Fisherman's Friend StrongmanRun: The fun is in the foreground

FISHERMAN'S FRIEND StrongmanRun Winter Edition with the extra strong DownhillRun premiere in Villars-sur-Ollon.

Around 1200 participants took up the challenge of the FISHERMAN'S FRIEND StrongmanRun Winter Edition 2018 and started on Saturday, January 27 for the 1st downhill obstacle run in Switzerland in Villars-sur-Ollon (VD).

Before the hardy participants could tackle the approximately 15 kilometers (+443/ -1088 vertical meters), they were transported in small gondolas to the Roc d'Orsay. Once on the mountain, the race got underway straight away: instead of the usual mass start, the 1200 or so runners began their course directly out of the gondola and started first on the downhill section of the course, which was around 6 kilometers (-600 meters in altitude) long and led to Villars-sur-Ollon. On their course, the runners of the FISHERMAN'S FRIEND StrongmanRun Winter Edition crossed numerous, natural snow obstacles, ran through a slalom, even crawled under a PistenBully and experienced energy-sapping climbing and sliding sections.
As if the 25 obstacles and the snow and ice weren't enough, most of the participants were also dressed up in elaborate costumes. Whether as Viking people, as "Finding Walter Crew", as a herd of cows or as hula girls, on Saturday countless exotics were to be found in the tranquil winter sports resort. Time and rank were secondary matters - reaching the goal was the top priority! The mixture of fun and sporting challenge is also what makes the FISHERMAN'S FRIEND StrongmanRun so unique.

At the subsequent recovery party at the Centre des Sports, the 2018 finishers were able to recharge their batteries and celebrate in style. At the after parties in the Moonboot Lounge and El Gringo, people danced until the early hours of the morning, until even the strongest "Strong(wo)men" ran out of energy.

The EXTRA STRONG winners
Joël Meier (Switzerland / 1h 19min 19s) and Barbara Jurt (Switzerland / 1h 29min 17s) completed the downhill obstacle course the fastest and won a wooden sled as a trophy instead of a trophy in keeping with the winter.
Mats Fanger (Switzerland / 1h 20min 53s) and Jérôme Epiney (Switzerland / 1h 23min 09s) secured second and third place in the men's race. Marie Bron (Switzerland / 1h 43min 46s) and Pauline Le Brizoual (France / 1h 50min 00s) made it to the podium in the women's category. All other participants who completed this year's Winter Edition in full were able to win glory and honor in addition to the finisher medal.

Balance and outlook of the organizer
The organizer invents.ch, which organizes the popular summer and winter obstacle courses in Switzerland on behalf of FISHERMAN'S FRIEND, draws a positive balance. Despite the current weather situation in the region, the Winter Edition 2018 was at no time in danger. Fortunately, because the premiere of the 1st downhill obstacle course in Switzerland was very well received by the participants. In particular, invents.ch would like to highlight the good cooperation with the hosts and local partners. Next up is the FISHERMAN'S FRIEND StrongmanRun Summer Edition on June 2 in Engelberg. The organizer will also come up with something innovative for the upcoming editions in order to remain a frontrunner in the field of obstacle runs.

General information
FISHERMAN'S FRIEND StrongmanRun - The Original What began in 2007 with 1,600 participants on a military training ground in Münster, Germany, not only laid the foundation for the "obstacle course" category, but has since become the strongest, largest and most fascinating running event of its kind. Last year, a total of over 50,000 runners were mobilized. As in all venues, the FISHERMAN'S FRIEND StrongmanRun has become a cult event in this country as well. In Switzerland, the FISHERMAN'S FRIEND StrongmanRun became known through the successful summer editions in Engelberg (since 2013) and Thun (2010-2012). Since January 2016, an annual FISHERMAN'S FRIEND StrongmanRun has been held as a winter obstacle course (Winter Edition) in Villars-sur-Ollon (VD). There are around 13 FISHERMAN'S FRIEND StrongmanRun events in Europe.