Respected and applauded

They are respected and applauded as soon as they enter the finishing straight: meant are those participants of the WMOC who are 70 years old and older. Born in the 1920s or 1930s lots of runners are in top form, many have well-trained calves and show the quantum of ambition that is indispensable. Sprint world champion in the class of highest age M90 is Walter Brauchli.

The Swiss who was born in 1922 was quite satisfied with the race for which he needed 21 minutes for 10 controls on 1.6 km: “Some controls were difficult, twice you needed extreme concentration and the distance between controls seven and eight was very long” he explained and stressed the point: “At sprint distance there is no room for mistakes. Luckily I managed to avoid them yesterday and today as well.” Content he was not least “because the rain stopped falling in time for my start” he told us smiling. And he was fascinated by the fact that he run nearly the same time both in the sprint qualification and the final race.

Twice the same time, no bad mistakes, the former placement confirmed – all that shows Brauchli’s mental and physical freshness. But there is one additional point: It is astonishing how he was able to give an interview directly after passing the finish line, quite competently and not at all out of breath…