Episode 106: Behind the Magic of Challenge Roth with Felix Walchshöfer

This week on Another Triathlon Podcast, we go behind the scenes of the most iconic triathlon in the world with the man at the helm—Felix Walchshöfer of Challenge Roth.

🎙️ Brought to you by @maunaapparel
📲 Follow us on Instagram: @anothertriathlonpodcast

Hosted by @jennacaer, @fedemultisport, and @joshmvernon

From sponge kids to world records, Roth has become a triathlon mecca. Felix takes us deep into what makes this event so magical: the deep community roots, multi-generational volunteers, fair racing standards, and an electric race-week atmosphere that can’t be replicated. We talk about:

✔️ How Roth evolved from a crazy idea in the 80s to the bucket list race
✔️ The power of community, tradition, and 7,500+ volunteers
✔️ Solar Hill and why the best moments in racing can’t be manufactured
✔️ Publishing Race Ranger data publicly—for the first time ever
✔️ Roth’s bold move to increase anti-doping controls for age groupers
✔️ Behind the laser show, the afterparty, and Belinda Granger's legendary antics
✔️ Why Roth continues to sell out in seconds—and how you can make the most of your race week

Plus, Felix shares personal stories about racing himself, fulfilling a promise to his late father, and how walking the Roth marathon changed the way he sees every athlete.

A heartfelt, inspiring, and hilarious episode that proves Roth is more than a race—it’s a legacy.

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram at @anothertriathlonpodxAR for updates, guest clips, and more.

#triathlon #challengefamily #challengeroth #ironmantriathlon #longdistancetriathlon #triathlontraining #triathlonpodcast #cleanracing #fairracing #triathloncommunity #triathletelife #agegrouper #triathlonmotivation #solerhill #bucketlistrace #anothertriathlonpod

Transcript

Another Triathlon Pod (00:04.388)
Welcome back to another Trathlon podcast brought to you by Mana Apparel. I'm Jenna Zara and joined with Fede and we're going to have Josh jump on in a little bit here. But this week we've got another special guest backing up after having Belinda Granger on. We are going to talk more about Challenge Roth and all the excitement going on with that race and its evolution over the years. And who better to do that with than with Felix. So we're going to jump on and say, hi Felix, how are you doing this morning?

Felix Walchshöfer (00:29.602)
Hi guys, really well, thank you very much.

Another Triathlon Pod (00:32.236)
Yeah, we're so happy to have you on here. Now I had to ask how to pronounce your last name because I realized halfway through I didn't quite know how to pronounce it.

Felix Walchshöfer (00:39.758)
It's even difficult in Germany, so don't worry. It's Valshofer. Felix Valshofer is my last name.

Fed (00:43.903)
Thank you.

Another Triathlon Pod (00:46.842)
Okay, I would have gotten horribly wrong, so I'm glad I asked. Well, we just wanted to have you on to learn a little bit more about the evolution of Challenge Roth. It's definitely the race that's on everyone's mind right now with some, it really just has this incredible atmosphere that seems to be unmatched in any other long distance event. And then we also had the evolution of Race Ranger with releasing some of the data. So we wanted to dive into all of that, but first.

Felix Walchshöfer (00:49.207)
No worries.

Fed (00:49.235)
Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (01:07.534)
Mm-hmm.

Another Triathlon Pod (01:11.576)
We wanted to learn a little bit more about you. How did this all start with child wrath and you getting involved? It sounds like you did fairly young.

Felix Walchshöfer (01:20.174)
Yes, I was kind of born in the topic as kind of everyone here in Roth does when you grow up in a triathlon crazy county, in a triathlon crazy city. So the triathlon here started in 1984 when the best friend of my dad was the first German to compete in Hawaii and brought this crazy idea back. And he competed in 82 and 83 and then he decided with the athletics club.

Another Triathlon Pod (01:23.577)
Thank

Another Triathlon Pod (01:39.93)
Cool.

Felix Walchshöfer (01:47.32)
to organize a triathlon. And the question in the city was, when is the shooting happening? Is it swimming or running or skiing? When do we shoot? We have no clue. But everyone loved the idea. And we had to educate them that we actually don't shoot because it's not biathlon and we are not doing it in winter. But it's triathlon. And we started off with an Olympic distance race here.

Fed (01:59.584)
You

Felix Walchshöfer (02:16.406)
in 84 and I was four years old. My dad was responsible for tourism Nuremberg. But on the side, he did all the marketing. My mom did the PR for the race. Dad was the announcer and we were sponge kids. So with four years, I had a volunteer shirt. It went under my knees. It was an S and that was my first contact to triathlon.

Another Triathlon Pod (02:37.182)
Fed (02:37.641)
Ha ha ha.

Another Triathlon Pod (02:41.43)
Definitely go in very early. That is fantastic. So you basically grew up your whole life with travel on in the forefront

Felix Walchshöfer (02:46.338)
Yeah. Yeah. And fast forward to see all the kids nowadays, more than 40 years after, who are standing on the sideline cheering on the athletes at eight o'clock at night in the city or handing over sponges or working at the aid stations or giving out the medals. It's so nice to see my nephews. One is working in T2 handing out sponges.

My bigger nephew is one of the balloon kids as me and my sister were for many years. So yeah, it's really nice to see because I grew up and all the professionals were my heroes. Lothar Leder was on a poster in my kids' room. Jürgen Sack was. Mark Allen. I had the swim cap of Mark Allen when he was competing in Roth. I asked the swim leg director, okay, when he throws it away, can I please get that swim cap? And I had it on the door until it...

Another Triathlon Pod (03:17.568)
cool.

Another Triathlon Pod (03:39.962)
I'm gonna miss it.

Felix Walchshöfer (03:41.944)
broke and grizzled down, you know? And to see that it's still exactly the way how I experienced it is just wonderful.

Another Triathlon Pod (03:44.474)
You

Fed (03:52.082)
Yeah. Yeah. It seems to me that that way that, well, challenge family, it's like that, like a big family. And I can, I can sense from every single, challenge event that I've done, it feels like that, that the volunteers get engaged and that everybody's very happy to be part of it. And, yeah, so I wanted to ask you what, what do you think it's, it's a magic behind that? Because I think.

the challenge events are very different from other events because it feels like that. You feel very welcome from the get go. yeah, like even the sponge kids go out their way to actually make you feel like you are a professional or that you're like a very important person while you're racing. What do you think are the pillars for this to happen?

Felix Walchshöfer (04:43.022)
I think, especially in Roth where everything began, also with the Challenge family, I think it's really the deep rooted in the community, that we are so deeply rooted in the community. We live here, we know exactly who to call, we involve everyone, we involve all the clubs, the teams. It doesn't matter if you're a soccer club or tennis or triathlon, of course, but...

because we get everybody involved. They run the hotspots with the announcing and they sell food and drinks and cakes and sausages as we do here in Bavaria. And they earn a lot for their team, for their teams as well, you know? So it is, yeah, I think it's very deep rooted in the community.

We do a lot of things with the festival market, for example, we have a soccer court there, bouncing castles, we try to attract everyone from the county, all the people who are absolutely not interested in triathlon, we kind of lure them into triathlon with concerts, with cultural things, with photo exhibitions, with a lot of different things, because what we have learned, when you have seen it, you'll come back, you you like it.

