Did you know…? 7 quirky facts about Challenge Roth

This weekend one of the most famous triathlons in the world takes place, Challenge Roth. And to celebrate, here are 7 quirky facts about Roth that you perhaps didn’t know…

Posted: 4 July 2019by Debbie Graham

Numbers and records define Challenge Roth. Thousands of triathletes take part every year and it sells out in minutes. Everyone, including the very best in the world, wants to race there and it’s famous as a place where records are broken, and legends and memories are made.

Who can forget Jan Frodeno’s 2016 iron-distance record-breaking time of 7:35:39? And before that Chrissie Wellington’s amazing 2011 performance that saw her break the iron-distance women’s record with a time of 8:18:13?

The race is the talk of the beautiful Bavarian town for months ahead and, come race week, doors (and fridges) are opened and beds are made by local homestays to athletes and media across the area.

These are just some of the reasons we’ve named Challenge Roth the greatest triathlon in the world, and a must-do for every long-distance triathlete.

But there are other Roth numbers that are a little less well known – yet still pretty impressive!

So did you know…?

1) … Fruit is key at Roth. 2,970kg of bananas are consumed by the athletes, along with 2,700kg of apples, 1,300kg of oranges, 1,000kg of kiwis, 580kg of lemons, 680kg of melons and 15kg of dry fruit – now that’s a lot of fruit.

2) …135kg of sausages are eaten (but what else would you expect? Germany is sausage country after all!). Now we don’t know if these are the famous Nuremberg sausages but from experience we fully recommend them.

3).…29,000 energy bars and 39,000 energy gels keep the triathletes going and racing at their best.

4)… Roth triathletes have a sweet tooth. 2,800 pieces of chocolate, 5,500 pieces of cake, 12,000 biscuits and 800 packets of waffles are enjoyed by the athletes.

5)...It’s not just mineral water that’s drunk. The athletes are also responsible for drinking 6,500 litres of cola, 6,000 litres of apple juice, 10,560 cans of Red Bull, 1,800 litres of cacao and 1,000 litres of milk. We don’t have a number for the amount of beer enjoyed post-race, but we imagine it’s a lot!

6)… An impressive 70,000 sponges are used to cool the athletes.

7)… And finally, perhaps the most important number of all. Did you know there are 7,500 volunteers at Roth, giving up their time to help make the day a memorable one for athletes and spectators?

Challenge Roth takes place on 7 July and it will be streamed live on their website www.challenge-roth.com, or, if you’re in Germany, you can watch it live on BR Television.

Thinking about going long? We rated Challenge Roth Europe’s 8th best Iron for for first-timers – if you can get in!