General rules and regulations

Course de l’Escalade 2023

The present Regulations apply to the foot races in the Old Town of Geneva, including the Marmite and the Walking event, as well as the 4 joint training sessions (hereinafter and in the absence of specific reference to a particular event, collectively referred to as “the Race”). Registration and participation in any of these events, as well as in any of the various joint training sessions, implies express acceptance by each participant of the present Regulations published prior to the Race on escalade.ch (“Participate” section).
The Regulations for the Course du Duc are set out in a separate document.

Organization

The Course de l’Escalade is organized by the association of the same name. The 45th edition will take place on Saturday December 2 and Sunday December 3, 2023.

Registrations

Registration for all events is open from September 13 to November 13, 2023.

The parent-child race is open to children born in 2018 or 2019. Only one accompanying person aged 18 or over must run with the child, wearing an “Accompanying” bib.

The Walking event is open to adults and children born in 2013 or earlier.

The relay is open to participants born in 2009 or earlier, and is made up of runners of the same sex or mixed.

Junior races are open to participants born in 2004 and 2005.

The Duke’s Race is open to participants born in 2005 and earlier. For safety reasons, participants must certify that they can run at a minimum average speed of 10km/h over 20.5km. The codes for free entry to the Course de l’Escalade 2023, received in particular on presentation of a medical certificate in 2022, are not valid for entry to the Course du Duc (but only for the other race categories).

The other events, including the Marmite, are open to adults and children born in 2019 or earlier.

Anyone not currently suspended for doping by WA may enter. The organizer reserves the right to exclude any participant with a history of cheating. Entries are personal, firm and final, and cannot be reimbursed for any reason whatsoever. No transfer of registration is permitted for any reason whatsoever. No entry fee will be refunded if the Race cannot be organized or only partially organized. In this case, the Course de l’Escalade will pay the registration fees, less any costs already incurred, to the Fondation de la Course de l’Escalade. Participants must register for each start in which they wish to take part, and use the number corresponding to that start.

Participants must register for the event of their choice, respecting the constraints of dates of birth and gender. The strict criteria for participation in the Escaladélite are set out below. Participants who do not meet these criteria are free to enter the event of their choice.

The Escaladelite race will take place on the traditional 3-lap course (7.323 km) for men and women. In this race, the International Elite start, i.e. top-level international, national and regional athletes invited by the organizer.
Other confirmed runners, from Juniors onwards, also take part in this race, under the following conditions:

1. Male athletes, born between 1984 and 2003 inclusive (cat. Men I and II), with a performance in 2022 of less than:
   – either, over 2 laps, a performance of less than 17 minutes 45 seconds
   – or, over 3 laps, a performance of less than 27 minutes
   must register in the Escaladélite category.
   
2. Female athletes, born between 1984 and 2003 inclusive (cat. Women I and II), having achieved in 2022 :
   – either, over 2 laps, a performance of less than 21 minutes
   – or, over 3 laps, a performance of less than 32 minutes
   must register for the Escaladélite race.
   
3. Male athletes who run in 2022 or 2021 :
   – a time of less than 19 minutes 45 seconds over 2 laps
   – or a time of less than 30 minutes over 3 laps, without however having reached the limit mentioned in paragraph 1. above, may take part in the Escaladélite race, and the organizer will encourage them to do so. They may, however, choose to take part in another category.
   
4. Female athletes who run in 2022 or 2021 :
   – a time of less than 23 minutes over 2 laps
   – or a time of less than 35 minutes over 3 laps, without however having reached the limit mentioned in paragraph 2. above, may take part in the Escaladelite race, and the organizer will encourage them to do so. They may, however, choose to take part in another category.

Athletes who do not have a history in 2022 or 2021 but can prove they have run in a recent official race over a similar or longer distance, at an average speed of at least 15km/h for men and 12.5km/h for women, may register for the Escaladélite, but must send proof to the secretary’s office before registration closes at inscription2@escalade.ch. Failure to do so will result in registration in the pace blocks.

Participants who do not have a performance certificate justifying their pace and who do not have a reference time in 2022 are admitted to the Escaladélite under the following conditions:

Participants who fail to meet any of the above conditions will automatically be moved to their respective scheduled races as soon as registration closes, with no right of appeal.

Bibs

Numbers are issued on presentation of proof of identity, at the places and times indicated on escalade.ch. Anyone registering via Datasport or on our premises must present either the online confirmation received when they registered, or the receipt given to them. Race numbers will not be issued without proof of identity. Competitors who have not collected their number envelope at least 1 hour before the start of their race will not be admitted to the start. The entry fee will not be refunded. No participant will be admitted to the start of the race without a race number. It must be visibly attached to the chest and not folded. Runners registered in a group are asked to contact the group leader to coordinate the collection of race numbers.

