Alles zur CHALLENGE Serie (Mittel- und Langstrecke: Roth, Wanaka, Barcelona, etc.)

[dirk]

Vorab die Presseerklärung (engl.) vom Quelle Challenge-Roth - deutsch folgt in kürze auf 3athlon

Roth up for the Challenge – city, athletes enter new era
ROTH, Germany (July 5, 2002) Just as the weatherman has predicted perfect weather for race day, there is no question in Detlef Kuehnel’s mind that the sun will rise over Roth, in southern Germany, next Saturday morning, as 1,850 individual and relay athletes take to the water for the start of the newly branded Quelle Challenge Roth (3.8 km Swim/180 km Bike/ 42 km Run). Kuehnel, who founded the race 15 years ago, said it is as strong as ever, and that its history has been the proving factor of which ultra-distance triathlon would win the heated, triathlon business battle for Germany.

“There are no limits to what people can do,” said Herbert Walchshöfer, TeamChallenge president. “From our first year, 1988, with 706 athletes, to our biggest, 1998, with 3,000, it has been the athletes who decide where they want to race. It has been the 120,000 spectators and 3,500 volunteers who decide how many hours they want to stand on the side of the road and scream and cheer and pass out water, and at which race they want to do it. And sponsors like Quelle and Deutsche Post have been just as committed. They’ve all chosen Roth and the Triathlon Festival, again.”


Playing the field

Returning pro athletes on the men’s side include three-time winner Lothar Leder (GER), former Ironman world champion Thomas Hellriegel (GER), Cameron Brown (NZ), Stefan Holzner (GER), Andreas Niedrig (GER), and Markus Forster (GER). Past winner Ute Muekel (GER), Nina Kraft (GER), Nicole Leder (GER), Katja Schumacher (GER), and Sabine Heinrich (GER) are back to race among the women. And other than New Zealand’s Brown, if you thought this was a race just for Germans, you guessed wrong – American ubercyclist Steve Larsen, Aussie standout Jason Shortis, Canadians Gillian Baker and Tara-Lee Marshall, rising Finnish star Mikka Luoto, and 17 other pros fill in the field of athletes, who, including amateurs, represent 32 nations from as far away as Venezuela and Brazil.

While Roth certainly will be a see-and-be-seen event for the home team, the foreigners will make their presence known – from hard-bodied, buzz-cut, cool shades Shortis, whose 8:29.34 third place bested the always relentless Helldrive’s fourth place by nearly seven minutes at this year’s Ironman Australia, to Bakker, who’s tenacity earned her a black belt in karate, degrees engineering physics and environmental engineering, and second place overall at the brutal Ironman Lanzarote 2002 and a victory at Ironman Canada 2001.

“I just hope to have a strong race and a good run, as I have been trying to work on that,” said Bakker. “As for beating certain other women...you never know what can happen on race day, and I have the utmost respect for the other competitors. I have seen some amazing performances from them and likely will again on July 14th.”

Schumacher’s gleaming smile, sparkling eyes, and numerous wins in the United States so far this year will be channeled only on Roth’s undulating 180-km cycle, as she will participate on one of the 177 relay teams competing in their own divisions. Germany’s Olympic distance star, Faris al Sultan, will also compete on a relay team. Both are focusing on other goals, Schumacher on another ultra-distance event and al Sultan on short course and Athens, but both have said they would not miss a chance to be a part of the start of the new Challenge era. Other relay celebrities will include a number of German pro cyclists such as Thomas Liese, first-league soccer players, and German Triathlon Union president Dr. Mueller Ott.


Coming home to Roth, Canada Strasse und Kiwi Strasse

According to race director Felix Walchshöfer, little local marketing is required in order to bring in volunteers and home-stay hosts for athletes. Roth, he explained, is a city which grew up on triathlon, where, contrary to so many events, home-stays are the norm and hotel stays are not.

Roth, already in the vacation region of Franconia, complete with centuries-old castles, lush forests, canals and lakes, is a city where, year after year, participants come from all over the world to homes with open doors. The same athletes return to the same Roth families, and long-lasting friendships are cultivated. And when locals travel to Canada or Brazil or Ireland, they have a home there, where the athletes come from. What’s more, athletes tell their friends who tell their friends and so on, and over a few years, an entire strasse in Roth becomes Little Italy, Canada Strasse or Kiwi Strasse for race week, decked out in athletes’ native country flags, signs in their languages, and neighbors with whom they can feel home-away-from-home.

