Posted: August 11, 2005

Triathlon: Quelle Challenge Roth opens registration Monday

The Quelle Challenge Roth, the world's largest iron-distance triathlon, will open registration for its 2006 edition on Monday, Aug. 15. Registration forms for individual starters and relay teams will be available online at www.challenge-roth.com beginning at noon, Central European Time (CET).

Race day will be July 2, 2006. The race will accept 2,500 individuals and 500 teams and expects to reach capacity quickly. For the 2005 edition, all the relay places had been claimed by November, with the field for individuals filling in February.

Race organizers also advise athletes to begin reserving hotel rooms or other accommodation quickly as many rooms have already been booked. The tourist board for the county of Roth can be reached via email at tourismus@landratsamt-roth.de for information about lodging. And camping is available along the Main-Donau Kanal, near the swim start, with no advance reservations required.

Athletes registering before December 31 can take advantage of discounted entry fees: for single starters, the entry fee is EUR 240, and for relay teams it’s EUR 330. Triathlon teams with 10 or more entrants can register each athlete for EUR 215.

Registration will close on May 1, but organizers expect the race to fill long before that.

Known for its picturesque castle (built in the 1500s), welcoming town square and cobbled streets, Roth is also home to a rich triathlon history going back more than 20 years. It’s home to thousands of avid triathlon fans who’ve been witness to some incredible moments, including the first sub-eight-hour Ironman—a feat achieved by five-time Roth champion Lothar Leder in 1996, when he went 7:57:02. The next year, Belgium’s Luc van Lierde took that record to a world’s best 7:50:27, a mark that still stands.

In 2005, top honors went to a pair of Aussies—two-time Roth champ Chris McCormack (his second year under the 8-hour mark, in a time of 7:58:45) and Belinda Granger, who claimed her first win here after a second-place finish in 2004.

Formerly known as Ironman Europe, the race in 2001 ended its association with the World Triathlon Corporation and gave up its Kona slots but has thrived as an independent.

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

The race website is at: www.challenge-roth.de.