In 2027, The National Running Show will mark its 10th anniversary and as part of the celebrations we are featuring an in-depth series with key brands - Miles & Milestones: 10 questions for running brand success.
A family-owned pioneer for over 50 years, Petzl redefines trail running with cutting-edge illumination. The brand engineers ultra-bright, lightweight headlamps that automatically adapt to changing light conditions, keeping runners perfectly balanced in the dark. This dedication to hands-free reliability allows athletes to confidently tackle the most rugged and remote terrain. Petzl continues to stand as a global leader in technical gear for sports and exploration.
In this Q&A, Petzl UK Marketing Manager Corin Burdon discusses the company’s evolution, core values, and what to expect at The National Running Show 2027.
1. When and where did the spark for Petzl form and how was the journey from idea to product?
It all started in the 1930s with Fernand Petzl. He wasn't trying to start a global brand; he was just an obsessed cave explorer in France who needed better gear. Back then, if you wanted to go deep underground, you had to build your own tools. Fernand started tinkering in his workshop to solve those "impossible" problems. By the 1970s, that DIY spirit had turned into a family business, and one of the big "eureka" moments was taking a light and mounting it to an elastic headband. Just like that, the world’s first hands-free headlamp was born.
2. What was the toughest part of pivoting from caves to trails?
In a cave, you’re moving far more slowly than trail runners, sometimes vertically, wearing a helmet and often with a mix of mud and water! As a result, gear needs to be very robust and hard wearing, cavers can also be more comfortable with heavier loads, making it easier to use larger battery packs. But when you pivot to trail running, the challenges are different, while still needing to maintain that reliability which is inherent in Petzl headlamps.
As an example, for a trail running headlamp we need to design for stability during high-speed movement. A runner’s head bobs and jars with every stride, so a comfortable and compact strap system combined with a significantly smaller battery pack are important for comfort. We had to take our "bomb-proof" caving tech and figure out how to make it ultra-light and perfectly balanced.
3. How do the pros change the gear for the rest of us?
We treat pro athletes like François D’Haene and James Elson as our ultimate "stress testers", both during the R&D stage for new products and also for finished headlamps, so we have continual improvement embedded throughout our systems. If our run team has a suggestion to improve our headlamps, our R&D team listens. That feedback loop doesn't just benefit our running models, it trickles down into every lamp we sell. When you use a Petzl headlamp, you’re benefiting from "race-proven" tweaks that make the light more intuitive for your local 5k just as much as your ultra.
4. How does Petzl balance the need for rapid technological innovation with the need for long-term product durability?
At Petzl it's part of our DNA to use the latest technology to improve our products, we were the first to use LED's in headlamps, and continue to innovate with REACTIVE LIGHTING® and lightweight new cradle designs, but at the end of the day, a headlamp is a safety tool for everyone from trail runners to those working in industry—it cannot fail. We balance this by sticking to our "Industrial Excellence" standards along with extensive R&D to ensure innovations meet our standards while also designing our 'lamps with built in repairability so you can easily replace the batteries and the headbands. The goal is to give you the best headlamps on the market without sacrificing the "bulletproof" reliability we’re known for.
5. As a brand, what have been your primary successes?
One of our biggest successes is REACTIVE LIGHTING®. It was a game-changer to create a lamp that "thinks" for you, brightening when you look down the trail and dimming when you look at a map, helping to conserve battery power to allow for longer burn times but still a high power light when it's needed. We've not rested on our laurels and have further refined reactive lighting, the latest SWIFT RL and NAO RL feature a movement sensor which dynamically adjusts how much reactive lighting actually 'reacts' in real time, based on your activity.
6. First ultra-marathon: Lumens or balance?
Neither - there are many aspects to consider when choosing a headlamp, all of these should be considered carefully to match your own needs, e.g. brightness, burn time, beam pattern, comfort and usability (adjustability, software, buttons).
If you head out with a poorly designed headlamp which is front-heavy, hard to adjust and gives you a "bouncing" headache after four hours, while being unintuitive to use with a poor beam pattern and burn time you’re going to be miserable. It's always best to try to demo a headlamp (we attend lots of headlamp demo events, or borrow a friends 'lamp!) and make sure you're happy with how it feels for your own use, keeping in mind the factors above.
7. Does being family-owned change how you design gear?
Absolutely. We’ve been family-owned for 50+ years, and the Petzl family are all involved with every aspect of the company. If a new design isn't 100% ready or "Petzl-perfect," we don't ship it. This independence lets us prioritise long-term safety and quality across all our product lines over just hitting a seasonal sales target while also allowing us to stay agile and develop class leading products.
8. What’s the "Petzl philosophy" on the perfect beam?
For a night-time trail run, a "Mixed Beam" is best, this is a hybrid of wide and spot lighting, with lower light levels offering just a wide beam pattern and then an additional long reaching beam at higher power levels. When combined with our reactive lighting which automagically provides a long reaching beam while maintaining a wide beam it gives you the best of both worlds. A wide flood gives you "ground feel" right at your feet so you don't trip on a root, while a focused spot lets you see the trail markers way ahead. If you only have a spot, you get "tunnel vision," and if you only have a flood, you feel like you’re running into a black wall. We blend them together, along with the right LED colour temperature, to make your vision feel as natural as possible.
9. What is the Petzl's current focus regarding environmental protection, and how can the running community get more involved in those initiatives?
As a family owned business, with staff who are keen runners and climbers, it's incredibly important we try to minimise our environmental impact from production through to helping our products last longer.
More than ever before, we're acutely aware that the choices we make today will have a lasting impact on the environment and will actively shape our own futures and the futures of our children. We're committed to using our creativity and our capacity to innovate in service of sustainably reducing our impact in a continuous drive for improvement. - Sébastien Petzl, Director of CSR
We dedicate 1% of our revenue to projects aligned with our four CSR commitments, carbon footprint, reducing waste, supporting suppliers and improving employee satisfaction. This approach is helping us fast-track our transition to a more sustainable business model and reduce our carbon intensity.
Our headlamps feature replaceable batteries, vastly increasing their lifespan, we've also massively reduced the impact of our packaging with a project to remove all plastic. Our headlamps are also increasingly using recycled materials, for example our latest SWIFT RL features a headband made entirely with recycled materials which can also be removed, washed, and replaced
For runners, choose gear that is built to be repaired, recycle batteries, offer older headlamps to other/new runners as you upgrade and support "eco-responsible" events and initiatives such as Trash Free Trails, Trees Not Tees, etc. There's also no harm in reading Damian Hall's 'We Can't Run Away from This'.
10. Why is The National Running Show an important space for Petzl to be part of?
It’s a great place to chat with the community! Whether you’re a pro or just doing your first night run, we want to be there to talk "lighting" It’s one thing to see a lamp in a box; it’s another to try it on, feel the balance, and understand how to make your headlamp work for your needs, we'll see you there!