An almost extraterrestrial Challenge is over, and there are no words that could describe this incredible race. For the organizing team, it was the most enjoyable triathlon festival that we have ever had here in Roth. And it seems that the Challenge fever has not only broken out in Roth, but also among athletes around the world. Words cannot express how happy we are about this overwhelming response!
Emotions were running high. Chrissie Wellington’s new fantastic world record, Rasmus Henning’s unbelievably fast race-winning time and all the other extraordinary performances turned this Challenge into a superlative race. And at the same time it was a huge family festival that thousands of people - members of the organizing team, athletes, volunteers, sponsors and of course more than 150,000 spectators - celebrated together full of passion and enthusiasm. The Challenge Family is alive!
As the race director, I am especially glad and thankful that there were no serious accidents and that everything went well and without any trouble on race day. The new allocation of start groups also turned out to be a positive innovation. The fact that we had 18 instead of 12 start groups helped to make the race even fairer and more relaxed than before. There was far less drafting on the race course and all athletes were able to benefit from improved race conditions. The new hot spots along the run course at the Roth market place and at Kugelbühlplatz were also a big success, both with the athletes and the spectators. We are definitely going to have these hot spots again in the next few years, since they added another highlight to the Challenge Roth event.
The only thing that is left for me to do now is to express my heartfelt thanks. Thanks to the athletes from all over the world who have favoured us and who have turned the Challenge Roth into the number one race. Thanks to the more than 4,000 volunteers, since this event would not be possible without their fantastic work and commitment. We love you!
Thanks and thanks again to our race managers who helped to ensure a fair competition, to our organizing team for countless working hours, thanks to the media for their excellent coverage. Many thanks also to the city and county authorities and to our sponsors who do not only support the Challenge event with money and payment in kind, but also put their heart into the event. Where would we be without you!
Next year we are going to celebrate our 10th anniversary and hope that all of you will again be part of the eent. We promise that we will come up with some special highlights and will continue our efforts to organize not only the biggest, but also the most enjoyable triathlon festival in the world for all of you!
Of course, we would also be pleased to welcome you at one of our upcoming Challenge series events, for example the Challenge Copenhagen on August 15, Challenge Walchsee-Kaiserwinkl on September 5 or Challenge Barcelona-Maresme on October 3.
We are triathlon!
Kind regards,
Felix Walchshöfer
and all members of TEAMChallenge