And so it's always the thing, okay, how can we get the people here? Because when they're here, they really like it. They want to get involved. We have over thousand athletes and homestay families, 7,500 volunteers to show you the dimension. We have 5,000, a bit of over 5,000 competing athletes. We have 7,500 volunteers.

Berlin Marathon, biggest marathon in the world, over 90,000 competitors and 4,000 volunteers. So it is absolutely crazy, you know? And the volunteers, go above and beyond. It's being passed down through generations. The grandma was running kilometer to eight stations. She gave it to her son. The son gave it to the daughter. So it's three generations involved, plus all the neighbors, families, friends, et cetera, et cetera.

Fed (06:34.528)
Mm.

Felix Walchshöfer (06:54.644)
And I think it's this roots that we have here and the deep love of the sport of the athletes coming, being proud of that. It's their event. It's not an anonymous event of a company. It's not of the Valksöfer family. It's our event. This is our event. People from 108 nations worldwide are coming to a rural area here that is not known for tourism.

But once a year, the world meets and everyone goes mad. yeah, I think this is so attractive to the athletes because when they come here, they feel welcome. We have banners and flags in every town, every city, even the towns that are not on the race course, but that are near where the athletes are sleeping and living during the time here that fly the flags home of triathlon. And it is really a home of triathlon.

Another Triathlon Pod (07:23.342)
it.

Fed (07:27.711)
Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (07:50.36)
Well, it is the home of triathlon because everyone feels such a strong connection.

Another Triathlon Pod (07:56.068)
That is very cool. And that's something that you can definitely feel when you go to races, whether the community embraces it or if they're reluctant to have it there. And as an athlete, like that makes such a massive difference. But speaking of community and the engagement over there, obviously solar hill is iconic. We've all seen the pictures, the videos. That is something I have to experience myself very soon. But was that something that was intentionally like, did you try to build an atmosphere like that or did it happen organically? Really?

Felix Walchshöfer (08:15.02)
Yeah. Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (08:21.474)
No, no, it happened organically. And what we have learned, whenever something is happening organically in the race, it is long lasting. If we build something up with a lot of money and it doesn't feel right, it's not gonna last, you know? And Solar Hill has this huge plus factor, I would say, that it is under a K away from the swim start.

so everyone can walk to Solar Hill from the swim start. Everyone can leave their cars and whatever else. They jump on bikes or just walk over. And it's right downtown Hillballstein. And the city of Hillballstein has this amazing tradition since 40 years, when you are elected mayor, you are elected announcer of Solar Hill. So that come, you know, and...

This is awesome, you know, and of course our mares that we have in Hilbertstein, they are not announcers at all, you know, but they love it. They absolutely love it. It's an honor to them. We have, of course, professional announcers there as well, but yeah, it's those traditions that evolved over time.

Fed (09:33.994)
Yeah, definitely. Every time I watch the live stream, there's only a couple of races that I wake up in the middle of the night to watch, and Roth is one of them. Because when I first started doing triathlon, my best friend from childhood, he's German, from a town called Bochum, and he...

always gives me a hard time. Like, yes, okay. You've done Hawaii. I don't care, but have you done Roth? I, I'm only going to consider you a triathlete until you've done Roth. And I'm like, Johannes, okay. What one day and, and I can see because every time he sends me the news and it's always a big deal in, in German television. mean, like it's, it's, it transcends sport. Like, the way I see Roth, it's a, it's.

Another Triathlon Pod (10:13.306)
you

Fed (10:32.508)
it's an event that it, like you said, it transcends our community. And we're always like, yes, the triathlon community, blah, blah, blah. But it's important that other sports know about Roth and know about this event because there's nothing like it. And I don't think you can replicate something like a Soderbergh or the atmosphere and the way fans come together. What...

My question now is, what do you think makes athletes go back? It's the magic, it's the race, it's the challenge, it's everything together. What are the elements that you think make people stay in awe with Roth and have this mythical place in their head?

Felix Walchshöfer (11:27.404)
I think it's different aspects and for every athlete, the one or the other aspect is more important. For example, we have a very, very fast course. have both world records here, first man under eight hours, Lothar Leder was here. So someone who wants to have a PB, example, Roth is the place to be. If you want to feel like a rock star, Roth is the place to be. And it doesn't matter if you take 15 hours to do that, you know.

Roth is extremely inclusive. We have so many athletes with disabilities, people, all genders, all ages, everybody is welcome. This is also why I'm a bit reluctant to get a championship race, you know, because I want everyone to come together, you know, and I think this is also a very important part about Roth. Then, of course, the atmosphere, the spectators is unique.

But it's also unique that we have the biggest triathlon expo in the world. Hoka this year was showcasing their new Hoka IK3, not at the Eurobike, not at any other place than in on the expo. And there you see the importance of Roth. And that it's not only just a local thing. you're talking about Johannes in Germany,

Roth is in the eight o'clock news for 40 seconds, you know, equal to soccer and soccer is king in Germany. I can tell you, you know, it's the biggest one day event in Southern Germany from all aspects, especially from spectators. There is no other event having 300,000 spectators on the course. And yeah, it's, think so many small puzzles that we are an attraction.

Fed (13:01.14)
Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (13:20.216)
for so many different people. I think what is also unique, every year we sit together, this Monday we had a full day off where everyone from the office, and we are at the moment 14, we will grow to 16 in October, reports about social media, about registration, about marketing, about the fan job, etc. And they all tell us and tell the colleagues what was good, what was bad, what do I want to do better next year.

And I think this drive of always getting better, evolving, going with the time, but also never, never forgetting our heritage, forgetting that pro men and pro women should race on the same day, you know, and for some time that didn't happen at the world championships. And now they are going back there as well, which I think is a very, very good sign, you know. So those things we will never touch because it's...

Another Triathlon Pod (14:16.858)
Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (14:17.568)
an absolutely important part of our sport. But so many other things we develop every year. And for people who come back every year for 10 years, for 15 years, I want them to come back and say, wow, this is new, and they've done this new, and they listen to us. And wow, you know, so that whenever you come back, you see something new, you feel something new, but this you're at home feeling is never going to change. The principles never change, you know.

And I think this is the secret of Roth.

Another Triathlon Pod (14:49.422)
That is really fantastic. Yeah, that has to be a tough line to balance at times, just the evolution of sport and moving forward, but still keeping it rooted in that history that has made Ross so iconic and such an incredible experience. But you talked to me.

Felix Walchshöfer (15:01.644)
And I think our really good thing is, sorry, I think one last point is also the race is owned by my mom, my sister and me. whatever comes in, we will again put in the race. We want to be the best race on all aspects. From the live stream that you talked about where we invest a lot. This year we had 65 doping control, anti-doping tests, not only for pro athletes, but also

Another Triathlon Pod (15:09.914)
Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (15:30.136)
for age group athletes. That's a completely new thing. We were one of the first races to introduce Race Ranger. And I think those are the things where athletes, spectators, families can really see, okay, they do something, you know, and until the detail. We have an own kindergarten here on the festival grounds. So everyone who's coming with kids can park the kids in the kindergarten and then can enjoy themselves for the whole day.

