Not even a full hour had passed when Sascha Trage, swimmer of Hörluchs® Team 3, reached the finish with a time of 57 minutes and 44 seconds on the clock. An outstanding time. Just a moment later, Maxi Bauer from Team 6 emerged from the water. Colleagues Andreas Bundil, Jürgen Zimmermann, and Dominic Schmidt followed in one-minute intervals. Despite not quite achieving his goal of under an hour, Dominic Schmidt still made a stellar start with a time of one hour and fourteen minutes for his team:
“At the start, I got caught up in something. I had to collect myself until I found my bearings again,” reported the audiologist and consultant Dominic Schmidt after the race. “The conditions in the practice pool are quite different from those in competition.”
Meanwhile, cyclists Christian Düll and Göran Schmidt were already on the road. Now, Thomas Meyer, initiator and founder of Hörluchs®, had to step up to push crucial meters into the asphalt and possibly hand over the relay baton to his runner, Dagmar Heidbreder, within the next five hours. The same applied to racers Gernot Schwarz and Philipp Engelmann, who raced past spectators on the canal bridge in their bright red Team Hörluchs® jerseys, leaving the first kilometer of a total of 180 behind them.
Swimmers Joachim Hintze, runner Werner Stöcker, and team captain Paul Thelen had already set a record by starting at Challenge Roth. Combined, Team 7’s relay team totals 247 years, making it the oldest team ever to compete in the hometown of triathlon. For Joachim, the 3.8 km as an experienced swimmer and former world champion posed no problem, and he sent his team captain Paul off to the track on time.
The gears of the bicycles could already be heard humming from afar. Then Julian Hegel and Philipp Engelmann rounded the final curve before transition zone 2. They had conquered the Solarer Berg. In the final meters, they were cheered on vigorously by fans and spectators before dismounting and sending off their runners, Larissa Routschka and Jan Schaut.
Then it was Daniel Akyamac, Stefan Dallmann, and Roland Filpe who embarked on the 42.2 km long running course, with their sights set on the finish line in the stadium. Thomas Meyer had also reached the transition zone and now handed over the relay leadership to Dagmar Heidbreder, who was loudly cheered on from the sidelines by her partner and the rest of the team members. The cloud cover broke, and the sun pleasantly warmed the streets of Roth. Ideal conditions for Werner Stöcker, who at 84 years old overshadowed all other runners.
Even towards evening, the stadium in Roth was well attended, and an energetic atmosphere prevailed, fueled moment by moment by the moderators. Then it was Team 1 that entered the stadium first amidst applause from the spectators. Dominic, Philipp, and Jan had given their all and achieved a record time for the relay. Larissa Routschka had crossed the 30 km mark just an hour earlier. Now, together with Andreas and Julian, she crossed the coveted finish line as the second Team Hörluchs®. They were followed by Team 6 with Maxi, Christian, and Daniel, Team 3 with Sascha, Göran, and runner Stefan, Team 4 with Richard, Gernot, and Roland, and Team 5 with Jürgen, Thomas, and Dagmar.
The day was completed by our over-80 relay team, entering amidst thunderous applause and standing ovations. “I’ve never had such an entry after a competition,” Paul Thelen would tell his teammates later that evening. “This time I ran a 4:14. Only two minutes slower than two years ago. I guess getting older didn’t matter much,” proudly explained Werner Stöcker, with Paul Thelen adding amusedly, “Werner really picked up the pace at the end. He was determined to stay under the 4:15 mark.”
“I am so proud of all the teams. Every single one gave it their all,” concluded CEO Thomas Meyer at the end of a long and successful day.
In the end, the joy was evident on the faces of all the relay participants of Team Hörluchs®. Months of preparation had brought them all safely to the finish line. After 17 hours, Challenge Roth 2024 came to an end for the seven teams. But 2025 is already knocking on the door.
Never stop moving!
Picture credits: Hörluchs, Salvatore Giurdanella, Marathon Photos, Alexander Hansen
