JULIEN WANDERS
Born into a family of musicians, Julien has found his rhythm as one of Europe’s most exciting road running talents.
Taking up the sport aged 15, the Swiss athlete quickly discovered a gift, making his international debut two years later at the 2013 European Cross Country Championships. In 2015 he showed his versatility, setting a national junior 5000m record (13:48.21) and placing 12th and 36th in the junior races at the World Cross and European Cross Country Championships, respectively.
Based in Kenya for much of the year, Julien gave an indication as to exciting road potential in 2017 – setting a 10km PB of 28:02 in Houilles and also recording 61:43 for fourth on his half-marathon debut in Milan. Last year the Swiss maestro made another giant leap forward, posting a national half-marathon record of 60:09 in Barcelona before finishing eighth and top European (61:03) at the World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia.
Julien ended his year with a bang, posting a European 10km record of 27:32 in Durban before trimming seven seconds from that mark in Houilles. The year 2019 started really well for Julien Wanders by breaking the European Record half marathon in RAK, running 59:13. The previous record was from Mo Farah (59:32).
Did You Know? Julien has had a long-held fascination for East African athletes and at school wrote paper on "why Kenyans are so good at distance running?" (NN Running Team)
