From 30 December to 2 January, 3,500 athletes from over 40 nations ran on their own specially selected course in the virtual ‘Dreams Cannot be Cancelled Run powered by DATEV’. The virtual event from the Challenge Roth team in Germany offered up run distances of 5 km, 10 km and 21.1 km.
Among the participants in the virtual run were many top athletes and public figures who used the run to test their form. Kona champion Anne Haug, recent DATEV Challenge Roth winners Andi Dreitz, Lucy Charles-Barclay, Sebastian Kienle, Daniela Bleymehl and many other top athletes used the run to test their form for the coming season.
The virtual run was also a warm for DATEV Challenge Roth 2021 – including Tagesschau (German TV news) spokesman Thorsten Schröder, football expert Erik Meijer and ZDF presenter Florian Weiß.
“We are delighted so many people were there for the virtual run and that they were able to take part in a corona-compliant race ‘together’ and hopefully get a boost during this time,” said Felix Walchshöfer, Managing Director at TEAM CHALLENGE.
“A big thank you also to the partners of the run, without whom the race would not have been possible.”
In the virtual run’s app, participants could run virtually on the canal in Roth, or Büchenbach, no matter where in the world they were actually running. A special highlight was an audio track with well-known Challenge Roth music ‘for the right running rhythm’.
Announcements from well-known top athletes and friends of DATEV Challenge Roth played through the headphones of the participants provided additional motivation. In race week there were digital offers in addition to the run, so participants could take a look behind the scenes of DATEV Challenge Roth or recharge their batteries in a yoga session.
Athletes ran on their own chosen course so social distancing regulations could be met by the athletes and everyone’s safety was guaranteed. Tracking was carried out using the specially programmed app, which had to be downloaded to mobile phones in advance. The Dreams Cannot be Cancelled Run powered by DATEV was organized jointly by Challenge Roth and the Challenge Women team.
