animiert magazin nummer14 sommer

Since last year, a very special event has been added to Engelberg’s attractions: the Fisher- man’s Friend Strongman Run, the toughest race in Switzerland, has discovered Engelberg as the perfect competition grounds, and it is here to stay. The same is true of Benji from Olten, who has registered the biggest team of the year. A huge swarm of people in fancy dress wandering merrily through the streets of Engelberg is not an unusua l sight. Not unusua l, that is, during Carniva l season in late winter. But for the f irst time last year, Engelberg loca ls obser ved this phenomenon astonishing number of strongwomen, are not interested in merely completing a 20 km race; they love to climb obstacles, wade through cold water, skid across muddy terrain and even tack le the ski jump backwards. And they do a ll this in fancy dress, either to identif y them- selves as par t of a team or simply to add an ele- ment of f un. The sight of the over 6,000 mu lti- coloured competitors is somewhat bemusing as they stand at the star ting line laughing and cheering, seemingly unaware of the incred- ibly tough cha llenges ahead of them. These include the legendar y ty re cha llenge, which sees par ticipants laboriously making their way through stacked car ty res. They a lso have to crawl through under large nets across a carpet of mud until they are covered in it beyond rec- ognition. Foam, smoke and elec tric shocks a lso feature in the event, which guarantees f un and laughs but a lso plenty of sweat and snor ting. Taking par t as a team is par ticu larly pop- u lar. Organiser Fisherman’s Friend, the popu- in the height of summer, and they will be able to do so again this year on 7 June. Par ticipants in the Fisher- man’s Friend Strongman Run, who happen to include an

lar brand of menthol lozenges whose mot to is “You’re too strong to be weak ”, came up with a specia l treat for this year’s team players: the team with the most par ticipants won a three- day stay in a holiday apar tment in Engelberg. The winning team has the telling name of 25up. Team founder Benji f rom the town of Olten signed up to the race last year to mark his 25th bir thday, and his bir thday wish was to have a team of 25. Hav ing had his wish granted, he was feeling ambitious about this year’s race and aimed to have an even bigger team than last year – 25up, so to “It was one of those typica l drunken ideas,” laughs Benji, who was himself surprised at the success of his mission. Team members include some people who at tended last year as spec ta- tors, some with spor ting ambitions, and some who were simply seduced by the group dynam- ics and agreed to embark on a new adventure. It is precisely this combination of f un and physica l cha llenge that makes the Fish- erman’s Friend Strongman Run so unique. The race, which took place for the f irst time seven years ago in Germany with around 1,600 par ticipants, now a lso takes place in the Netherlands, Belgium, Ita ly, France, Luxem- bourg, Austria, and at a second location in Germany. The Fisherman’s Friend Strongman Run is therefore probably the largest obstacle course in the world; last year it at trac ted a tota l of 40,000 runners. The event has become increasingly popu lar in Switzerland since 2010 and is a lways booked out well in advance. speak! Even though on ly two people f rom last year’s team are coming back for more, a tota l of 29 daredev il par tici- pants will be joining the now 26-year-old in this year’s race.

The combination of fun and physical challenge makes the Fisherman’s Friend Strongman Run unique.

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