For relay races and parent-child races, two sets of race numbers will be distributed at the Escaladexpo location indicated. The batch of race numbers is distributed in one go.

Warm-ups

To ensure the smooth running of the various races, warm-ups are absolutely forbidden on the entire race course. Exceptions to this rule are participants in the Écolier(ère) A, Cadet(te)s, Junior(e)s and high-level Escaladélite races, whose race number is marked with a specific sticker (criteria for obtaining this sticker can be found here: these runners are authorized to warm up on Rue de la Croix-Rouge for the first 150 m of the course, before the start. The organizer may also exceptionally authorize an athlete to benefit from these special conditions for special reasons. In addition, on request to contact@escalade.ch by November 24, a special sticker will be granted to an athlete in the Schoolboy A / Cadet / Junior / Escaldelite category, who does not have a chronometric reference on the Escalade course, but who can prove a podium finish (place 1, 2 or 3) in a race forming part of the national track and field, 10 km, half-marathon or marathon cross-country championships during the current year.

Departures and arrivals (Walking not included)

The start of all races is at the beginning of Rue de la Croix-Rouge, on the Place Neuve side. Participants are advised to get there early. From the Promenade des Bastions, we recommend taking the various footbridges inside the park.

The starting area is divided into several sectors, according to age (for youngsters) or time value (for adults); each participant is urged to place himself in the sector that conforms to these criteria. The organizer appeals to everyone’s sportsmanship to ensure that these instructions are scrupulously respected, so as to ensure a smooth start, especially as each competitor will be able to check his or her net time on the timing mat installed at the start line.

For all races, access to the start area is only possible from Place Neuve, at the bottom of Rue de la Croix-Rouge. Please note that the start area from Place Neuve to the bottom of Rue de la Croix-Rouge is reserved exclusively for participants, and is off-limits to the general public. Special arrangements have been made for certain races:

“Parents and children” race:

The race starts at the beginning of Rue de la Croix-Rouge and finishes on Promenade des Bastions. Parents and children move into the start area as they arrive. To ensure the safety of participants, the first race will start at 9.30 am, and the second at 9.40 am. Only pairs with the same bib number may start. Duos must run side by side throughout the race.

Poussin(e)s and Ecolier(e)s :

Start: The start area will be marked out by vaubans with gantries, where volunteers from our organization will take charge of the children. These volunteers will accompany them to their starting area. Finish: Children’s Village – parent-child reunion for Poussin(e)s and Ecolier(e)s. Parents and carers can meet their children after the race at the Children’s Village on the upper right-hand side of the Promenade des Bastions at “La Crypte”, on the Rue De-Candolle side. To avoid crowding, we ask that only one parent (or accompanying adult) pick up their child. If, despite all precautions, a child should get lost, he or she will surely have been taken in charge by the ladies of the “Chaperon Rouge” and brought to their reception tent located near the Children’s Village. All details concerning the children can be found in the “Guidelines for Parents”, available in self-service and published on the Internet. We strongly recommend that parents or carers explain these guidelines to their children, and that they reconnoitre the area together before the race, noting their cell phone number on the back of the child’s bib.

Cadet events, block races, Junior races, Escaladélite and FlexiMix races, Marmite, Course du Duc:

Each participant must respect the day and time of the race chosen at registration and, if applicable, the block allocated, or incurs disqualification.

Relay set-up:

The start of the relay race is located at the beginning of Rue de la Croix-Rouge and the finish on Promenade des Bastions. A transition zone is located at the top of the Parc des Bastions. Participants agree to respect the set-up, in particular the relay transmission procedures. The number of relays is set at 300. Participants will be lent a chip baton, which they must return at the end of the race. In the event of non-return, the Race reserves the right to claim compensation of 40CHF from the participant who has not paid for the equipment.

Sunday FlexiMix set-up:

Participants start this race and choose before or during their run to run 1, 2 or 3 laps. A signpost is present at the junction of the segment indicating the final sprint to the finish to facilitate the switchover. Runners wishing to finish after 1 or 2 laps are asked on the Place Neuve to keep to the right, those wishing to continue to the left of the course.

Arrivals Walking

Walking is neutralized on Saturday December 2 at 9:30pm.

Timing

Timing is ensured by an electronic chip, in the form of 2 strips, integrated into the race number, which must under no circumstances be removed from the number or damaged. Timing mats are placed at the start, as well as for the Walking and the Course du Duc, on the course and at the finish. These mats are used to detect any participant who does not follow the official course and is therefore not classified.

Routes

Respecting the course

For reasons of safety and fairness to other competitors, all participants must follow the official course. In the event of non-compliance, the organizer will disqualify the competitor.

Prohibitions and tolerances on the course

Bicycles, wheeled or motorized vehicles other than those belonging to the organizers, and dogs are prohibited on the course for all races (Walking and Course du Duc included). The use of Nordic walking poles on the course is forbidden for safety reasons; in this respect, the organizer reserves the right to take them and return them to their owner only at the end of the walking.

