1378 participants, comprising 180 teams, battled it out over more than 200km to run around the majestic Lake Geneva in its entirety. Thanks to the “mates”, and the supercharged atmosphere, it has been a weekend of high excitement, tears and laughter.
There were many at the start-line on Saturday between 10am and 7pm, all of them there to honour their bet: to be among the first to participate in the Run Mate challenge around Lake Geneva. Friends for the most part, but also families and work colleagues – whatever the combination, the event brought them closer together. For 24 hours, over two days and one night, they encouraged each other, pushed themselves to their limit, battled their fatigue but above all, experienced an extraordinary adventure which will be remembered for years to come.
A real camaraderie was present around Lake Geneva, which enabled all the “mates” to reach the finish.
The course included 29 relay stages, from 3 to 13 km, in order to spread out the total distance according to the ability of each team member. At each relay point, volunteers were there to receive the runners and provide refreshments while the mates in the vehicles gathered to await their runner on the course.
To keep the mates busy whilst one of their team members was running their part of the course, several non-race challenges were also set. The most environmentally friendly applied themselves to collecting cigarette ends, while the intellectuals tackled a cultural quiz. The artists searched for the best photo opportunty or were busy filming the highlights
for a post-race video. And lastly the fastest of them were able to test their speed on a specially dedicated section of the course.
Even without sleep and in the middle of the night, the mates were in party mood. After passing the 29 relay points in Vevey, Montreux, Villeneuve, Bouveret, St Gingolph, Meillerie, Lugrin, Evian-les-Bains, Thonon-les-Bains, Margencel, Excenevex, Yvoire, Chens-sur-Léman, Veigy, Meinier, Genève, Pregny-Chambésy, Versoix, Coppet, Nyon, Prangins, Dully, Rolle, Aubonne, Morges, Préverenges, Lausanne, Paudex, Cully, the mates finally made it back to the starting point.
And a well-deserved break !
At the finish, all the participants were able to toast their adventure and share the best moments of the race around a barbecue with music and the feeling of a village fête. And to cool off after a long night’s endeavour, what could be better than Lake Geneva itself ?
Pre-registration for 2020 is already open if you too would like to become a Mate and reserve your place.
The 2019 edition in figures:
• 1st edition
• over 200 km of waymarked, secure course
• 2 to 9 runners per team
• 2 formulas for teams: Team (6 to 9 per team) / Ultra (2 to 5 per team)
• 1378 participants
• 180 teams
• 10 student teams (benefitting from a reduction)
• 29 relay stages
• 2 days and 1 night
• 24 hour race time
• 2 countries: Switzerland and France
• 3 Swiss cantons : Vaud, Valais, Geneva
• 1 French department : Haute Savoie
• Relay stages from 3km to 13km
• 200 volunteers
• 5 non-race challenges
• 40% women
• 60% men
• 36 - average age
• 18 - age of the youngest
participant
• 73 - age of the oldest participant