“Can you imagine a city of 25,000 people who have become a family to thousands of athletes? As a participant, can you imagine how it feels to have spectators lining the entire 180-kilometer bike and also the marathon? The race totally consumes the town,” said Felix. “For two weeks now, people have been decorating their buildings and homes for Challenge Roth. It’s really something special to see. It’s like the Tour de France, but we have more than 1,800 athletes and from the first to the last finisher, they are all treated like professionals.”

In addition to the hospitality, TeamChallenge and Roth will host a variety of events free to athletes during the pre-race week.

“Triathlon Meets TV” – Award-winning highlights coverage of 14 years at Roth, and a presentation from Bavarian Television reporters.

“Forever Young” – Dr. Stunz, a famous fitness doctor known as the “Fitness Pope of Germany”, will discuss weight loss and healthy lifestyle; his books are all entitled Forever Young. Additionally, there will be a very short distance race for more than 200 children, adults and relay teams.

“Endurance Symposium” – Sports psychology, stress prevention and management will be covered by an ultra-distance cyclist.

“Nightrun”/”Nachtlauf” – TeamChallenge will host a major reception and greeting at racesite, where a 12 km fun run will course along rivers and forests, finishing with a reception at the scenic, Franconian city of Roth. Deutschebahn, the German train system, donated free tickets for runners and spectators to ride back to town.

And just in case athletes leave Kiwi Strasse in order to race in Roth, the Walchshöfers will be waiting for them at the finish line. Once the tired, weary and elated have been bestowed Challenger medals, they’ll make their way to a big-top tent for towels, food, refreshments, and massages, and personal wait staff. “This race has been built on hospitality and friendship,” says Felix. “What makes it even better, is that the participants do not spend their entire year’s vacation money on it, and that makes it like the worst-kept secret about the best restaurant in town – everyone wants to race here.” He noted that, unlike Challenge Roth’s competition, new entries will be accepted all the way into race week.

Athletes come back to Roth for Roth – those things which make the town a special destination, triathlonHimmel, or triathlon heaven – a picturesque race course, Canada Strasse, Euro-soccer/Tour de France-like spectators including 20,000 on the famous Solarer Berg hill cycle climb in Hilpolstein, die Biermeile (“the beer mile”) in Eckersmuehlen and the climb in Kalvarienberg, and the weeklong festival for a sport built on the passion of friendships, healthy living, competition, and the re-livable, alluring self-actualization of becoming an athlete who conquered the Challenge.

Don’t forget to write – worry not, Triathlon Mom

With this new era of Challenge Roth and the entire sport’s effort to make racing more spectator friendly, TeamChallenge is teeing one up to go further than the competition – each athlete has sent their biggest fan’s e-mail to race directors, whose behind-the-scenes team will send out cyber postcards after their time has been recorded for the swim, bike and run of the event. Moms, dads, children, boyfriends, and co-workers will be able to follow their Challenger all day long from wherever they get their e-mail, PDA’s included. What’s more, spectators-at-home can follow the entire race in text and web-cam footage, all day long, on www.challenge-roth.com and www.challengelive.com. All of the services will be provided free-of-charge.

And for spectators who make the trip, they’ll find anywhere in Roth and neighboring towns, on the 90%-closed-course roads ideal, especially the three 6 to 10% grade, 1.5 km climbs where the triathletes will hammer or suffer, but get a burst of energy when they hear the crowds. Spectators at Solarer Berg will have the added coolness of a jumbo video screen featuring live, professional crew coverage from all over the course.

German television station BR will provide live coverage all day in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and Switzerland. University of Erlangen, at Nuremberg, will contribute web-cam services to the race, too, including finish line party coverage. At the host site, top athletes come out to celebrate with more than 8,000 fans and athletes, fireworks, music, dancing, giveaways, and both live and taped video. Fireworks? It’s Roth, the triathlon festival.

###


What the athlete’s are saying

· Niedrig, one of the first athletes to register for the race, said he’d participate no matter what the political goings-on were in the ultra/iron-distance triathlon world.

· Said Bakker, “I am so happy to be back in Roth for what was such a great race last year. I am here to support Felix and Team Challenge, and I am certain that they will succeed in providing an excellent and world-class race.

