Course de l'Escalade

The Course de l'Escalade is Geneva's December running event, featuring a 7.323 km main road race through the city's historic streets. Established in the late 1970s, it attracts both amateur and professional runners. Since the 1990s, it has been the largest Swiss event of its kind, with large editions exceeding 43,000 finishers. The program offers more than just one race, including walking, Nordic walking, relay formats, the longer Duc race, and FlexiMix, where participants can choose during the race to complete two or three laps. The route crosses old Geneva, passing streets and monuments linked to the city's Escalade story. Its most unique tradition is La Marmite, an unranked costume run separate from the main race categories. This emerged after runners began arriving in disguises. The costume aspect holds added significance as Geneva once limited public disguises during the solemn Escalade commemoration; the race provided a street-level space for the popular, festive interpretation of the holiday. As participation increased, organizers introduced pace blocks to maintain group flow and extended the event over two days.