- For the triathlon calendar the first weekend in July,
now marks a very exciting occasion for triathlon.
Many of the top pros and countless age grouper's
toe the line for Challenge Roth in Germany.
Now I have long been aware of the legend
of Roth home to challenge,
and one of the longest races in triathlon.
It's played host to many of the multiple
long distance records in history,
and also considered one of the best races,
or favorite races by many of the competitors.
But what makes this race so good and so exciting?
Well I am lucky to be here,
ahead of the 2018 Challenge Roth,
and I'm gonna be explaining just that.
(upbeat music)
Just to put this all into perspective for you,
if you fancy giving this race a shot,
I hope you have your laptop at the ready
and the Challenge website already loaded,
because the last few years they've had
record sell-outs for this event, all within one minute.
It's like trying to get tickets to a music festival,
and last year they had around 3400
individual competitors and 650 relays,
That's just the lucky competitors that got slots,
and I'm sure there were many that missed out.
So to grab one of those spots it is possible
to get one at the awards ceremony
in the event the year prior,
although that is only limited to around 1000 spots.
For everyone else they become available online
the Monday the week following the event the year prior.
But, do check, as this can change from year to year,
if you are interested in entering.
Now onto the course itself,
the bit that really attracts the athletes here.
It follows the standard Iron distances,
starting with a 3.8 kilometer swim,
but in the calm and protective waters
of the Rhine Main Danube canal.
The race starts in the early hours
of the morning as the sun is rising.
Athletes are set off by cannon fire,
as hot air balloons take off on the bank,
on the other side of the canal there.
Throw in thousands of spectators, the roar from the crowds,
and it truly is quite a spectacle.
Now the athletes head south down the river
for 1.9 kilometers before turning and simply
heading back to the start point in Hilpoltstein.
It is a very easy course to navigate,
which allows athletes to maintain their speed,
by less frequent sighting, which has led
to these above average swim times,
that we've seen here in the past in Roth.
Athletes are then ready to hit
the 180 kilometer bike course.
It's a two lap course,
known for its relatively flat profile.
It has just three short rises between 6% to 10%,
and at a length of 800 meters to one and a half K.
The most famous of those is this one, the Solar Berg Hill.
Spectators can make their way over from the swim finish,
to this hill, in time to see
the athletes coming through on the bike,
and trust me, it is quite a spectacle.
Thousands of spectators line the streets.
In fact they cover the road, almost Tour De France-esque.
So as the riders come through they split,
allowing the athletes a path as they make their way through.
And from what I understand from the athletes,
this part of the race really makes it for them.
Roth's run course has a male marathon
record time of two hours and 36 minutes,
set by Luc Van Lierde in 1997, it is notoriously fast.
And the key to that lies in the running surface.
Whilst the course has changed a little over the years,
it still largely takes place on compacted dirt trails.
Allowing a little more relief for the athletes,
and meaning they can post a fast marathon split,
all the way through to the end,
and adding to that just 330 vertical meters.
Now that, is one fast marathon course.
As I alluded to earlier,
the spectators really make this event.
There's a huge excitement, buzz and energy
flowing around the event, and come race day
this part of the course is gonna be packed out,
both on the path, and even up on that bridge up there.
Last year in 2017, they saw 260000 spectators
flocking to the event and cheering the athletes on.
In fact, a few years ago I was
fortunate enough to come and spectate myself,
and I genuinely had goosebumps on my arms,
just watching the event and hearing the crowds.
But it's not just the on the day spectators,
because last year they also saw 386000
online viewers tuning into the Challenge website,
to track and follow the competitors.
And now for the exciting bit, the race course records.
This is why so many pros head to Roth.
It's an opportunity to race against
some of the best athletes, to post fast times,
and also in some cases,
to set long distance triathlon records.
Now in 1988 the male course record
stood at eight hours and 13 minutes set by Axel Koenders.
Whilst today it stands at seven hours
and 35 minutes set by Jan Frodeno in 2016,
and making it the fastest ever,
long distance triathlon time to date.
Similarly in the women's it started
with a course record of 10 hours and seven minutes,
set by Rita Kitaman in 1988.
Whilst today it's held by none other,
than Chrissie Wellington set in 2011,
in a time of eight hours and 18 minutes.
And with that comes a good prize purse
for the professional field.
This years pros are gonna be competing
for a 200000 US dollar purse, paying down to 10th place.
Both the male and the female winners
will take home 40000 US dollars.
Second place will take home $25000,
and third place $15000.
Right, now for a quickfire.
This year at Challenge Roth there is gonna be;
23000 bananas.
Athletes from 78 nations.
7000 volunteers.
1300 oranges.
39000 energy gels.
6500 liters of cola.
3000 apples.
22000 liters of water.
Phew, Challenge Roth is going to be awesome.
It's certainly one for the bucket list.
Now I do appreciate I've been saying Roth
through all of this, but I am British after all.
If you are local you would say Rote,
either way it is a brilliant event.
Now if you haven't done so already,
do click on the globe and subscribe to GTN,
and talking of bucket list races,
check out our top 10 bucket list
triathlon races by clicking down here,
and if you'd like to see our top 10
records of 2017, just click down here.