The Gondo Marathon celebrates its 20th edition this year. For the anniversary, the finish line will be moved to the town square in Brig on Saturday. In addition, a relay race will be offered, in which the team members themselves decide how to split the distance.
Finish on Saturday on the town square in Brig
After the Gondo Marathon was shortened to one day last year due to corona, it will take place again this year on 6 and 7 August as the usual double marathon. On Saturday, as always, the start will be in Gondo, but for once the finish will not be in Ried-Brig but on Sebastian Square in Brig. For the anniversary, after crossing the Saltina Gorge, the runners will run to Brig and through the Stockalperhof, where they will be welcomed in the middle of the town. The town square will be transformed into a small festival area on this day.
This closes the circle. After the storm in Gondo, Roland Squaratti, then mayor of Brig, and Sepp Schnyder, a long-distance runner, came up with the Gondo Marathon together on the town square during a fund-raising campaign for the stricken Gondo. Since then, the Gondo Marathon has always taken place on the first weekend in August.
A special kind of relay
To mark the anniversary, the Gondo Marathon OC has come up with a special offer for runners. For the first time, a relay race for two or three runners will be offered, in which the team members themselves decide how to divide up the distance. The only rule is that the "staff handover" must take place at a refreshment post.
For example, the first runner can run from Gondo to Simplon-Dorf, hand over to the colleague who runs up to the Simplon Pass, where the third runner takes over and covers the distance over the Bistinen Pass before handing over to the first runner again in Schratt. On the second day, another team member might start first and hand over the baton in Rothwald, and so on. This is also intended to appeal to runners who are not confident enough to run the whole distance alone.
Popular "Running" on Sunday
On Sunday, the Gondo Running (28 km), the Gondo Plausch (28 km) and the Kids' Run are traditionally on the programme. The Gondo Running, which starts in Ried-Brig and leads along the Stockalperweg to Gondo, is part of the Oberwalliser Laufcup of the Oberwallis running association. So is the Kids Run, which takes place on Sunday afternoon in Gondo. In addition, the Gondo Marathon is also part of the "Lonza makes you fit" programme this year. The OC hopes to welcome a particularly large number of runners in Gondo and Ried-Brig for the anniversary run.