Another Triathlon Pod (15:49.86)
Yeah.

Fed (15:50.538)
Wow.

Felix Walchshöfer (15:55.554)
Then they come back, pick up the kids so that the kids can run in with their dad, you know, so everyone is happy. So we think really into the details. And we love details. I have to say we love details. Do we need a laser show with everything that costs us 50,000? Hell no. Does Triathlon need a laser show? No. But is it really cool because it's the last moment that everyone is together? Hell yes.

Fed (15:59.925)
Wow.

Another Triathlon Pod (16:07.876)
Yeah.

Fed (16:09.216)
Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (16:14.688)
Thank

Another Triathlon Pod (16:22.938)
I love it. And that really that mindset really embodies triathlon in itself because triathlon has always been this sport that is constantly evolving. We have fewer restrictions so that people can develop new bike technology, develop new wetsuits. Like it has always been that sport where it's like, okay, let's see how we can go as fast as possible and make this cool experience. And it sounds like Challenge Roth has that same mindset.

One part you talked about that made the news before we'll go into the Race Ranger stuff is that you are doing a lot more anti-doping within the age group field as well as the professionals, which we were definitely happy to see. And where I think some people are questioning, is that good or bad for the sport? We think it's an absolutely great thing because we all want to challenge ourselves and see that there's a fair sport going in there. What was, what was kind of the impetus for that? What made you decide to pursue that?

Felix Walchshöfer (17:12.302)
Different things. So first of all, we are working together with National Anti-Doping Association since we founded Challenge in 2002. So every year there were tests. We are working with them very, very closely. Last year there were a lot of discussions around doping. And there was also a really interesting report in German TV that we found was a bit misleading actually, because they asked athletes, did you

buy substances in pharmacies. So you can, for example, in Germany, you cannot buy aspirin in a supermarket. That's illegal. You have to buy it in a pharmacy. So if you take an aspirin, that's fine. Or if you, for example, buy a Voltaren cream because you had an accident while skiing in January and put that Voltaren cream on your ankle, that is out of a doping perspective, totally fine to do so.

Fed (17:51.456)
Felix Walchshöfer (18:09.88)
But what that institute did was to ask, did you buy something in a pharmacy? And everything that was bought in a pharmacy was considered doping, which is not under the NATO code, you know? And that was misleading. And then they had this headline that 20 % of the triathletes are doped. And we said, OK, look, this is really unfair towards the sport, towards the athletes, towards us. It was a very misleading question. So we called NADA and said,

Another Triathlon Pod (18:17.384)
Thank

Felix Walchshöfer (18:38.102)
Nada, can we do something more? And they said, well, we are also really angry that they are not using the code, the Nada code, you know, and what is allowed and what is not allowed. Would you like to meet? And I said, OK, when? Yeah, next week. OK, then we drove up and met. And I think two similar interests collided there, which was fantastic, because Nada said, we have this new dry blood

but anti-doping test, which is a thing that you put on your arm. You click on it, the athlete does it, him or herself. The doctor is standing vis-a-vis of the athlete, watches it, three small needles go in, take three drops of blood, seals itself. It's been given to the doctor. It's been sealed. You write all the documentation. And it is a cheaper thing than if you do a blood exam or urine, you know?

Fed (19:11.488)
the loop.

Another Triathlon Pod (19:16.378)
Thank

Felix Walchshöfer (19:37.13)
So they said, OK, we can do that en masse in the race if you want. And if you support us, and we said, OK, open doors here, you know. And then it was decided that we heavily increase into the age group testing, but also increase in the pro athlete racing. Because every year in Roth, there are more and more pro athletes racing. And so your question was, is this good or bad for the sport?

I say it's very, very good for the sport. Is it good if, because it's still at NADA, it's still in the labs and we are waiting for the results. Is it good or bad if we have a positive probe coming back? It's good. It is good because it shows that it works. Is it good if everything comes back clean? It's also good. So I think antidoping is very, very crucial. It's super great that NADA has invested so much also on a personal

Another Triathlon Pod (20:07.439)
Yes.

Felix Walchshöfer (20:34.446)
level, the CEO of NADA was here, was speaking to the media on Saturday. Media could ask all the questions. They had an information booth on the expo. Every athlete could go, could talk to them, could say, hey, what should I do? What should I not do? There's a lot of things going on at the moment where you get recreational IVs. Hey, that's actually on the list, You know, don't just take it because you like it. You know, if you need it and the...

Fed (20:56.148)
Yeah. Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (20:57.422)
Yep.

Another Triathlon Pod (21:01.348)
Thank

Felix Walchshöfer (21:02.07)
Doctor signs it off, total different thing, you know. But so we are going into education things with the NADA and this is all a very, very good development.

Another Triathlon Pod (21:13.05)
Absolutely. And in a sport where sometimes age groupers are surprised to find out they can't wear headphones on their leg during races, they don't know that something like recreational IVs is not allowed under that code either.

Fed (21:19.131)
Hahaha

Felix Walchshöfer (21:25.292)
Yeah, it's, we always say we have seen everything. I tell you every year we learn something new. For example, this year we learned from a competing athlete that had Pnoynomia that a start of the race with Pnoynomia might not be the best idea. It was kind of okay during the swim, which I'm actually surprised that it wasn't so much of a problem. But then on the bike, it was getting serious. So.

Another Triathlon Pod (21:32.026)
Thank

Fed (21:44.96)
Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (21:44.964)
Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (21:50.234)
Thank you.

Felix Walchshöfer (21:54.914)
We took her off the bike and brought her to hospital. She stayed in hospital until Thursday after the event. She couldn't fly internationally because flying is not allowed if you have Phenomia and the lung had a problem. She made the best out of it. She went to Tour de France. So that was always a big dream. So making the best out of a bad situation and nothing seriously happened. But yeah, every year we learn something new.

Another Triathlon Pod (22:01.858)
goodness.

Fed (22:11.231)
Ugh.

Another Triathlon Pod (22:21.688)
Yeah, and with the anti-doping testing, is there kind of a timeline when you'll get those results back and will it be public coming out or how does how's that handled after?

Fed (22:21.952)
Mm.

Felix Walchshöfer (22:29.452)
Yes, every year we do it public together with NADA. It can take very long from year to year. always is depending to we have have huge sports event because they only have two labs. And if the labs are full, are full, full, if we have a European championship, whatever else, then those get a little bit prioritized. And I think the longest time it took was October when we get them back. And we also don't pay out price money before anti-doping is back.

Another Triathlon Pod (22:50.383)
Gotcha.

Another Triathlon Pod (22:59.306)
Okay.

Felix Walchshöfer (22:59.458)
because we want first to have everything clear, because in that case, for example, the second place getter gets de-qualified, the third would be second, and then we would have to ask the money back from the third, would pay out to the now second, former third, so it's a chaos. So we only do that when everything is back. However, this year there are not a lot of big sporting events for NADA, so we expect to have it beginning September.

Fed (22:59.722)
Mmm.

