Uniting on the Quai du Mont-Blanc this morning, more than 2200 runners took part as an individual or as a team in the second edition of the Geneva 20km by Genève Aéroport.
After running on the shores of Lake Geneva, participants had the privilege to cross through the United Nations grounds, opened especially for the event! A prestigious moment to discover the international district of Geneva.
This new stopover impressed Kassim Doumbia from Mali who participated in the event last year: “Running through the Palais des Nations is wonderful and I really enjoyed it. The course was also stunning, the organisation is great and I love it. And last year I ran in 1h28 but this year I did it in 1h25 so I am very happy!”
The course on the right hand side of the lake then passed through the countryside peppered with its many colours of early-Autumn before heading back to Geneva. Runners finished their race along the lake opposite the Jet d’Eau.
The course was appreciated by many runners as mentioned by Laurence Teissier-François from Belgium: “It’s next to my house as I live in Canton de Vaud so it’s a place I know well and I wanted to run there. The race is great because it’s outside of the city. The start is quite difficult because it goes up but then it’s pretty easy. I really appreciated it.”
Eyoab Habtesilasse from Ethiopia, winner of this second edition, crossed the finish line in 1:00:42, breaking the previous record by 3 minutes and 41 seconds. Régis Antoine from France and Ben Parkes from the UK completed the podium.
In the women’s race, Hayen Hailu from Ethiopia took home the victory in front of fellow runner Israel Silass Geletu and Aline Camboulives from France. She also established a new event record by over 8 minutes.
For those who wanted to share the 20km distance, the Duo and Trio formats were on offer. A fun and friendly way to share the distance and take on a challenge together.
Team Les Dodos set themselves the challenge to run the new Trio format as a team of colleagues. Grégoire Weiss, third and last runner of the team, said: “I decided to participate to run as a team at work. We must be at least 140 runners from my company taking part in this event. It’s a fun experience and it’s great to do it all together. And the last section of the Trio format along the lake is nice.”
Meeting their children near the finish line, Claudio and Annelise Minetto decided to run the Duo format as a couple for the second consecutive year. “I made my husband happy as he wanted us to run together. The race went well”, expressed Annelise.
Her husband Claudio added: “It’s great to run through the UN. This is not a place where we can go very often so I enjoyed it. I did the first relay and then I met my wife near the finish to cross the line together.”
Event director Benjamin Chandelier expressed his delight about the success of this second edition: “The popularity of this second edition reaffirmed the position of this event in the Swiss running calendar.”
“On behalf of the entire organising committee I also want to thank the local authorities and staff from the Canton and City of Geneva for their unwavering support, the UN for their warm welcome, as well as each of the communes traversed during the race (Pregny-Chambesy, Grand Saconnex, Bellevue and Genthod) for their support in organising this second edition,” he added. “Obviously a huge thank you also goes to Genève Aéroport and all our other partners for helping us further establish this event. Finally, we must not forget the 300 precious volunteers mobilised across the weekend without whom this event would not be possible”.
As a major actor in the Canton of Geneva, Genève Aéroport associated itself with this event for the second consecutive year as Title Partner with the aim of supporting a sporty and fun initiative. After giving the start, André Schneider, CEO of Genève Aéroport, wanted to speak in the name of Genève Aéroport: “A big thank you to the organising committee of the Geneva 20km by Genève Aéroport and the amazing support of the many volunteers and staff from the communes without whom the party wouldn’t have been so great ! See you next year.”
Having now achieved its cruising altitude and speed, the third edition of the Geneva 20km by Genève Aéroport will be back in 2019. Information and registration will be available soon at 20kmgeneveaeroport.ch/en.
Results
Solo Men
1. Eyob Habtesilasse, ETH, 1:00:42
2. Régis Antoine, FRA, 1:08:37
3. Ben Parkes, GBR, 1:08:39
Solo Women
1. Haven Hailu, ETH, 1:10:15
2. Israel Silass Geletu, ETH, 1:11:51
3. Aline Camboulives, FRA, 1:17:41
Duo Scratch
1. Grangette RunningTeam, 1:12:37
2. TDCB, 1:12:53
3. Team P’tit Lu, 1:15:55
Trio Scratch
1. Geneva Runners Super3, 1:20:14
2. Jura Sports, 1:20:41
3. Antiparticles, 1:22:48
Key figures
2nd édition
3 race formats
2200 participants
1400 runners on the Solo format
250 runners on the Duo format
100 runners on the Trio format
300 volunteers
36% of runners participate in their first 20km
39% of women
Average age: 39 years
Top 3 of nationalities: Switzerland, France, United Kingdom
Top 3 of Cantons: Geneva, Vaud and Valais
5 communes crossed
6 pace-setters