GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Three Ethiopians took the top slots in the men’s Geneva Marathon for Unicef, which ran 4-6 May, and Russian/French Yulia Vinokurova came in first in the women’s race. Some 1,200 “elite” runners joined the race this year, but the hugely popular event pulled in 6,700 runners in all categories, including 500 children.
Final results:
Men
1. Asfaw Tewodros Zewou, 1980, ETH-Ethiopie 2:19.25,5 (6)
2. Seifu Terefe, 1991, Ethiopie 2:19.51,9 (15)
3. Begashaw Hailu, 1984, Ethiopie 2:25.12,2 (14)
Women
1. Vinokurova Yulia, 1972, F-Le Havre 2:44.29,2 (12)
2. Domvrou Andriani, 1974, GR-Pireas 3:03.38,5 (253)
3. Camelo Nisa, 1982, Meyrin 3:12.30,3 (28)
Two forest fires, 80 police calls in less than 24 hours in Valais
No doubt about it, the wind was blowing hard in Valais Sunday morning
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The Tour de Romandie racers face a tough challenge Sunday 29 April as they pump up the steep mountainside from Mollens to Aminona, after a descent from Crans-Montana, 16.5km with strong foehn winds gusting for their final day of the race, against the clock.
Valais police say that between noon Saturday and 09:00 Sunday they had 80 calls due to wind, mainly trees down and electric lines hit.
Two forest fires were started by falling trees hitting electric lines; one Saturday afternooon in Mieville, which was quickly contained, touched 1,000m2 and a second, between Gietroz and Finhaut at 05:00, covered 5,000m2. There were no injuries and no homes reached by the fires.
Meteoswiss said Sunday morning that the past five days have seen three peaks in the foehn, with the strongest Saturday afternoon between Le Bouveret and Martigny, when it reached 100kph.
The warm, dry southwest wind stretched further than normal – it is usually an Alpine valley wind – reaching Geneva airport and at times Schaffhausen.
Temperatures also reached record highs for April, with Sion and Sierre registering 30C Saturday afternoon.
Escalade runners, Geneva, 3 December 2011 (photo, ©2011 Mr Kio on flickr)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The pre-Christmas holiday season took off running in Geneva, as it does every year with the traditional Escalade races.
The city had relatively clement weather Saturday 3 December for the runs, compared to many years.
Snow and sleet were absent and the drizzle wasn’t a freezing one.
Ed. note: we’ve created a GenevaLunch album of photos from the races by Mr Kio on flickr.
Portuguese runner Clarisse Cruz, age 33, became the first non-African woman to win the women’s race since 1998.
She finished the 4.79km race in 15’36, 7″ ahead of Kenyan Jane Muia and 14” ahead of Kenyan Caroline Chepkwony, who won in 2010.
Kenyan Paul Kipkorir won the men’s race, repeating his 2010 victory and giving Kenya 10 of the last 12 Escalade races.
The distance runner placed first with 20’45 for the 7.25 km city run, coming in 5″ ahead of Geneva’s Tadesse Abraham and 6” ahead of Kenyan Milton Rotich.
Escalade runners, Geneva, 3 December 2011 (photo, ©2011 Mr Kio on flickr)
The Escalade is celebrated from the day of the race to the city centre festival a few days later that commemorates the 1602 failed invasion of Geneva by Savoyard troops.
Costumes, Mère Royaume’s piping hot soup served in the Old Town and marmites, little three-legged traditional soup pots made out of chocolate and filled with treats, will replace this Sunday’s runners, and snow is reported to be on the way. Expect the same cheerful holiday crowds. Details, Geneva Tourism
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Runner Amber Miller beat her husband Joe in the 42-km Chicago Marathon 9 October, but the hard work wasn’t over yet for the day: she went into labour soon after the race and gave birth to a 7-pound daughter, June. Mother and daughter are doing fine. Miller was closely followed by doctors during the pregnancy and they advised her on how to handle the race. She says she alternately ran and walked, following their advice.
The 27-year-old mother has a son, 19-month-old Caleb.
Links to other sites: Chicago Tribune, Daily News, South Africa
Geneva to the other end of the lake and back, a spectacular race with nearly 600 boats
Location: Port Noir, Cologny
Link out: http://www.boldormirabaud.com/en-ch/index.cfm
Start date: 18 Jun 2011
Start time: 10:00
End date: 19 Jun 2011
End time: 17:00
Bol d'Or start 2010 (photo ©2010 Loris von Siebenthal)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – One of the most beautiful sailing races of the year takes place this weekend, with 500 boats and 3,000 sailors rlunning the Bol d’Or from Geneva to the other end of the lake and back.
The race starts Saturday 18 June from the Société Nautique de Genève, with a weather forecast that promises some unpredictable moments, with sunshine, cloudy skies and rain all part of the mix.
The race features real time online mapping, a new feature this year. Another change: the race finishes at 17:00 Sunday, an hour later, to allow more racers to finish.