Fed (23:25.984)
That's very good to hear. That's awesome. we always in the podcast are huge advocates for clean sport and finding ways to make the sport fair and competitive. because the cleaner the sport, the more people bring scene because then everybody sees that yes, we're competing clean, we're competing fair. And yeah, it's amazing that you're going above and beyond.

by doing this and it seems completely logical to me that you pay after you get the results because then you get a huge mess. now speaking about clean sport when it comes to doping and all of that. And now that we're going to touch on the subject of Race Ranger before we jump into that, do you see like a

foreseeable future where Race Ranger is also on the age group field at ROT? Or is that something you've explored or is it just going to stay for the pros only?

Felix Walchshöfer (24:35.854)
For the moment being pros only because there are no devices for age groupers yet from Race Ranger. But Race Ranger is developing very, very fast. When you look back when they invented Race Ranger, they promised us that next year the Race Ranger will have a GPS signal so we can use it in TV, you know, and know exactly where the pros are. So that's next phase for Race Ranger. And then let's see what comes next, you know.

There is lot of discussions on the motorcycles, should the motorcycles have race range as well. James told us with the devices they have at the moment, it would not work because the motorcycle is built differently than a bike. So you can't put it on the front and on the back, it wouldn't work, the signal wouldn't go through. But they are working on that as well. And having said that, because fairness is such an important point for us,

Another Triathlon Pod (25:08.697)
Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (25:30.658)
we do not have a lead vehicle with a clock on top because that's a windbreaker, I would call it. We have one lead motorbike, that's the police driver, and he drives 500 meters ahead of the first. So there is no problem. We decided after the horrible incident in Hamburg, Armin Hamburg, with the dead motorcycle driver, that we ban all media motorcycles because they were really the problems as well. Because every photographer

wanted to have a shot of the first. So there was a huge queue always, and there were always motorcycles next to the first one. So we put, I think it was 40 motorcycles, of course said, OK, you can drive from outside. You can stop at the points, do a photo, jump on the motorcycle. You're taking back routes to the next photo spot. So we have actually three.

camera motorcycles for the men, three for the women because we want to treat equal. We want to have the same time, air time for men and women. And then we have the referees and that's it. And there are two extra motorcycles. That's me and my sister because we go out and thank everyone at the aid station, the hotspots. I mean, you can see very clearly also on the stream, the motorcycle drivers are driving behind or

next to it on streets where it's wide enough or the long lens cameras 50 meters to the front or whatever else, you know. So I think this is all a handable and it's not a big issue in Roth. It's a big issue in other events where the motorcycle driver is driving in front of the athlete, which is stupid. But having said that, coming back to Race Ranger, if they develop that device, we are very interested in if they are developing a device for age groupers as well will definitely

Another Triathlon Pod (27:14.606)
Yeah.

Fed (27:16.511)
Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (27:26.337)
look into that as well.

Another Triathlon Pod (27:28.602)
That's fantastic. Yeah. And that's what it seems to be what challenge does is just your dynamic, your fast changing. When things like that happen, you adjust how you run your race. It's not years of let's talk about it and see if maybe we'll make some changes. It's okay. This is a problem. Let's fix it. Let's keep moving forward.

Felix Walchshöfer (27:46.476)
Yeah, this is the good thing if it's a family-owned business. If I'm getting a question, I am accountable. I have to answer that question. I can't phone everyone, anyone above me, you know? And that's a good thing because we can do very quick decisions. And the race racer decision came up to us on Friday before the event when we did the briefing of the pro athletes.

Another Triathlon Pod (27:49.882)
Mm-hmm.

Fed (27:50.334)
Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (27:56.28)
Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (28:03.514)
Mm-hmm.

Another Triathlon Pod (28:09.539)
Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (28:12.638)
And Sam Laidlaw asked that question and I applied it back to the athletes and said, okay, if there are no valid reasons not to do it, I'm open, so let's do a vote. Is there anybody who's against it? No hand was raised, applause was raised, and then we decided to do it. And yeah.

Fed (28:24.362)
Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (28:34.284)
I was very surprised on the question actually. I hated Sam a little bit because he could have at least told me two minutes beforehand. So I could have thought a little bit about it, but I love Sam. I absolutely love Sam. He has such a big heart. He speaks what he thinks, super reliable and a huge advocate for a clean and safe and fair sport.

Another Triathlon Pod (28:34.414)
That is a good one,

Another Triathlon Pod (28:39.327)
Thank you.

Fed (28:39.348)
Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (28:57.242)
Mm-hmm. And that's funny, just that timing of it that in the moment, the days before the race making such a big announcement, really, because this hasn't been done before, Race Ranger, they have all the data from the different races that have been done, but no one's ever released it before. So that in the moment, you are just like, hey, that's valid. Let's ask the question to the audience. And especially in that format where everyone's sitting there, of course, you don't want to be the pro athlete who's putting up their hand and saying, no, don't want to be out there. So let's do it.

Fed (28:57.546)
Mm.

Felix Walchshöfer (29:25.944)
However, I have to say if there would have been a valid point against it, then we should have also thought about it. But until now, I don't actually see a valid point. the good reaction was also none of the pro athletes also approached us under fear eyes afterwards or called me or called Belinda or Andrea, who is responsible for rules and regulations in the race.

to say, hey, I was afraid to speak up, but I really don't feel well with this decision. It didn't happen. And I also pre-informed all the pros two days before the announcement so that they would know it before we even invited the media for the presentation of the data. yeah. And it also, because a lot of people said, it's going to be a witch hunt. No, I don't want it to be a witch hunt. I think it's an

Another Triathlon Pod (30:10.17)
Mm-hmm.

Felix Walchshöfer (30:19.52)
educational process, you know, it's the first time that it's being open. think people will look differently on it now. Everyone knows now from now on in Roth, the data will always be published. It's not a one off because what I hate is, let's do a marketing cool. Let's do a one off thing, you know, and then next year we forget about it. No, if we do something, then it's reliable, it's long lasting, and it must make sense. And I think it's an educational process.

Another Triathlon Pod (30:38.916)
Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (30:49.81)
And we also saw when we compared the data, James showed us the data from last year in comparison to this year, all already was better, you know, because the people had the awareness, hey, it's going to be published, you know, and I'll take a little bit of extra care.

Another Triathlon Pod (30:58.51)
Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (31:07.564)
Yeah, and with everyone knowing that it was going to be published and put out there, were you surprised by any of the results or the data that came back?

Fed (31:07.904)
Mmm.

Felix Walchshöfer (31:16.908)
I was very grateful and thankful to see that especially the first men and women had zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero. So completely legit race. No one was arguing it. No one could say, but I think he or she drafted. No, no, no. Look at the data. End of the story. And that's also the feedback that we got from our first men and women where they said, hey, it's actually really cool because I don't have to prove myself. The data showed.

Another Triathlon Pod (31:24.312)
Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (31:39.215)
Mm-hmm.

Another Triathlon Pod (31:43.459)
Yeah.

Fed (31:43.69)
No.

Felix Walchshöfer (31:44.856)
You know, and it's awesome. That's also really, really good. They can also show that to their sponsors, et cetera, et cetera. So it's a very good asset. At the back end of the field, I have to say I was a bit surprised, The good thing about the data was you could really look deep inside how many yo-yos, et cetera, et cetera. But I think, as I said before, it's an educational process. don't think

Another Triathlon Pod (32:06.042)
Thank

Felix Walchshöfer (32:13.908)
If the athlete is racing again, that is going to happen again.

