Posted: May 28, 2004

Triathlon: Quelle offers 20 spots to celebrate 20 years of triathlon in Roth

Entry, drawing only on June 2nd

NÜRNBERG/ROTH, Germany (May 28, 2004) – Quelle AG, Europe’s largest mail order retailer and title sponsor of world famous triathlon Quelle Challenge Roth (3.8 km S/180 km B/42.2 km R), this year purchased 50 race entries for employee and marketing use, and in a surprise announcement this week activated 20 of them as a public raffle to celebrate the 20th anniversary of triathlon in Roth and this year’s world’s largest ultra-distance triathlon ever.

“When we realized that the field was full but we had extra entries of our own,” said Gerhard Zahn, director sponsorship and events, Quelle AG, “our first reaction was to give them away free-of-charge to the athletes around the world itching for a chance to experience the energy we’ve felt since we signed on in 1991.” Race management closed general registration on May 5th, nearly two weeks early, when the field swelled to 2,100 individuals and 550 relay teams, for a total of 3,750 participants from 41 nations.

In order to enter the raffle, interested athletes must visit the race’s website, www.challenge-roth.com, print out and fill in the registration form, and fax it between 1pm and 2pm German time (7am-8am EST New York), Wednesday, June 2nd, to any of the race management fax numbers: (49) 9171-99881; (49) 9171-98273; or (49) 9171-897670. Entries may be made only for individual athletes, only one entry will be accepted per individual, and entries must be received during the one-hour window and only by fax.

As a tribute to 20 years of Roth’s triathlon volunteer corps, Quelle has also decided to give each of the 3,900 volunteers a €25- Quelle shopping voucher. “Without their tireless Gemütlichkeit, Roth would be like any other sports event,” Zahn said. “The volunteers here have as much endurance and enthusiasm as the athletes themselves.”

More than 100,000 spectators are expected to line Quelle Challenge Roth’s super-charged, hilly course that winds through Bavarian hamlets, and 35,000 visitors are anticipated for the large, four-day expo. The expo and finishers’ stadium returns this year to the newly named, completely redesigned and landscaped Triathlon Park in downtown Roth, a city of 24,000 people about 30 km south of Nürnberg.

Triathlon arrived in Roth, Germany, in 1984 and it became the first Ironman in Europe in 1988. It has been Quelle Challenge Roth since 2001. The current iron-distance world records were set here -- 7:50:27 for the men (Luc van Lierde, 1997), and 8:50:30 for the women (Paula Newby-Fraser, 1994), and Lothar Leder was the first to break the eight-hour barrier, going 7:57:02 in 1996, at Roth.

The race has been known as the "Wimbledon of triathlon" and compared it to a Tour de France stage. Inside Triathlon (USA) called Roth’s 2002 edition the "Best Old Race" and in 2003 called it the "Most Exciting Race." In 2003, 11 million television viewers watched Quelle Challenge Roth coverage.

For years, athletes, media and spectators have called the race “Quelle,” even when its title was Quelle Ironman Europe and now Quelle Challenge Roth. Sports such as tennis and golf have events known by simply by their sponsors’ names, but elsewhere this is unprecedented. Since the beginning of this 13-year relationship, neither Quelle nor race management imagined the name would stick so well or that the bond would grow so strong.

Quelle Challenge Roth’s sponsors include: Quelle AG, Deutsche Post AG, N-ERGIE, DB Regio, Opel AG, Newline, Nürnberger Nachrichten (Nürnberg Newspapers), Bayrische Versicherungskammer, Maxim, Phillips, Erdinger Alkoholfrei, Sparkasse Mittelfranken-Süd, ADAC, Arndt, Recaro, PowerBar, County of Roth, City of Roth, City of Hilpolstein, Coca-Cola, Frankenbrunnen, Zeus Copy, Paladin, Hofmann, Jura Kaelte, Lorenz & Partner, INKO Energy, Flor & Sohn, Spedition Heinloth, and BIESTMILCH.

For more information on the July 4, 2004 Quelle Challenge Roth and Triathlon Festival, Deutsche Triathlon Union (DTU) ultra-distance International German Championship and Long Distance Triathlon World Championship for Firefighters, the on-line forum and the event’s newsletter, visit www.challenge-roth.com.

From SLH Communications at: slhcomm@hotmail.com.