How One Woman’s Act Of Defiance Created A Legendary Race
It’s 1602. The day is drawing to a close in a cold wintery Geneva, Switzerland. A silver-haired woman in her 60s is drifting off to sleep, a small dog on her lap, dozing by the dying embers of a fire.
Suddenly, a noise.
A scraping, unearthly sound. Danger. She tiptoes over to the window and with shaking hands pulls back the shutters. Down below her, the city wall.
In the moonlight, she catches the steely glint of a soldier’s blade. The Savoyards are invading, ladders pressed against the wall.
Legend goes this brave madame grabs a pot of hot stew, leftover from supper, and without a moment’s hesitation tips the contents of this cauldron (Marmite, in French) all over the invading troops below.
The alarm is raised, the city is saved and obviously, the whole experience is turned into a 5k run.
Well, not just a run. L’escalade (escalader — to climb) is an epic festival that brings the whole city together over fireworks, costumes, an explicable parade of geese through a park and of course — a race through the steep, narrow cobbled streets of the Old Town.
Taking place in December, the route is cold and slippery and taken very seriously. It attracts hundreds if not thousands.
Having lived in this wonderful city for four years, I ran it twice and would go back in a heartbeat for another round.
The course is undulating. Past the lovely Parc des Bastions with its tree-lined avenue before turning a sharp left and up a brutal hill that leads into the heart of the Old Town. Get your breath back on a long flat past the museum and into Place du Bourg-des-Fours. Normally a hub for tourists, croissants, and cocktails. Then up again, turning right into Cathedral Square. A short, sharp hill sprint later and you’re heading down, down, down over the cobbles and back to the park for the second, slightly shorter lap.
If you’re thinking ‘my knees’ — you’re not wrong.
The crowds are epic, shouting encouragement ‘Allez, hop Caroline.’ That final downhill and park finish is life-affirming. Grab a banana and your souvenir tray and head straight to the vin chaud tent for a well-earned glass of warm, spicy wine.
When running brings communities together it’s wonderful. And everyone loves L’escalade weekend.
Chocolate Marmite pots filled with candies wrapped in the yellow and red colours of the city fill the shops. Once safely home they are smashed by the oldest person in the family (and hastily eaten by the youngest ones) — with the words: Ainsi périrent les ennemis de la République! Thus the enemies of the Republic perished!
And as for the fate of Madame Royaume, the mother of the Kingdom? No one knows but her legend lives on, enhanced and retold time and again to every new generation of Swiss schoolchildren and runners.
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