Another Triathlon Pod (32:17.7)
you

Fed (32:17.768)
Yeah, totally. I think you handled it very well and putting you on the spot there and putting you to a vote. Belinda was also telling us this story that you were very political about it and you wanted to be sure that nobody was against it. So that speaks very good of yourself. And I think like I reckon it only becomes a witch hunt if you want it to become a witch hunt. Like the way I see it.

Felix Walchshöfer (32:45.13)
Absolutely. Absolutely.

Fed (32:46.526)
Yeah. The way I see it is if you have the data and you publish it, it only elevates the sport. It only makes everything clear and the clearer the path, the better it is for everyone. you can have it's like a, yeah, the more information you have and the more you applied, the better it is for everyone. So I think it's only good for the sport that this data becomes available and on the live stream and everything, just because it becomes more professional in a way.

So yeah, I think you handled it very well and can't wait to see where this goes and where this develops in the future.

Felix Walchshöfer (33:26.19)
Absolutely. you know, I have two main principles for this race. It has to be safe. That's number one. And number two is it has to be fair. And everything else comes after those two points. And Race Ranger and also the publication of the data plays definitely on the fairness point, big time. And that is good.

Another Triathlon Pod (33:48.014)
That's fantastic. And that definitely gives the race the reputation it has from the athlete, the pro athlete and the age group athlete participating that it's athlete first. Everything else is added to it. But right now we've seen a lot of evolution and trap on over the last little while with the start of the PTO. We've got the Ironman series and Super Try and everything else going on for the pros racing right now. Where do you see kind of challenge Roth and the challenge family events within this changing landscape?

Felix Walchshöfer (33:56.931)
Mm-hmm.

Felix Walchshöfer (34:19.31)
I think Roth will always be there and Roth will never change the principles. And one of my principles is I want the best in Roth racing point. And thank God I have Belinda on my side to assist me on that. But Roth is now right after Kona, the second most important race in the world. And it has the eyeballs, it has the big sponsors, it has the big preems for pro athletes racing here and not at other races.

the air times, cetera, et cetera. So it makes so much sense to race Roth. And then Roth doesn't need to be in the PTO series or in the Ironman Pro series because it survives on its own. And this is the thing what I said before, we are always looking long-term. We can't do that with money. We couldn't do it in the past as well.

We are very credible, we are reliable and the athletes love that. this is why I think Roth will always be on top of the game, having a very, very good pro race, men and women, of course. And yeah, we also keep investing in that. It's very, very important. We have doubled the prize money this year. We are now in the platinum status of PTO. So we are also

Another Triathlon Pod (35:29.562)
Thank you.

Felix Walchshöfer (35:40.814)
collaborating with all the different players. Family, of course, we help out races with slots to get them going. We work with PTO on different things. year, Jesse Dubay, one of the owners of Iron Man, and Scotty Reaver in Roth, which I found an amazing sign. I was very grateful.

because it's always better to talk with each other and get to know each other than talk about each other, you know? And it was a great sign that PTO was here, family was here, Iron Man was here, everyone in Roth loved it.

Another Triathlon Pod (36:12.346)
Thanks

Another Triathlon Pod (36:18.988)
Yeah, we haven't seen that kind of collaboration between the different race series in the past, right? Everyone's been very isolated, like you said, talking about each other instead of to each other. So that's definitely a good sign for the sport that there is some collaboration. And I think a lot of it is them wanting to learn from Roth because it does have such an iconic history and just reputation within the sport. And I think you're the only race selling out in minutes instead of months.

Fed (36:45.024)
I am heartbreaking, heartbreaking. This year, every year, no, no slot. Trying.

Felix Walchshöfer (36:57.004)
Yeah, it's crazy. It's also crazy for me to see when the laser show is over, I thank the team. We had a beer and went to the bouncing castle and then we walked back to the place and we see the line that is already there. Hundreds and hundreds of meters and hundreds of athletes that start queuing at three o'clock in the afternoon to get a slot next morning at 10 o'clock. And then the line goes...

Another Triathlon Pod (37:08.728)
the system.

Felix Walchshöfer (37:23.36)
all the way down in the city and yeah, more than half of the people, actually couldn't give a slot and they queued for hours. It's heartbreaking. It's absolutely heartbreaking. And then on Monday after the event, there were 20,000 people on the server trying to get a slot and it's crazy. It's really crazy. I'm very thankful for it. But I also feel with everyone who's missing out and maybe even missing out for years.

Fed (37:30.336)
Yeah.

Fed (37:43.776)
Thank

Another Triathlon Pod (37:50.842)
And how so how quickly did it sell out this year on the online registration set of curiosity?

Felix Walchshöfer (37:56.526)
And the German, because we split the continent because we want 50 % slots for foreigners, because we don't want to be a German event. Because that brings the salt, say, you know, and that's also here in the community. They want all corners of the world coming, you know? And so the German continent was sold out after 18 seconds. And I think the

Fed (38:03.462)
Okay.

Fed (38:19.302)
Woof.

Another Triathlon Pod (38:19.394)
Felix Walchshöfer (38:21.76)
really was even faster, plus the international, I think it was 22 seconds. It was insane. Mika is actually using the same server cluster than for the marathon in Berlin, because the pressure per slot is actually the same.

Fed (38:26.766)
my god, that's insane.

Another Triathlon Pod (38:35.938)
wow. The traffic is crazy.

Fed (38:39.072)
Wow. That's... Yeah, I'm curious. Is there like, do you have per year, like how fast it has sellout and you have like, this year is our benchmark. We need 44 seconds. That's the goal.

Another Triathlon Pod (38:43.098)
That is unreal and that's something that you don't see in any other triathlons.

Felix Walchshöfer (39:02.134)
It is actually every year it's getting faster. We have the records from the last years and every year it's faster. And every year it's more people on the server because that's also an important sign for us. Are there 2000 people trying to get 2000 slots or are there 4000 people or are there 20,000 people? Because it shows us the interest. And that's one thing that we observe but also for example, when you look on our YouTube channel,

Fed (39:04.905)
Wow.

Felix Walchshöfer (39:29.966)
The stream from 2024 compared to the stream 2025, we have now, and the stream is only up for three weeks now, already 120,000 more on the 2025 stream. Despite the 2024 stream has been on YouTube for a year and everyone was training on it, you know, in the winter. So it's interesting. So it's all going up dramatically. The interest is going up. The sponsor interest is going up.

Fed (39:49.355)
Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (39:51.086)
Mm-hmm.

Felix Walchshöfer (39:59.222)
In former years, can't tell you how many sponsors I had to ring and they said, no, not really. And now everyone wants to be a partner, you know, and that's also one thing. We're very, very loyal to our partners that work with us for a lot of times. have two partners that sponsor us since 84. They don't give us any money, Frankenbrunnen gives us the water and Veolia is the local waste company.

Fed (40:09.162)
Yeah.

Fed (40:21.119)
Wow.

