When CHALLENGETAIWAN couldn’t take place at the original date in April this year, the organisation was clear: “our race will nevertheless take place this year, we have a deal!” This weekend, November 14th and 15th 2020, 5200 athletes are participating in the event. No less than 550 athletes started at the Long Distance, 1700 at the Middle Distance and tomorrow around 3000 athletes will participate in the shorter distances, Junior & Kids Race, making CHALLENGETAIWAN one of the biggest triathlon events of the year.
Based on the smiles on the faces of all athletes, it’s easy to say that CHALLENGETAIWAN was a huge success. “It was amazing to see the excitement of the athletes before the start, finally experiencing that race feeling again”, says CHALLENGEFAMILY CEO Jort Vlam. “The positive feedback and the smiles on the faces of all those athletes remind us of why we’re doing this and how much we’ve been missing this race feeling. All the messages we’ve got from happy athletes afterward were heartwarming.”
Looking at the event, CHALLENGETAIWAN didn’t look very different in comparison with other years, despite the worldwide coronacrisis. As the situation in Taiwan is under control for a longer time, the event could take place as usual in many ways. Despite the fact that the event was more local because of the travel restrictions, the athletes had the opportunity to enjoy the event together and to race without many restrictions.
As always the event excelled in bringing athletes together. The evening before the race all athletes were invited to join the welcoming dinner, showing the Taiwanese hospitality. The days before the race a big expo was organised where athletes could meet and get ready for their journey together. During the race weekend, all kinds of races were organised, which made it possible for the whole family to join this festival event.
Because of the travel restrictions, CHALLENGETAIWAN was an Age Group-only race this year. The Long Distance triathlon was won by Thomas Hermann and Shao-Ping Luo.