Geneva's Escalade race 2010 (photo, David Perez on flickr)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Kenyans took the first three men’s places and the first two women’s in the annual Geneva run, the Escalade race. Miraculously, given the heavy snowfalls before the race and rain after, the Saturday 4 December run had some stretches of blue sky, if not entirely dry roads. Geneva’s Escalade team put in hours making sure the race route was in good shape for the 22,143 runners, most of them local, who could opt for 2 to 8km runs in the Old Town of Geneva, ending in the Bastion park, with 1, 2 or 3 loops. Kenyan 21-year-old Linet Masai, world record-holder for the women’s 10,000, charmed the crowds by winning 31 seconds in advance, over 4 km. Paul Kipkorir won the men’s race, followed by two other Kenyans, Mike Kigen and Daniel Chebii.
The Marmite “race” at the end of the day offers anyone who wants to run a chance to race 2.4 km in a costume, a foretaste of the Escalade festivities from 10-12 December that commemorate a battle between Geneva and soldiers from Haute Savoie 12 December 1602.
Links to other sites: Escalade, Le Matin (Fre), Tribune de Geneve (Fre)
Photos by David Perez, Geneva, reproduced with permission
Escalade, Geneva, 2010 (photo D Perez on flickr)
Escalade, Geneva, 2010 (photo D Perez on flickr)
A contest open to all, from kids to parents and pro-athletes.
Location: Chéserex, Vaud
Link out: http://www.vtt-barillette.ch/
Date: 29 Aug 2010
Three riders out of the race after a fall during the runup Tuesday
Tour de Romandie 2010
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Area roads around Lake Geneva will be blocked starting Thursday 29 April thanks to the Tour de Romandie bicycle race. Oncoming traffic will be stopped as the race approaches and Vaud police are asking drivers to use extra caution Thursday to Saturday, and to be prepared for road blocks. The race covers nearly 655 km, with 8,000 metres of difference in altitude.
The “prologue” to the race Tuesday resulted in three riders dropping out of the race after taking a fall: Joaquin Novoa, Chris Froome and Arkaliz Duran.
The race, which pulls a sizable crowd of fans, will pass through these areas:
Fribourg - Fribourg loop, Thursday 29 April 2010
Canton de Fribourg – Faoug (13:55) – Avenches (14:00) – Canton de Fribourg – Vers-chez-Perrin (14:30) – Canton de Fribourg – Villarzel (14:35) – Canton de Fribourg.
Individual against the watch: Moudon – Moudon, Friday 30 April 2010
Tour de Romandie 2010
Moudon, avenue de Lucens (leaves 12:45) (roads completely closed as of 11:45), route d’Yverdon – Les Rutannes – Thierrens – St-Cierges – Chapelle/Moudon – Villars-Mendraz – Hermenches – Rossenges – Moudon (open around 19:00).
Vevey, Grande Place (leaves 13:15) – La Tour-de-Peilz – Montreux – Veytaux – Villeneuve – Roche – Bex – Canton du Valais.
Links to other sites: Tour de Romandie site with detailed SwissTopo map of the route and stages of the race, WeLoveVelo
Glacier Patrol 2010 finish line in Verbier: you have to be fit to run with your skis at this point (photo 2010, PdG)
Verbier, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A mere 5 hours, 52 minutes and 22 seconds to ski from Zermatt to Verbier: the daunting Glacier Patrol run across the top of the Swiss Alps saw 20 minutes sliced off the old record Saturday 24 April. The previous record was set in 2006 by a French-Italian team.
The winning men’s team of Florent Troillet, Martin Anthamatten and Yannick Ecoeur from canton Valais enthused about the excellent conditions when they finished the race: they were in form, the snow was hard and fast, and they were never cold.
Troillet’s sister Marie was part of the winning women’s team, which finished in 7 h 41’18”, also a record, by 12 minutes.
The race has its origins in the second world war, when the Swiss military were preparing to move fast in case of invasion. The 2010 race had more than 1,500 skiers racing in teams of three.
Background, GenevaLunch
Links to other sites: Glacier Patrol. Le Matin (Fre), TSR (Fre)
Dawn among the peaks near Zermatt for the Glacier Patrol 2010 (photo ©2010 Juerg Kaufmann/PdG 2010)
Heading up, Glacier Patrol 2010, Swiss mountain race from Zermatt to Verbier (photo 2010, PdG)
Carlo Janka (photo: Swiss Ski)
Garmisch, Germany (GenevaLunch) - Carlo Janka has taken the lead in World Cup ski standings, with a total of 1,073 points after he won the downhill in Garmisch 10 March, by a hair. He came in at 1:58:45 but second place Mario Scheiber of Austria clocked 1:58:47 and Canada’s Eric Guay and Switzerland’s Patrick Kueng shared third at 1:58:52 in a remarkably close race.
In Geneva, 24-26 February
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Money will help people off the hook in capital punishment cases, according to a round table discussion at the fourth World Congress against the Death Penalty, held in Geneva 24-26 February. That, and the victim being a foreigner makes it unlikely that he or she will be put to death. Panelists from Bahrein, Pakistan and the United States argued that “money can buy you immunity” from prosecution. “Torture and the death penalty are for the poor,” says Kamran Arif, a lawyer from Pakistan, which hands down one-third of the world’s death sentences.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The 27,000 runners who participated in the Escalade race in Geneva Saturday 4 December can now download films of their finish, available Tuesday 8 December, a project by supermarket Migros and the Escalade race organizers. GenevaLunch was there, with runners, their families and friends sporting our distinctive colours!