Felix Walchshöfer (40:28.172)
that takes care that the county is completely clean after one day again, and we have enough what we need, you know? And I'm very grateful for those partnerships because they are long lasting and I don't really like to change partners or sponsors if it's a good relationship. And it's not only that the money thing that everyone thinks out there, but for example, with Kenyon, they are doing a special Roth edition bike.

that they announce worldwide. mean, how cool is that? know, we have one in the office, we have number one in the office. And that's for me, yeah, more than if they increase the check, you know, it's cool. It's really cool. It's called laser show. And it has the graphic of the laser show on it. And yeah, this is when I say, okay, I love the collaboration. I love the partnership. Same with Hoka.

Another Triathlon Pod (40:57.242)
of the

Another Triathlon Pod (41:11.028)
it's good.

Fed (41:11.936)
Felix Walchshöfer (41:20.398)
It's very cool. mean, Hoka was bringing a hot air balloon that was stationary on the expo and you can go up and down, you know. It was awesome.

Another Triathlon Pod (41:27.886)
That's incredible. And if you're watching on YouTube here, you've just seen that Josh has joined us on the call. Josh, good to have you along. How are you doing?

Fed (41:27.978)
Wow.

Josh (41:37.367)
Glad to finally be here. was busy chatting, triathlon myself, in another meetings. I couldn't get out of that one, but, happy to be here. And I think that partnership thing that one of the things that impressed me a lot this year and in the past few years is the amount of international brands that you're getting there too. And it's U S and European brands. It's not just the German brands. So that that's amazing.

Another Triathlon Pod (41:41.625)
Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (42:00.29)
No, it's even Wynn from Australia. They were here the first time, you know, it was the first time that they went to Europe and they showcased their products here and I loved it. It's really, want all the companies here, we don't have exclusivities on the expo because I want to have this broad spectrum. people who are even not racing, they come here because of the expo.

They want to see it. It's free of charge, free admission. It's really cool to come. And yeah, we also kind of recruit a lot of spectators out of athletes coming that are not racing, but that they just want to see the full package. They want to go to the expo. They want to see the race. Maybe they want to volunteer or they want to queue on Monday to get a slot. And it's very, very cool. And expo is a very big part of it.

Another Triathlon Pod (42:51.032)
Yeah, absolutely.

Josh (42:51.095)
You're going to have a queue for the expo soon now too?

Felix Walchshöfer (42:54.226)
We actually had a waiting list for the expo as well. We killed part of our parking lot to have expo on it as well this year. And still we had a waiting list. Waiting list for expo, waiting list for athletes, waiting list for volunteers. It's crazy.

Another Triathlon Pod (43:10.84)
Yeah, as we mentioned at the top of the podcast here, we're sponsored by ManaParel and it's a team that we all race with as well. And we've been having quite a few discussions within the team and how we need to be over at the Challenge Roth Expo because it's absolutely iconic and we just want an excuse to go there anyway. we will definitely be setting that up because it is such an iconic experience.

Josh (43:25.559)
Okay.

Fed (43:25.991)
Hehehehe

Felix Walchshöfer (43:26.68)
Very good.

Felix Walchshöfer (43:31.042)
But this is also the great thing, also all the companies that are not sponsor of the event, they do their own thing here. They do fun runs, they do a lot of different things and we encourage them, you know, because the more it is done, the more attractive it is for the community.

Another Triathlon Pod (43:47.352)
Yeah, absolutely. Now with your own experience with triathlon growing up with it and being so close to it, but a lot more on the organizer side, what's been your experience racing triathlon? It sounds like you've done a few, but have you gotten the chance to do the full Roth experience and taken off the race director hat for a bit or kind of balancing both?

Felix Walchshöfer (44:06.99)
I'm German, but I hate soccer. I absolutely hate soccer. I have no clue and it is definitely not my kind of sport. So that was my outing. So what I did as a kid, I was in the athletics club, loved athletics, loved swimming as well. And then it got a bit too boring. Just the athletics and then a lot of the triathlon clubs here in the region.

Another Triathlon Pod (44:12.698)
That's what you hear often.

Josh (44:13.376)
you

Another Triathlon Pod (44:20.086)
Thank

Felix Walchshöfer (44:35.886)
get their kids out of swimming and athletic clubs and etc etc. And then I started triathlon myself with 11 years I think and then I did triathlon until I finished school and then I had the military service for a year and then I went to uni so yeah I was running a bit but I didn't really do it anymore and then in 2000

2007 my dad died. He was seriously ill, had a very seldom lung disease. We had a double-side lung transplantation in 2005. That was when I had to hang up my studies because my mom couldn't have done it alone. So I went to a private university, Friday afternoon and evening, Saturday and Sunday and worked Monday to Friday midday.

for two years and when dad was lying on his deathbed he was very clear until the end and that was actually cool because he said, hey, I want to speak to every one of you. And he said, is there anything you want to tell me? want that when we, yeah, when I die,

that there is nothing that hasn't been spoken about, you know? And that was very, very cool. And I said, no, dad, actually, you know everything. And thank you so much. And I said, is there anything that you expect from me or want me to do? And he said, well, yeah, two things. Take care of mom and your sister and take care of the company. And also do a full distance triathlon, because you've never done one. And for your credibility, it would be really good. And so he died.

Another Triathlon Pod (46:27.354)
you

Felix Walchshöfer (46:29.342)
in October and I didn't do anything at that time because I took care for the company, I took care for family, dad, I didn't do anything. And then I rang my good friend, Susa, my trainer and said, Susa, I'll be racing Challenge Wanaka. That was a full distance back then in January. And she said, okay, you're completely crazy. I said, yes, I'm doing it with you or without you.

Fed (46:56.351)
Yeah

Felix Walchshöfer (46:56.812)
without you, it's way more dangerous. And she said, you're blackmailing me and I hate you for that, but come by, we're sitting together. And then I trained here in the snow and it was terrible to train here in winter. And then I flew over, think four weeks ahead and stayed with the race director there, Victoria Marie who is one of my best friends and who is working for family now as well. And

Another Triathlon Pod (46:57.532)
Thank

Fed (46:59.744)
Hahaha

Felix Walchshöfer (47:25.302)
I think on Christmas, I told it to my mom and to my sister because Susa, my trainer, blackmailed me, said, if you don't tell it to your mom and sister, they are going to kill me. So tell it. then I think three days before the event, I actually told Victoria that I need a bib number and she thought I was insane as well. And then I raised Wanaka that year. And it was really good for myself, for mom and for my sister because it was, we were in deep grief of my dad, but

Another Triathlon Pod (47:34.938)
Thank

Felix Walchshöfer (47:55.27)
It was kind of a new start, you know. I fulfilled the wish of dad, but it was also kind of okay. And now let's move on, you know. Dad would have never wanted that we are in grief for the rest of our lives. So let's move ahead. And then the year after, I went down to Wanaka again with a good friend and we raced together. And then in 2014,

I called Susie again and said, Hey, I have this wonderful idea. I'm going to raise Roth. And she said, okay, you're completely crazy again. How is that going to work? You will work until Saturday night. And then you switch to an athlete. Yeah, that's actually my plan. And she said, so tapering and yeah, Susie, sorry, will not happen. And I will do stupid stuff if you don't train me. And then she said, okay, I'll train you. And that was 2014. And I told my directors and everyone else, think.

