Capvis crew ready for Athens adventure

 Swiss buyout leaders Capvis were among the first private equity firms to fully throw their weight behind the Marathon of Marathons.  In February, the firm entered a team of five runners. Serious training commenced in March. 

Since then team members Daniel Flaig, Torsten Klapproth (of Capvis portfolio company WMF), Reto Kreienbühl, Andreas Simon and Eric Trüeb have been leaving little to chance in their preparations for Athens.

Led by in-house endurance master Kreienbühl, who only recently completed the merciless Inferno Triathlon in the Swiss mountains, the five men started a running programme that required them to average some 40 kilometres on the tarmac each week. During the summer, they also underwent a performance test at the Swiss Olympic Medical Centre in Zurich, to make sure their bodies would be ready for the coming challenge, and to get advice on how to optimise their preparations.

We want to finish the race in style. Daniel Flaig

On the fundraising side, the Capvis Five have been equally focused on success. Determined to reach and hopefully exceed their €50,000 fundraising target, they started by holding an auction to sell advertising space on their MoM running shirts; Ernst & Young, Latham & Watkins and Baker & McKenzie were  the highest bidders, and a whopping €24,000 was raised on the night. Next up was a mailing to friends and investors, and of course the firm itself will be giving money also. Overall, therefore, the fundraising part of the Athens adventure looks well under control.

Remains the small matter of running a marathon on 31 October. Partner Daniel Flaig is optimistic, and describes the partners’ ambitions for Athens thus: “We want to finish the race in style.”

As one of four Marathon novices on the team, Flaig’s aim is to come through in 3:59 hours. “Anything under four hours will be great.” 

Ironman Kreienbühl on the other hand will seek to be a little faster: his mark to beat is 3:00 hours.