A thrilling finish

The battle for first place was contested by the same three teams as last year. TV Oerlikon 1 held the lead at the halfway mark – 59.77 kilometres – with almost a four-minute advantage over Brownsche Spaziergänger XXS and just under five minutes ahead of team “stuetz.be & co”. By the time they reached the finish line, however, Brownsche Spaziergänger XXS were 57 seconds in front of TV Oerlikon 1. The winners were presented with the Dala horse trophy at the SOLA site on the Irchel university campus, marking their second victory in succession after triumphing in 2013.

Maximum participation – and the Rector joined in

The number of participants in the relay once again reached the maximum level, with 902 teams – each made up of 14 runners – setting out early in the morning on the 116.34-kilometre route. There were several notable university representatives amongst the 12,500 or so runners involved: Lino Guzzella, Rector of ETH Zurich, Thomas Tschümperlin, Head of the President’s Office at the University of Zurich, and Roger Meier, Head of Administration at the Zurich University of Teacher Education (PH Zurich), ran the 14th and final leg for their respective teams.

The starting line-up also included two members of the Government Council of the Canton of Zurich, Martin Graf (Head of the Department of Justice and Home Affairs) and Thomas Heiniger (Head of the Department of Health).

The event proved a success for the organisers, passing off without any major incidents. Due to the high demand, the management team is considering increasing the maximum number of participants for the 42nd SOLA relay race, which is due to be held on 9 May 2015.

Keeping the environment in mind

The SOLA relay race is a sustainable event: since 2010, each team has paid a five-franc climate levy, with the total amount then being matched by the Academic Sports Association Zurich (ASVZ). The 2014 race thus raised an additional 9,000 Swiss francs to help fund the solar thermal plant at the Fluntern sports centre, which has already been put in place with start-up financing from the Solarspar cooperative.