In Geneva, December 7 and 8 –
The Escalade Course limits the number of registrants
For the first time, event No. 1 in Switzerland must curb the overwhelming enthusiasm of the participants, for reasons of safety and comfort.
Published today at 10:44 a.m.
The Escalade Course is attracting more and more interest from running enthusiasts
KEYSTONE/LAURENT GILLIÉRON
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- The Course de l’Escalade limits the number of registrations for 2023.
- The events attract 54,094 participants, surpassing Lausanne and Bern.
- The restrictions are justified by reasons of safety and comfort.
- The restrictions result in a transfer of participants to other categories.
The 46th Escalade Race will inevitably be disappointed this year. Seeing even greater enthusiasm for its events, the organization of the premier running event in Switzerland has decided to limit the number of bibs.
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Thus, the three-round pace blocks will not exceed 12,000 participants. Those who plan to run two laps will not number more than 7,500 this year. Parent-child races are also affected (2,400 children maximum) and relays (men/women/mixed) are limited to 300 teams.
“For the traditional race, this is a first,” confirms Jerry Maspoli, president of the Course de l’Escalade. We had already had to make such a decision for the Race du Duc, for logistical reasons for transporting people.”
Safety and comfort
Reasons of safety and comfort of participants are put forward to justify this decision. “Obviously, we have to take these steps reluctantly,” continues Jerry Maspoli. Our desire is to encourage the practice of sport and the movement of the population. Setting such a limit creates an obstacle to physical activity. Today we are launching waves of 500 people. Increasing this number would be unmanageable and unavoidable. We want to maintain a certain quality and security in the starting blocks.”
The main consequence of this limitation of runners is the postponement of those registered in other categories. “There’s a chance of that happening. Once people can no longer register for the three laps, they will undoubtedly move towards the two-lap races or the FlexiMix (editor’s note: choice of 1, 2 or 3 laps, the event is run on Sunday) .”
Far ahead of Berne and Lausanne
The Escalade Race, which will take place on December 7 and 8, continues to assert itself as the No. 1 popular event in Switzerland. If the post-Covid trend has confirmed a growing interest in this type of activity, the Geneva event broke all records during its last edition. In 2023, the organization recorded 54,094 registrants. There were 46,405 athletes arriving. For comparison, the two “pursuers”, namely the 20KM of Lausanne and the Grand Prix of Berne are far behind.
This year’s event in the Olympic capital had 30,685 registered and 27,279 arrivals. The Federal City event, for its part, interested 29,860 people, of whom 27,251 crossed the finish line.
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