The Biel Running Days (german: Bieler Lauftage; french: Courses de Bienne) takes place in June in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Various long-distance track events are involved. The most well known of these is the 100 km Ultra marathon which began in 1959 and is one of the biggest and oldest of its kind (only a 1x100 km loop). You can do the run alone, as a couple or in a Team of 5. The Ultra marathon is also a part of the

European Ultramarathon Cup The European Ultramarathon Cup, was an annual cup event covering some of the biggest Ultramarathon races in Europe from 1992 until 2019. League For a league score, for each runner the three best races during a calendar year were scored. The wei ...

. Along with the 100 km Ultra marathon there are a night marathon and a half marathon taking place.

Route

The start for all distances is at the “Kongresshaus” in Biel/Bienne. The 100 km run starts on Friday night at 10pm and the marathon and half marathon at 10.30pm. The route takes the participants through the cities and towns of Biel/Bienne,

Nidau Nidau is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Nidau is first mentioned in 1196 as ''Nidowe''. In 1352, it was recorded in Latin as ''Nydow''. The remains of a number of sti ...

Port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

, Bellmund, Jens and

Kappelen Kappelen (french: Chapelle) is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Kappelen is first mentioned in 1228 as ''Capella''. The Roman road between Aventicum and Petinesca ran along t ...

to Aarberg, a medieval town made more special by the atmosphere created by the thousands of spectators. It is in Aarberg where the half marathon runners cross the finish line. After it is onto

Lyss Lyss () is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2011, the former municipality of Busswil bei Büren was merged with Lyss.Grossaffoltern Grossaffoltern is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is known for its stork colony. History Grossaffoltern is first mentioned in 1216 as ''Affoltron''. The oldest evidence of hu ...

and Scheunenberg then through to the Limpach Valley to

Balm bei Messen Balm bei Messen was a municipality in the district of Bucheggberg in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Balm bei Messen, Brunnenthal and Oberramsern merged into the municipality of Messen. Histor ...

and

Oberramsern Oberramsern was a municipality in the district of Bucheggberg in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010, the municipalities of Balm bei Messen, Brunnenthal and Oberramsern merged into the municipality of Messen. History Obe ...

which brings the race to kilometre 39. Here in Oberramsern is the finish line for the night marathon. The night marathon route is the same as the 100 km except that the runners have done an additional loop through Biel/Bienne. The 100 km runners start to head South now to

Mülchi Mülchi is a former municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Mülchi, Büren zum Hof, Etzelkofen, Grafenried, Limpach, Schalunen and Zau ...

, Etzelkofen and

Jegenstorf Jegenstorf is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the former municipality of Ballmoos merged into Jegenstorf and on 1 January 2014 Münchringen and Scheunen mer ...

where they will soon hit the 50 km mark. They continue onto

Kernenried Kernenried is a municipality in the administrative district of Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Kernenried was first mentioned around 1261-63 as ''Reide'', in 1318 it was mentioned as ''Kerrenriet''. The earliest trace of ...

and Kirchberg. Then it is time for the runners and their bike support to separate for 10 km as they bumpy track on the

Emme Emme may refer to: People: * Ivan Fyodorovich Emme (1763–1839), Russian lieutenant general in the Napoleonic Wars * Otto J. Emme, American politician and World War I veteran * Emme Gerhard (1872–1946), American photographer * Emme Rylan, Am ...

river begins. This part of the route has been nicknamed the Ho Chi Minh trail by previous participants. When the fastest runners reach here it is still dark out and due to branches and big stones on the path most runners will have a head lamp to help them. Just before

Gerlafingen Gerlafingen is a municipality in the district of Wasseramt in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. History Gerlafingen is first mentioned in 1278 as ''Nidergerolvingen''. Geography Gerlafingen has an area, , of . Of this area, or 9.7% is u ...

the narrow path ends and the bike supporters can rejoin their runner. Over

Biberist Biberist is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Wasseramt (district), Wasseramt in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Solothurn (canton), Solothurn in Switzerland. History Biberist is first mentioned in 762 as ''Bi ...

, Lüterkofen-Ichertswil and Bibern the run continues to

Arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

and the Aare river. The route then follows the Aare approximately 10 km past Büren. The last kilometres go past Brügg direction Biel/Bienne until the finish line in the city of Biel. Last possible finish time is Saturday at 7pm, 21 hours after the start.

Statistics

100 km Records

* Men: 6:37:59 Peter Camenzind ( SUI) 1996 * Women 7:37:39 Birgit Lennartz ( GER) 1997 All results since 1959: arrs.run''Bieler Lauftage 100 km'' auf arrs.run
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Fastest times 2017

* Men: 7:28.41,3 Rolf Thallinger ( SUI) * Women 8:27.44,0 Poltéra Ornella ( SUI)

References

External links