Just a few days to go until the 38th edition of Switzerland's biggest running festival exclusively for women takes place: On June 9th the Original, the Swiss Women's Run! Why this traditional event is still important and which elite female runners will lead the approximately 10,000 starters.
For the 38th time, around 10,000 women will flood Bern's city center on Sunday morning, June 9: Among them are some ambitious runners, easily recognizable by their perfectly coordinated race gear. The field of elite runners will be led this year by the reigning Swiss marathon champion, Andrea Meier (LC Uster). She will be taking on the favored Ethiopians Ejegayehu Dibaba and Addisalem Belay over 5 km. The name "Dibaba" in particular has been well known on the running scene for years: The 42-year-old's greatest successes include winning the silver medal in the 10,000 meters at the Olympic Games in Athens (2004), as well as her triumph at the Chicago Marathon (2011).
A run for all women
Little girls, excited and overwhelmed by all the impressions, streaming into the starting area holding their mom's hand. Women's clubs and school classes arriving as a group and looking forward to an eventful experience together in the capital. Experienced runners who have crossed the finish line on Bundesplatz more than twenty times and still remember what it was like 40 years ago, when women were still a glaring minority at fun runs. Breast cancer sufferers and their relatives - last year even two members of the Federal Council took part - who want to draw attention to the important issue of breast cancer prevention. All these runners are just as much a part of the Swiss Women's Run as the high-caliber elite field just mentioned.
Experience BEFORE performance
All these participants make the Women's Run what it is today: the largest and most legendary popular sporting event for women in Switzerland. "The focus is on the shared experience and social contacts, with performance often taking a back seat," says Catherine Imhof, project manager of the Women's Run, explaining the continued success of the Swiss Women's Run. "Nowadays - unlike 40 years ago - women can fortunately start wherever they want. And yet women obviously really enjoy being among themselves at a running event once a year, enjoying the day with their daughters or friends." Markus Ryffel, Chairman of the organizer's Board of Directors, adds: "When we founded the event, we wanted to give women a goal to motivate them to do sport regularly. At that time, the proportion of women at running events was just under 10%. By creating a framework in which women could hold their first "competition" among themselves, inhibitions were reduced. As a result, tens of thousands of women have taken up running: Today, the proportion of women at running events is often 50%.
Categories for all levels
In order to appeal to as many women as possible who would like to take part in this running festival, the organizers are offering distances ranging from 500m (for the youngest girls) to 10km (across the city). The finish line for all distances is on the Bundesplatz. Well over 20,000 spectators and accompanying persons will be there to celebrate the participants and make the Women's Run what it is: "A run for women - a celebration for everyone."
