(energetic upbeat music)
- I'm currently out in Samorin, Slovakia,
ahead of The Championship Race
hosted by Challenge Family, this weekend.
Last year we saw Sebastian Kienle, Lionel Sanders,
and Lucy Charles-Barclay
absolutely laying the hammer down here.
It's such a unique race,
and this year looks to be yet another epic battle.
So to get you guys ready for the race
here is the championship in numbers.
(relaxed modern music)
Right let's start off by about talking about
the location of this race
'cause it's really quite different from most events.
Now, as I mentioned already, it takes place
in the small town of Samorin,
which is just a 20 minute drive out of Bratislava,
the capital of Slovakia,
and we're passing through that right now.
Now interestingly, this fairly unassuming town
has over 800 years worth of history
and a really rich tradition of sport.
However, when you're passing through it in the car
it would be very easy to just pass through
without taking a second glance.
But down one of the small side streets
there's something really quite special.
The x-bionics sphere.
(relaxed modern music)
This 1 million meter square multipurpose complex
plays host to the championship.
Now unfortunately, we here are a pretty dreary day,
but in previous years it has been absolutely glorious.
But that aside, you've honestly got to see this place,
I've never been anywhere like it before.
It offers facilities, professional facilities,
for 27 different Olympic sports.
We have one equestrian center, one 25 meter pool,
three children pools, four water slides, why not hey?
One 50 meter pool, one volleyball center,
one eight lane track and athletics stadium.
One FIFA accredited football stadium,
one four lane warm-up track, one gymnastics hall,
one gym over three floors.
Lucy's there, no biggie.
Four restaurants, and two bars.
One cinema, 12 conference rooms.
Oh, and not forgetting 222 hotel rooms.
Phew.
Now part of the reason for the hype around this event
is due to the field that it attracts year upon year.
And there's a good reason for this
because there's a minimum of €150,000 on offer
as a prize purse to those professional athletes.
The winner of the men's and the women's field
will take home €30,000,
second place would take home €15,000,
third place would take home €8000,
paying all the way down to 10th place at €1000.
And this year we got quite the lineup
we've got entries from over 60 of the best professionals
from around the world.
And some of those standout names include
last year's runner-up Sebastian Kienle, Ben Kanute,
Andy Dreitz, Emma Pallant, Radka Kahlefeldt,
and of course 2017 and 2018 winner Lucy Charles-Barclay.
Now in terms of the course itself, it is fast.
Lionel Sanders holds the men's course record
in the time of three hours 40 minutes and three seconds,
while Lucy Charles holds the women's course record
in a time of four hours six minutes and 10 seconds.
Now for the swim,
last year actually ended up being a non-wetsuit swim
resulting in slightly slower swim times.
But, due to the weather this year
we're probably predicting it's going to be a wetsuit swim
as it was back in 2017,
when Richard Varga posted the men's swim course record
in an impressive time of 21 minutes and 31 seconds
despite the currents of the river.
(relaxed modern music)
Onto the bike, it is a pancake flat one lap course
taking just 70 meters of elevation change
over the 90 kilometers,
allowing the athletes to really lay the power down
on the smooth and straight roads.
And it was back in 2017
that Kim Morrison posted the women's bike course record time
of two hours 12 minutes and eight seconds,
whilst Lionel Sanders went on
to post the men's course record
of one hour 56 minutes and four seconds.
And finally the run is a three lap course
weaving its way around the x-bionic sphere
with three or four obvious dead turns per lap
and it was Adam Bowden who posted a ridiculous split
of one hour nine minutes and 54
to break the male runcourse record here last year.
Annie Howe posted a one hour 15 minutes 59
for the female run course record.
And in case you lose track of how far you've been
they have 5 kilometer markers for the bike
and 1 kilometer markers for the run.
(relaxed modern music)
In all there are 823 registered entrants
for the middle-distance championship event
taking place on Sunday,
with many amateur athletes traveling far and wide
for this event also.
Now this year Challenge have actually put on
five side events that are taking place on the Saturday,
the day before the middle-distance event.
We've got the triathlon, which is a 300 meter swim,
a 13 kilometer bike and 3 kilometer run.
We also have an Olympic distance race
with a corporate race on the side of that.
We also have an Olympic distance relay
again with a corporate race on side,
a sprint distance
and also a load of running races for the kids for all ages.
There you have it, the championship in numbers.
So do make sure you tune in this weekend
on the Sunday at 9 AM Central European Time
for a true spectacle.
And Challenge host a great live feed
that you'll be able to find on the championship website.
If you liked today's video,
please do hit that thumbs up button
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If you'd like to see a little bit more
from one of the key players for the race this weekend,
we have a great video of Lucy Charles
and some of her swim tips
you can see that by clicking just down here.
If you'd like to see a little more on the Challenge Family
and one of their other races, Challenge Roth in numbers
then you can see that video by clicking just down here.