Despite the fatigue and depletion of energy, three CERN runners used muscular strength and mental force to secure first place for the CERN team in the Challenge Entreprise competition of the 15th edition of the Harmony Geneva Marathon for UNICEF (12 May 2019). The CERN team, made up of Vladimir Loncar, Harry Perkins and Davide Bozzini finished the 42.2km race in a combined time of 8:58:34, a massive 27 minutes faster than the team that came in in second place (HUG). In total, twenty-three teams from regional companies and organisations took part in the Challenge Entreprise race and a record 18,300 runners took to the start lines of the various race formats on offer at the event. In order to prepare for such a race, the three CERN runners explain that they train 4 to 6 times per week, averaging between 40km to 100km. All three had already run several marathons between them.
Furthermore, 20 runners from the CERN Running Club successfully finished in one of the proposed races at this year’s Geneva Marathon event, amongst whom, CERN’s Steffen Doebert won the half marathon in the Men 50+ category.