For the Walking and Marmite events only, wheelchairs (motorized or otherwise) and schooners for people with disabilities are permitted, provided they start at the back of the pack and do not interfere with other participants.
For the Marmite only, baby carriages are permitted.

Disqualification

Climbing: for reasons of sporting fairness and safety, the organizer reserves the right to disqualify participants who are too slow at the end of the first lap (for men: 1st lap 10 minutes, 2nd lap 20 minutes – for women: 1st lap 13 minutes 30, 2nd lap 27 minutes).

Walking: walkers who fail to pass certain predefined points before the specified time (details on escalade.ch) will be overtaken by the broom wagon and have the choice of either boarding the latter, or continuing the course unsupervised and under their own responsibility. In the latter case, they must remove their number.

Course du Duc: Participants must certify that they can run at an average speed of at least 10km/h. As the race time cannot be exceeded under any circumstances, the following intermediate times must be respected: 21:23 at the 1st feed station (Ferme des 4 saisons – 4.4 km), 22:10 at the 2nd feed station (Route de Veyrier 265 – 12 km) and 22:30 at the Centre sportif de Vessy (15 km). Runners exceeding these limits will have to leave the race and will be able to reach the finish via the broom wagon; otherwise, they will run under their own responsibility.

Rankings and special prizes

The rankings for children from Poussin(e)s to Junior(e)s in the Course de l’Escalade, and for participants in the Escaladélite races, are established on the basis of gross time, i.e. the time elapsed between firing the pistol and crossing the finish line. The rankings for races 1, 2, 3 and 4, on the other hand, are based on net time, i.e. the time elapsed between crossing the timing mat at the start line and the finish line.

Prizes will be awarded to the best runners in each category: the winners will be notified by SMS if they have signed up for the free “SMS Service”, and are requested to be at the Escaladexpo podium on the day to receive their prize. Attendance is mandatory and no prizes will be sent by post.

The “FlexiMix” race, the “Parents & Kids” race, the “Marmite” race and the Walking race are non-competitive events; consequently, the rankings, based on net time, are established in alphabetical order only, with an indication of the chronometric result, and no prize-giving is foreseen for these races.

For the relays, 3 rankings will be established on the basis of net time: one for men’s relays, one for women’s relays and one for mixed relays. Special prizes will be awarded to the top 3 relay runners in each of the above categories. Those concerned will be notified by SMS, if they have registered for the free “SMS Service”, and are requested to be at the Escaladexpo podium on the day to receive their prize. Attendance is mandatory and no prizes will be sent by post.

For categories with fewer than 30 entries, only the first 3 will be rewarded.

For categories from Poussin(e)s to Junior(e)s, the first 10 will be rewarded, for adult categories, the first 5 will be rewarded.

The winner of the Duke’s Run will be the runner who crosses the finish line first. The first ten runners will be ranked in order of crossing the finish line. This rule applies to all runners who start in the first block, whose ranking will be established on the basis of the time elapsed between the pistol shot and the crossing of the finish line (gross time).

For runners who have started in the second block, the classification will be based on the net time, i.e. the time between the runner’s passage over the starting mat and the finish line. In the event that a runner in the second block (and subsequent blocks) achieves a time lower than that of the first 10 runners in the first block, his or her ranking will be no better than 11th.

The top 10 men and top 10 women in the Course du Duc will be rewarded on Saturday evening after the race, on the podium at Escaladexpo. The top 3 runners in each age category will be able to collect their prizes from the podium under Escaladexpo. Participants in the Course du Duc are not included in the inter-company, inter-school or inter-family rankings.

Souvenir Prize

Each participant who completes his or her race will receive a souvenir prize on presentation of the race number. Only those who have completed their race will receive the souvenir prize just after the finish line. Under no circumstances will payment of the registration fee entitle the participant to the souvenir prize. If the participant has taken part in and completed 2 events, then at the end of each of them, he or she will receive a souvenir prize.

In particular, each participant in the relay will receive a souvenir prize at the finish. However, for the “Parents-Children” race, only the child will receive the souvenir prize, with the parent accompanying the child.

Costumes

Disguises are part of the Marmite and welcome. However, in view of the streetcar and trolleybus cables, and the height of the footbridges (3m), no bulky objects may be transported, under penalty of disqualification from the race. In addition, to ensure the safety of runners and spectators, the Organizing Committee reserves the right to prohibit the start of any disguises that could represent a danger. In any event, any competitor who causes an accident as a result of his or her disguise will be held solely responsible..

Lockers

A locker service is available under the tent set up for this purpose in the Parc des Bastions. Only one bag per participant will be accepted. This service is subject to availability. Although the site is supervised, the organizer cannot accept responsibility for loss, theft or damage. Please note that the lockers provided for the deposit of bags are operated with a 2.- or 5.- coin, which acts as a deposit (when you collect your bags, you also collect the coin).