Another Triathlon Pod (48:34.904)
Yes.

Another Triathlon Pod (48:45.466)
you

Fed (48:45.76)
You

Felix Walchshöfer (48:52.814)
the day before the race. Tomorrow, actually, I'm not doing what I'm normally doing. Catherine will take over full responsibility. And then I raced in 2014. And then I learned so much about the race again. I was there on motorcycles every year. I know everything inside out. I know the course, everything. But the intensity of the work of our volunteers and the dedication was even new to me.

Another Triathlon Pod (48:54.616)
Go.

Felix Walchshöfer (49:22.688)
And it made me very, very grateful, getting really emotional because to see what they do and how they do it, it's not, you have to hand over bottles, you know, it is full passion and everything for the athlete. And it gives me the feeling that I'm not standing out there alone and I'm the head of the thing and I'm the CEO and I'm whatever.

Another Triathlon Pod (49:27.246)
Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (49:33.934)
Thank you.

Felix Walchshöfer (49:48.898)
But I have a full army behind me who back me up. And if I fall over on race morning and am dead, no one will see it because they are so amazing and their work is so great. And I think that that's also one of the amazing things. And I'm very proud. I'm very, proud. it gave me completely new perspective. It also gave me a new perspective.

I mean, I walked four hours on the marathon because I worked until midnight Saturday. I forgot to eat on Saturday, which is also not so clever. And I got to know this amazing athletes with me and we walked together mile after mile. got to know their life stories. got to know mine and yeah, we are in contact until now, you know, and it was, it was one of the best days in my life. And I, I.

Another Triathlon Pod (50:19.404)
Yeah.

Fed (50:23.102)
Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (50:24.097)
Thank you.

Felix Walchshöfer (50:41.986)
Definitely wouldn't like to miss it. It was all worth it and gave me new perspectives.

Fed (50:48.384)
Yeah.

Josh (50:48.471)
I think you touched on another waitlist too. Isn't there a waitlist for the volunteers as well? And how many volunteers?

Felix Walchshöfer (50:53.836)
Yeah, we actually have 7,500.

Another Triathlon Pod (50:59.776)
Mm-hmm. You know, and that's a feeling that you bring to thousands of athletes every year. So it's cool that you got to experience it from that perspective too, because there is something truly special when you feel that kind of support in an event, when you're trying to chase your own goals or do something that feels crazy.

Fed (51:01.216)
for it.

Felix Walchshöfer (51:15.426)
And I think it's also driving force here for me personally, but for everyone in the office. People trust in us and hand us over a big amount of money one year before the event. And they trust in us that we are doing something really good with their money, you know? And this is always why I tell everyone, okay, the expectations in us are very high and we gonna exceed the expectation. That's the goal, you know? And even people who have raised here, we need to exceed their...

Fed (51:15.774)
Mmm.

Felix Walchshöfer (51:44.01)
expectations as well. And with that team and those volunteers and the community here in the county, yeah, we can.

Another Triathlon Pod (51:51.706)
Yeah, so I used to, I used to coach for Chris McCormick's team for a while and we definitely did a number of challenge races as team events there going around to like Challenge Penticton, Challenge Atlantic City and stuff. And what do you think, it doesn't seem like challenges really taken hold in North America so much as it has in Europe, obviously Challenge Roth. Do you have any insight to maybe why that is or why they haven't been successful in expanding there?

Fed (51:51.84)
Totally.

Felix Walchshöfer (52:17.774)
I the North American market is a bit different to the European market. Having said that, I'm very proud today I had a look into our participant list. Participating nation number two after Germany is the United States next year. And that is massive. And Canada is in the top five. So it's amazing to see the interest of North American athletes into Roth. And I think a lot

Another Triathlon Pod (52:35.363)
fantastic.

Felix Walchshöfer (52:46.71)
changed and maybe it was a bit too early. Penticton was a bit of a problem. was over there myself and I think Penticton had exactly the same possibility than Roth. I talked with the city and I said take it over, do it yourself. You have such an amazing community here. This is like at home. You can absolutely see it. I think the problem is that back then they were a bit burned by Iron Man and they said okay

We want to do everything from the city. And I said, look, the idea is good, but you need a professional organizer here because you can't just... This person does this a little bit and this person does this a little bit. Someone has to have the head. Someone has to have the responsibility. Otherwise, it's not going to work. And they didn't like this idea. And that was really, really sad. And maybe it was a bit too early.

Now in Canada, have a new long distance event coming next year and we're supporting the race with 200 slots as well, because I want that it works. The community there, the mayor, everyone, there were so many racing in Roth this year, and they are taking home this idea. The organizer was here with his main staff. They were here to take all that

Another Triathlon Pod (53:58.829)
Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (54:16.226)
home. And I do think it's the right place in Quebec City to do it. And the city is even bigger than here. They have an international airport. So many things are easier than here on rural Roth. And that's a good thing. And it might take some time. But as I said before, Roth took also time. But it's always better if it takes time, if it's done the right way, if it's long lasting, and then it's going to be

Fed (54:31.552)
you

Felix Walchshöfer (54:45.324)
working for the athletes, for the community, and for everyone.

Another Triathlon Pod (54:49.05)
Yeah, and that's something I'm up here in Canada. So that's been a race that I've been looking at on and off here to see if I need to make a trip over to Quebec. Because it's definitely, like I said, the other challenge events I've done have been a really cool atmosphere and stuff. would be cool to see it over in Quebec and just be able to experience that race because Canada is kind of lacking in the long distance events here. So it's nice to see some more coming to Canada.

Fed (54:49.45)
Totally.

Felix Walchshöfer (55:13.262)
Yeah. So very welcoming community there. I really liked it. I was over there for the media conference and I only had two days because it was shortly before Roth and I couldn't take free time for longer. But the team there and everyone I met, it was amazing. It was really amazing. And I really trust them. I trust in Dominique. He was the race director of Montreux Blanc. He was the race director of the championship there, 70.3. He knows what he does. He's a good team.

Fed (55:14.56)
Totally.

Felix Walchshöfer (55:43.234)
He's very, very eager to learn. He calls me every month. What do you think? How should I do it? Can you help me? Yes, I can, Dominik, because I want that it succeeds. I want that it is a prestige event in the years to come.

Fed (55:58.538)
Yeah, totally. So first of all, thank you for sharing that story with us. I think it really resonates with all of us. And to me, it seems that you're the type of leader that leads with the example. like getting out there, race. And I think that's why we love the sport. I think stories like that are what makes us go back every single time.

And that every big number, it's just not a number. Like every big number has a story. Every big number has its own challenges and trials and tribulations. And some might be racing for the win and some might be racing for to, to transcend a deep pain or to connect with someone that's not here. And I think that's why we love the sport so much. And I think the sense of community, it's the key part of

success in triathlon. I think that's why challenge events are unique in every single place. for instance, I've raised Challenge Wanaka a couple of times and I love, I go back every single time because I just love the community. They take me as one of their own and I just love being there and they love the sport. They bring the community together and I think that's what Rod

does, but like in a larger, bigger worldwide scale. the question is for first timers racing rough, if you were to give them a checklist, how to maximize their experience or what to look for, what they need to know, like where do they need to fly? If it's better to rent an RV or a car, where should they stay? Like what are the, like the,

best things to make their experience more pleasant.

