As you all know, it’s a weird year. We almost haven’t had any events, as most had to be cancelled or postponed, cause of the COVID19-virus. In a normal year, at the end of this month CHALLENGEGUNSAN-SAEMANGEUM, our race in Korea, would have taken place. Unfortunately this race couldn’t happen as well, but the team in Korea thought of something else to bring some excitement to their local community. The result: the world’s first several-day indoor triathlon event!
The event consists of three rounds. In the first round, every athlete had the chance to qualify for the semi-finals. During 15 rounds, in more than 20 different cities, over 500 participants joined the online cycling event, trying to qualify for the semi-finals.
In partnership with local fitness centers in 6 different cities, the semi-finals were hosted. “Because smart rollers are quite expensive to buy for amateur triathletes themselves, CHALLENGEKOREA collaborated with several cycling- and triathlon training centers, so everyone could join this event”, explains CEO Kyungho Kwak.
Unfortunately, just before the third round of the semi-finals, the event had to stop, because of new restrictions applied by the local authorities. The Super Final, which would be held in CHALLENGEGUNSAN-SAEMANGEUM’s race weekend, is also canceled for now. The local team is trying to find a new date later this year to continue with the indoor series. “For now it’s difficult, but we want to do everything to give the athletes an opportunity to race this year”, says general manager Minseung Kim.
Very fair cancelation options CHALLENGEGUNSAN-SAEMANGEUM 2020
As said, CHALLENGEGUNSAN-SAEMANGEUM can’t take place this year. However, we’re happy that for this race the team is able to offer very fair cancelation options, while we know they are also suffering and are impacted by the situation a lot:
- Athletes had the opportunity to get a full refund
- Athletes could receive a CHALLENGEGUNSAN-SAEMANGEUM tri suit, -backpack, and a wooden trophy -to store the medals of the online event-. Next to that, the athletes will get a 50% discount for next year’s event.
The registration for next year’s CHALLENGEGUNSAN-SAEMANGEUM, taking place in September 2021, will open soon.
