When Challenge Taiwan couldn’t take place on its original scheduled date in April this year, the race organising team issued a clear statement: ‘our race will nevertheless take place this year, we have a deal!’
On November 14-15, 2020, the rescheduled event saw 5200 athletes participating. There were over 550 athletes who started the long distance race, 1700 at the middle distance and around 3000 participating in the shorter distances as part of the Junior & Kids Race. According to the Challenge Taiwan organisers, this makes it ‘one of the biggest triathlon events of the year.’
“It was amazing to see the excitement of the athletes before the start, finally experiencing that race feeling again,” said Challenge Family 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 heart-warming.”
A release from the organising team added…
‘Looking at the event, Challenge Taiwan didn’t look very different in comparison with other years, despite the worldwide coronacrisis. As the situation in Taiwan [has been] 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.
‘The evening before the race all athletes were invited to join the welcoming dinner, showcasing Taiwanese hospitality. In the days before the race weekend an 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, Challenge Taiwan was an age group-only race this year. The long distance triathlon was won by Thomas Hermann and Shao-Ping Luo.
www.challenge-taiwan.com
www.challenge-family.com