Bags transportation

Walking: Walkers can drop off their bag free of charge in the bus-balais in Veyrier. The bag can then be collected from the Parc des Bastions after the finish.

Course du Duc: Buses will transport runners’ bags free of charge from Reignier to Geneva. Bags can be deposited in the buses parked near the start line, following the instructions given. In Geneva, runners will be able to collect their bags from the TPG bus bearing the number of the bus in which the runner has previously deposited his or her bag. The number of the bus assigned for bag drop-off will be printed on the race number. Buses will be parked on rue de la Croix-Rouge.

Medical certificate

Participants whose residence place is in Switzerland don’t need to present a medical certificat of no contraindication to running.

According to the current French law, runners who live outside of Switzerland (whose legal address is not in Switzerland) will have to present a valide and genuine medical certificate of no contraindication to running in competition issued after December, 1 2022. This document has to be upload when registering, but at the leatest on November, 17 2023, on Datasport MyDS account, under “Documents”. Or, the following documents might also be uploaded : Athlé Competition licence, Athlé Santé Loisir option Running licence or a Running Pass from the Frenc Federation of Athleticism, a licence issued from the FSCF, the FSGT or the UFOLEP. In thise cas, the mention of contraindication to practicing athletics or to running in competition must be present on the licence card. No other document can be accepted following L. 231-3 of Sports Code. The organizer can not be responsible for the consequences direct or not following the use of a false medical certificate.

Non-participation

For participants who so wish, a “cancellation” insurance policy is available for purchase via Datasport at the time of online registration. If cancellation insurance has not been taken out and the participant can provide proof, with a medical certificate, that he/she is not fit for sport on the day on which his/her race was scheduled, then a voucher for a free entry to the Course de l’Escalade valid for the following year will be sent to him/her. Contact inscription1@escalade.ch for this request.

Participant commitments

Participants undertake to comply scrupulously with the safety instructions issued by the Police, Civil Protection agents, security guards, doctors, Samaritans, volunteers or any other authority or person connected with the organization of the Race. They must also respect the direction of traffic on the footbridges and any other formal signs. Participants are expected to show respect for each other, the public and all members of the organization. If they are overtaken on the course, they are sportingly invited to run on the right-hand side of the road to facilitate overtaking by other competitors. Finally, participants are asked to adopt an environmentally-friendly attitude, in particular by sorting their garbage.

Doping

In the case of doping, Swiss Olympics regulations apply and tests may be carried out. For further information, visit www.antidoping.ch.

Litigation

All disputes are finally settled by a jury of appeal chaired by Jerry Maspoli, Course de l’Escalade president. The decision taken is not subject to challenge or appeal.

Liability, accident and theft insurance

Competitors take part in the Race at their own and exclusive risk. The organizer declines all responsibility for any damage (accident, damage, theft, loss, etc.) both during the weekend of the event and during the various joint training sessions. All participants, regardless of their place of residence, must be personally insured for sickness, accident and third-party liability.

Privacy policy

By registering for the Race, the competitor authorizes the publication of his/her surname, first name, year of birth, place of residence (but not his/her full address), race number, race time and ranking in the registration and results lists. This authorization extends to the publication of this information in the written and electronic media, as well as for the sound broadcast made by the race speakers. This authorization also applies to competitors entered by third parties. Photographs and films taken during the event may be used for print and electronic media, as well as for our own promotional material or books. They do not entitle to any compensation. However, the organizer will not pass on the participants’ files for commercial purposes.
For further details on the subject of data protection, please refer to the “General policy and declaration on data protection” published on our website www.escalade.ch, as well as that of our service provider Datasport, which can be viewed at https://www.datasport.com/fr/declaration-de-confidentialite/. The Run de l’Escalade runners’ database is registered with the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).

Communication

By registering, the participant authorizes or not the Race to send him newsletters, in connection with the Race; if he accepts, he has the right thereafter to unsubscribe by clicking at the bottom of the newsletter on the link provided for this purpose.

When registering, participants will also be explicitly asked whether they wish to have access to their photos and the video of their race published online. In the case of the photo service, if the participant answers in the negative and changes his/her mind, a request must be sent by December 20, 2023 to images@escalade.ch. After this date, the photos can no longer be activated. With regard to the video, the participant may change his/her mind until Friday December 1 if he/she decides to accept this service. After this date, videos can no longer be produced.

Registration limits

For the Course du Duc, the number of registrations is limited to 7,500 on a “first come, first served” basis. People registered on the group platform, even if the group has not yet been validated, are included in the count.

For other races, there is no numerus clausus. In the event of restrictions imposed by public authorities or external causes, priority will be given to the first to register.

Update 12.09.2023