For the fourth time already Challenge Roth started with probably the biggest party in the entire county. The Marktplatz in Roth was filled to the brim and everyone was in party spirit for the worldwide biggest long distance triathlon event. BAYERN3 was right there.

 

 

The radio broadcasters did not only put everyone in a good mood but are participating in the triathlon themselves. Sport editor Bernd-Uwe Gutknecht is an enthusiastic triathlete and knows a lot about swimming, biking and running. No wonder that he’s a swimmer in one of the two relay teams of the radio station. He introduced his teammates to the audience on the Marktplatz. Verena Bentele, born blind, won a total of 12 gold medals in biathlon at Paralympic Winter Games and will be responsible for the bike part in the relay, together with her pilot Alex Heim. Radio host Jürgen Törkott will then run the marathon at the end. The second relay team consists of radio hosts Christine Rose and Bernhard “Fleischi” Fleischmann and the 2009 and 2010 German Champion in Marathon.

 

In addition to introducing the relays Bernd-Uwe Gutknecht also interviewed the two favorite women for Sunday’s race, Julia Gajer and Sonja Tajsich. “You are good friends, right?” Gutknecht asked and both women agreed wholeheartedly. Only during the race they would fight against each other. “But afterwards we will hug again!”

 

The Marktplatz was full at the beginning of the party already but the mood virtually boiled over when the Bayern 3-Band began to play and rocked the stage for a bit over two hours with the audience not only joining in for the most popular songs. When BAYERN3 Chief of Music Edi van Beek jumped into the audience he got help singing “Rockin’ all over” very quickly with Eckersmühlen’s protestant pastor Bernhard Nikitka cheerfully singing along. The band played one popular song after the other and provided the best possible and a very emotional start to the big triathlon weekend that will culminate on Sunday.