Just under six months before the 36th Powerman Zofingen and the 2025 Duathlon Long Distance World Championships, preparations are in full swing. At the ordinary general meeting of the Powerman Zofingen association, it became clear that much has already been prepared and organized. In addition to the Charity Bike Tour and the Powerkids races, there will be a new 5-kilometer run called “Zofingen5000” on the Powerman Saturday. However, the organizers’ focus remains on the long-distance duathlon on Sunday.
Around 30 OC members met last Wednesday evening for the regular general meeting of the Powerman Zofingen association, which this time took place at the Hotel Zofingen. OC President Stefan Ruf first took stock of last year’s anniversary edition. The 35th Powerman Zofingen was characterized by the redesign of the graphic appearance (corporate identity). “This has been achieved with a new shape and color scheme in red and blue and the stronger reference to Switzerland with the insertion of the Swiss cross,” explained Stefan Ruf. The number of participants continued to rise, which led to higher income from entry fees. The World Championship races on Sunday also received the best rating from the World Triathlon Association for several years. This is thanks to the successful work of race director Stefan Zinniker and his team. The Saturday races were less successful. It was therefore decided to adapt the Saturday programme and, in addition to the PowerKids Duathlon, to organize a new race this year under the title “Zofingen5000 – the fastest 5 km in the Mittelland”.
Greater media reach and financial loss
An increase was also achieved in media reach in 2024. The highlight clip from the decision in the women’s world championship race, when Merle Brunée overtook Melanie Maurer on the bike course, was viewed 70,000 times on social media. With 67,000 viewers, the live TV program on S1 and Tele M1 had 40 percent more coverage than in the previous year. After the considerable financial loss in the previous year, the aim was to achieve a balanced account for the 35th anniversary edition. Despite significant improvements, this target was not met. “As a result of some avoidable planning errors, the year ended with a loss of over 9,000 francs,” said OC President Stefan Ruf at the General Assembly. Due to the advanced stage of planning, it looks good that the next event will break even.
Another four-member Executive Board
The General Assembly unanimously elected the Board of the Powerman Zofingen Association. The board now consists of four members again, as race director Stefan Zinniker has joined the board and the existing board members Stefan Ruf, Priska Zinniker and Fred Hobi have been added. Seven resignations were announced from the association. Among them is Raphael Galliker, who is leaving the Powerman OC after 20 years in the marketing and media sector. Last year’s head of construction Dominik Zehnder, financial accountant Andy Wermuth and Remy Lienhard, who has been a motorcyclist for 25 years, were also honored and bid farewell. Five new employees joined the company. Other people who would like to help organize the long-distance duathlon world championships in Zofingen on September 7, 2025 are very welcome to join the OC.
Text and photo: Christof Gerber
Board of the Powerman Zofingen Association (from left: Stefan Zinniker (new), Stefan Ruf (President, current), Priska Zinniker (current) and Fred Hobi (current)).