Josh (57:58.517)
asking for a friend.

Fed (58:00.144)
Asking for a friend!

Another Triathlon Pod (58:00.394)
Thank

Felix Walchshöfer (58:01.326)
I think the most important thing for Roth is come early and not only the internationals I say exactly the same thing for the Germans indulge in the whole thing come here feel it because You can see it on TV. You can see it on YouTube. You can speak to people It's all nice and everyone will tell you the same But you cannot know what Roth is if you haven't felt it you have to feel it not to see it but to feel it and it is such a different thing when you're here and

Even in the weeks and days before, know, our Australian travel group, they arrive here 10 days before, you know. It's so cool to see them when we are still building up and it's huge chaos out there. It's awesome. They love it, you know, and take your time, come in early. And then we have a lot of different things. We have a homestay program. We have the huge camping sites. We have glamping out on the Ross Lake, you know.

Fed (58:43.488)
Okay.

Felix Walchshöfer (58:58.22)
We have hotels, have the whole travel tours where you can stay in Nürnberg or Schwabach, or here where everything is taken care of for you. It is just like how you want. We have enough possibilities. And then I would say really dive into the whole week. Bring your family. We have enough attractions for the family members, for everybody. As I said before, we have rock concerts on Market Square organized by the City for the Triathletes as the welcome party.

We have cultural exhibitions. Last year we had our own museum about 40 years in ROTH, Triathlon in ROTH, with bikes from 1984 and stuff like that. So there's so many things to discover. We have the expo, we have the fun runs, we have the kids triathlons, we have the company try a triathlon. So many things to do. Enjoy the beer garden, enjoy the food. We don't only have beer and sausages, we actually have some triathlete food as well here.

Another Triathlon Pod (59:37.722)
Okay.

Fed (59:56.382)
Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (59:57.4)
Thank you.

Felix Walchshöfer (59:57.838)
And yeah, just enjoy it. Come early, take your time and don't see it as another event. Go there, wreck the bike, do the race and then because you would miss so much. And also take the time to come back or stay here. We have shower facilities for everybody. We have 200

Fed (01:00:09.791)
Mm.

Fed (01:00:15.263)
Okay.

Felix Walchshöfer (01:00:22.35)
physios here, you know, we are equipped for everything. know, we have our own hospital here at the place because our county is equipped with a hospital for 120,000 citizens and we bring in 300,000. So actually, by law, we have to have our own hospital. 64 beds, four intensive care units, two operation beds, a truck with blood with...

Fed (01:00:24.671)
Wow.

Another Triathlon Pod (01:00:29.818)
I'm gonna get it.

Another Triathlon Pod (01:00:45.495)
Thank

Felix Walchshöfer (01:00:49.246)
everything. The only things we cannot do is x-ray and MRT. Everything else can be actually done here. So we're for everything and hang around, wait until the laser show, celebrate with everybody. And it's just this huge community thing coming together. Even athletes that are traveling on their own, have single tables. If you want to mingle, have single tables. In English and German, there are beach flags. as I said before, we think

Another Triathlon Pod (01:01:14.232)
Fed (01:01:14.686)
Hahaha!

Another Triathlon Pod (01:01:17.084)
That's okay.

Felix Walchshöfer (01:01:19.136)
in every detail and you will be surprised what you find in Ross. And I think that's the thing that I encourage everyone. Go on the voyage, come here and we'll definitely surprise you.

Josh (01:01:30.837)
And what happens at the post-race party stays at the post-race party.

Another Triathlon Pod (01:01:33.946)
you

Felix Walchshöfer (01:01:34.23)
Still the case. Belinda Granger is a big favorite at that party. I remember one year, and I hope Belinda is not angry at me telling that, Martin, he's our head chaplain for NADA since many, years, but he also had a band. And the band was playing at the after-after show party. So after the volunteers party, we go downtown and...

Fed (01:01:35.006)
Hahaha

Josh (01:01:35.831)
Ha

Another Triathlon Pod (01:01:38.986)
Yeah.

Felix Walchshöfer (01:02:02.074)
We rent the so-called Kulturfabrik, it's a cultural institution that we rent out, have a bar in there and dance floors and stuff. And they were playing. And Belinda was maybe a little bit drunk because she was lying on the bar with me getting mouth shots. And then Martin's father was coming because he wanted to see his son. She knew the father, but she got a bit...

Fed (01:02:18.752)
Yeah.

Another Triathlon Pod (01:02:25.081)
Yeah.

Fed (01:02:25.408)
Mmm.

Felix Walchshöfer (01:02:29.038)
surprised why is he coming with an entourage, why is he coming with the police forces, why is there a limousine standing outside? Yeah, well, Belinda, it's the Minister of Justice. So, and in that moment when he came in, Belinda was taking off the shirts of the pro man that raised and this is when the Minister of Justice appeared to see his son crying. And yeah, that's after show party. Now, many, many

Fed (01:02:41.102)
Fed (01:02:49.777)
Bye.

Another Triathlon Pod (01:02:53.018)
Thank

Josh (01:02:54.305)
Hahaha.

Another Triathlon Pod (01:02:56.228)
you

Fed (01:02:57.597)
Felix Walchshöfer (01:02:58.318)
good stories hanging out. Our volunteers come with, the sponsors come with, expo participants go down there, the pros all come. And it's just a really nice night where we say, thank God everything went well. It was a great year. Thanks for everybody. And yeah, it's a good party.

Another Triathlon Pod (01:03:18.446)
think Belinda wouldn't mind telling that story at all. We asked her if she could do a triathlon and add a fourth discipline that would give her the edge. And she said the after party. Give her the after party and then she would win every race.

Fed (01:03:19.296)
Wow

Josh (01:03:25.223)
I'm joking.

Felix Walchshöfer (01:03:28.474)
It's also very, Jeff Belinda there is very helpful when we had the after party still here. It was way too loud, it was way too long and the police was coming to close it down. And then Belinda talked into the police officers to give us an extra hour. And you know what? They gave us an extra hour. So Belinda on site is always a good thing.

Another Triathlon Pod (01:03:47.686)
Priceless. Well, thank you so much, Felix. We've definitely taken up a lot of your time here and we so appreciate you coming on because, we've all been watching this race from the outside and it's absolutely iconic. So it's fun to learn a little bit more about it and just everything that goes into making it the experience that it is. But we will be following along. We look forward to seeing who's racing there next year and the rest of the challenge series as well.

Fed (01:03:48.902)
Thank you.

Felix Walchshöfer (01:03:52.726)
No worries.

Felix Walchshöfer (01:04:12.526)
Wonderful. Thank you very much, guys. Thanks for taking time. It was a really nice podcast. Thank you.

Another Triathlon Pod (01:04:18.05)
pleasure. Have a great evening.

Felix Walchshöfer (01:04:20.13)
Thanks.

Fed (01:04:21.13)
Thanks.