Links to other sites: download finish films, Escalade race
Click on images to view larger
Southern France (GenevaLunch) – The end of the first week leaves the tour very open, with two main dramas being played, one between the Astana team and the other teams and a more personal conflict between seven-time winner Lance Armstrongand his teammate, the theoretical leader of the Astana team Alberto Contador.
Going nowhere fast, Bol d'Or 2009 (image: P Gaechter)
Lake Geneva, 10:00 starting time, view from Montreux: little wind
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The wind failed to show up for the Bol d’Or (“Golden Bowl”) race which goes from Geneva to the other end of the lake at Le Bouveret and back.
The record for the race was set in 1994, at 5h01’51″ but this weekend the winner, Alain Gautier, for team Foncia, took 19h33’51″ and arrived at 5:00 in the morning, having inched along all night. The Alinghi team came in ninth.
Details, RSR, Fre
photo: Tour du Canton, Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The 2,200 runners who are registered for the Tour du Canton series of popular runs are now halfway through their course, after the 3 June run in Grand-Saconnex. The two final runs are 10 June in Lignon and 17 June in Prevessin-Moëns. Drivers in the areas should note that traffic is diverted to allow the race to go ahead.
Title: Women’s race in Bern
Location: Bern
Link out: Click here
Description: With over 13,000 participants (all women), the race is run in various categories, including walking, over a distance of five kilometers.
Date: 14 Jun 2009
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The sun held out in Geneva long enough for the Geneva Marathon to be run, with 28-year-old Ethiopian Tsige Germa winning the men’s 26-kilometre race in 2:19.49.9 and Reulen Stijntje, 1967, Arzier, Vaud taking first place for the women, in 2:52.47.0. The bigger cloud over the event was the question of whether this would be the last marathon: the organizers have said they are resigning en masse, worn out from trouble finding sponsors as well sa lengthy negotiations with the city over closing streets for the race, according to Le Matin.
Alinghi relaunch, 2008
San Francisco, California, USA and Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Your average non-sailor might be forgiven for thinking America’s Cup is a game of ping-pong rather than arguably the world’s most famous sailing race. The legal battle between the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), home to Alinghi, and US-based Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), home to Oracle, continues, with the GGYC asking a court in New York for a new hearing, set for 15 May. Alinghi is the holder of the America’s Cup and Oracle is the official Challenger. Last week, 24 April, the Tribune de Geneve carried the cheerful headline that Alinghi had agreed to Oracle’s demand for a multi-hull race in 2010. For about an hour it appeared that the bickering might be over and a race could be run.
Title: Bern’s Grand Prix
Location: Bern
Link out: Click here
Description: Also called: the 10 most beautiful mile walk/run in Switzerland.
Date: 18 Apr 2009
Title: Lucerne city run
Location: Lucerne
Link out: Click here
Description: Once a year runners take to the pavement and give their best for the 31st Lucerne City Run through the Old Town with nearly 13,000 participants.
Date: 25 Apr 2009
Title: Zurich marathon
Location: Zurich
Link out: Click here
Description: The 7th Zurich Marathon will take place on 26 April 2009. New in its course is the running through the brand-new Uetliberg-Tunnel.
Date: 26 Apr 2009
Title: Swiss rally championship
Location: Canton Jura
Link out: Click here
Description: Also known as the “Critérium Jurassien” or “Crité,” it takes place in Canton Jura with 90 different teams.
Start Date: 24 Apr 2009
End Date: 25 Apr 2009
Title: Lausanne 20K race
Location: Lausanne, Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: A popular race for amateur and professional racers in Lausanne. Registration now open.
Date: 25 Apr 2009
Click on image to view larger
Lausanne, Switzerland (LeTemps, Fre) - Organizers for the Red Bull Crashed Ice race in Lausanne underestimated the popularity of the event, expecting 20,000 spectators: a crowd of over 40,000 showed up 14 March to watch 105 racers, mostly retired hockey players, compete in a sport known as ice cross downhill.
A very soggy Escalade race in Geneva 6 December 2008. Photo: Catherine Nelson-Pollard
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - 26,000 runners took part in the this year’s Escalade race, most of them children. In the elite men’s race, Kenyan Mike Kigen won from Ethiopian Tolossa Chengere and Eritrean Abraham Tadesse. It was the 13th Kenyan victory in the last 15 years.
The women’s race was won by Ethiopian Olympic champion Departu Tulu. Details, Le Matin, Fre.
The event formally closed after the last of the races took place: the “marmite race” where runners dress up for a shorter, fun, event where everyone who smiles, is a winner. Visit our gallery to see some of the fun pictures of the evening.
Title: Course de l’escalade (Escalade race)
Location: Geneva
Link out: Click here
Description: Registration is now open for: A fun, non-competitive, family-friendly night race where disguises are a must! An actual competitive day-option is also available.
Date: 06 Dec 2008
