was going through with what it could help afterwards… it made me happy."
A deliberate paradox: effort takes on a different dimension when it's connected to something greater than oneself.
Finding meaning in commitment, in his own way
At first glance, Thibault's background looks like that of any young engineer. A graduate of INSA Hauts-de-France, he spent three and a half years at Safran working in high-precision mechanical design, including professional experience in the United States. Last year, he had just joined a new company in Annecy, where he was living in a shared house with ten people.
A highly structured, industrial environment, where social and charitable causes often took a back seat.
"There's a huge contrast between those who get involved and those who don't even know it exists."
His relationship with charitable commitment didn't develop overnight. It had begun about three years earlier, under the influence of someone close to him. Together, they had volunteered on outreach patrols for homeless people and got involved with a food bank.
A trip to Togo, a few months before the ultra-trail, proved to be a turning point. Part tourism, part volunteering, he encountered awareness-raising initiatives and a prisoner rehabilitation charity.
"I saw a lot of good intentions, but very few organisations that actually measured their impact."
That's where his thinking about effective giving began.
Sport as a space for personal exploration
At that stage in his life, sport already occupied a central place — and wasn't limited to a single discipline. Water sports (surfing, kitesurfing, sailing), mountain sports (cycling, running, paragliding for five years, skiing, snowboarding)… His move to Annecy had only strengthened that dynamic.
"It had become an incredible playground."
For three or four years, he had been entering races regularly, particularly in road cycling and running. Every year, he took on one or two major mountain races. In Paris, he had also run several charity 10 km events, including ones raising funds for cancer research.
But an ultra-trail was a first.
A sporting challenge equal to the commitment
An ultra-trail is a mountain race that generally exceeds 80 to 100 kilometres. The Infernal Trail des Vosges covered just over 100. The start was at midnight, with a particularly intense atmosphere: the darkness, flaming torches, a palpable collective tension.
"I wanted to experience something truly out of the ordinary. And to see how far my body could go."
For nearly forty hours, Thibault kept moving without sleep. He went through phases of doubt, moments when giving up seemed the rational choice. And then there were the encounters — particularly around the 70-kilometre mark.
"You talk to strangers as if you've known each other for ever."
When individual effort becomes collective
The idea of combining this sporting challenge with a fundraiser took shape gradually. Between two contracts, Thibault had several months free. He had first considered a humanitarian trip, before reconsidering.
"Without a local network, without speaking the language, it could be useless — or even counterproductive."
He arrived at a straightforward conclusion: the most effective lever remained financial donation, provided it was directed wisely. He decided to link that donation to a project that felt like him: running. The system was built around per-kilometre sponsorship through an online form.
During the ultra-trail, that dimension profoundly changed his relationship with the effort.
Choosing where to give — and why it changes everything
At the time, Thibault was already familiar with GiveWell, an international organisation that analyses the impact of NGOs. But the lack of French tax deductibility was a barrier.
Discovering Mieux Donner proved decisive.
"It was exactly what I was looking for: a curated selection of highly effective charities, with genuine impact analysis, within a French framework."
His friends and family visited the website to understand the approach. Reactions were mixed — sometimes puzzling — but always a starting point for conversation.
What this adventure made possible, in concrete terms
By the end of the race, the results spoke for themselves.
For Thibault, the most important thing lay elsewhere: this adventure had shown that a personal challenge could become a gateway to collective commitment.
What will your next challenge be?
A race, a trail, a marathon. Turn your effort into concrete impact by launching your own Mieux Donner fundraiser.
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