· Cameron Brown: “When I started planning my season for 2002 one of the races that I really wanted to do was the Quelle Challenge. I am therefore really happy to be invited back there after enjoying myself so much in Roth last year...It will be a highlight of my year in 2002 to experience this atmosphere again…As a professional athlete I also appreciated the very efficient organization. I was very well looked after by everybody. I have some friends from New Zealand who now also want to come up and experience for themselves the famous hospitality from the people of Roth…I am sure, (it) will be bigger and better than ever before.”


Quick Challenge Facts

· More pro athletes – 32 – are racing Roth than at any other ultra-distance triathlon except Kona.

· Eleven of the professional athletes are Ironman event winners, and five were Top Ten finishers from the 2001 Ironman World Championships, at Hawaii.

· At Ironman Europe, Roth, 1996, Lothar Leder was the first athlete to ever break eight hours in an iron-distance race, in 7:57:02.

· QCR is the fastest course worldwide, with records set by Paula Newby-Fraser, 8:50:53 (1994), and Luc Van Lierde, 7:50:27 (1997). Three other men also broke eight hours at that race.

· QCR is the only ultra-distance race worldwide to offer 100,000 euros for a new world record set by a male. There is also a special prize purse of 25,000 euros for any male to race under 7:50:00, and 1,000 euros for a new bike course record.

· Athletes come from 32 countries, including Germany, Holland, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Ukraine, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Czech Republic, Austria, among others.

· The oldest athlete anticipated is Bill Albrecht, 75 years, USA (Marquette, Michigan).

· QCR is the biggest and most popular long- or ultra-distance multisport event in Europe.

· 1998 hosted the largest field of participants at any ultra-distance triathlon, with 3,000. The second largest field was 2,500 athletes in 2001.

· Other than the Olympics, no triathlon has attracted more spectators than Roth, which has seen numerous years of 100,000 strong and an estimated 120,000 in 1999.

· Challenge Roth will begin a newsletter in September, and can be registered for at www.challengelive.com.


: :
--
kind regards / mit freundlichen grüssen
dirk [ www.3athlon.de/ dirk@3athlon.de ]

[BenHennigs]

Is ja man ganz schön lang der Text. Von wem stammt der eigentlich?
Den Faris al Sultan wird es bestimmt interessieren, dass er Germanys Olympic Distance Hero ist. ) Wird ihn bestimmt freuen.
--
Besucht uns mal wieder!
www.96triathlon.de

[Weltraumhummel]

Andi Niedrig also doch am Start??

[dirk]

- soweit ich weiß andreas niedrig nicht am start !
- text stammt aus qcr-pressestelle / via einem befreundeten jouro.

: :
--
kind regards / mit freundlichen grüssen
dirk [ www.3athlon.de/ dirk@3athlon.de ]

[raphi]

hallo zusammen,
weiß jemand ab wann man sich für roth anmelden kann? auf der homepage vom qcr gibts zwar nen link für anmeldung 2006 aber da ist noch nix freigeschalten. wie war denn letztes jahr, ab wann gings denn da?
grüße raphi

[fossi]

den Organisatoren zufolge kann man sich ende juli anmelden, ist auch auf der webseite des qcr so niedergeschrieben.

fossi

[Ridgeback]

Genau genommen am 31. Juli! Stand zumindest in dem Werbeabschnitt des Magazins Triathlon Spezial

[raphi]

....jetzt ists amtlich! u.s. ist auf der HP vom QCR zu finden.....
gruß raphi




09.08.2005: Auf ein Neues: Anmeldeformulare für 2006 ab Montag online

http://www.3athlon.de/news/2005/08/1..._anmeldung.php

[gizmo2000]

fangt jetzt hier mit roth nicht auch noch son stress an. ich möchte mich nach meinem geburtstag (ende november) anmelden. also stresst nicht so ab sonst muss man sich ja bald wie in frankfurt noch während der laufenden saison anmelden...

[racer_422]

Zitat von gizmo2000

fangt jetzt hier mit roth nicht auch noch son stress an. ich möchte mich nach meinem geburtstag (ende november) anmelden. also stresst nicht so ab sonst muss man sich ja bald wie in frankfurt noch während der laufenden saison anmelden...

Solange es die laufende Saison ist, geht es ja noch,
schlimmer wäre, wenn es irgendwann der laufende Wettkampf ist und man während des Marathon ein Formular zum unterschreiben gereicht bekäme, ob man im nächsten Jahr dabei sein möchte.