To create more space on the course and thus minimize crowding for athletes, slight changes have been made to the Challenge Almere-Amsterdam schedule. On Saturday, September 9, the elite women (Long Distance) will start at 7:10 am and the elite men (Long Distance) will follow at 7:25 am.
This is the first time in Almere the pro women will start earlier than the pro men. “This prevents the very fastest Age Groupers from getting in between the women’s pro field (too fast). Thanks to this, a lot of athletes will experience a lot more space out there on our course,” explained by Race Director Richard Belderok. From 7:30 am the first Age Groupers competing at the European Championships will start and from 7:50 am the athletes competing in the Long Distance Open Series will also start their race. The Long Distance will start in several waves.
The Middle Distance starts, not in waves but still with a rolling start, at 9:40 am. “Because of this schedule, we will be able to provide another great day for the thousands of triathletes without having them constantly racing in crowds and having to make an effort not to draft.”
Challenge Almere-Amsterdam is Europe’s oldest Long Distance race and the second-oldest in the world. This year’s events include the European Championships Long Distance, but there will also be an Open Series Long Distance, a Middle Distance and several side events such as a Junior Challenge, Business & Family Relay and No-Limit Challenge. Challenge Almere-Amsterdam is well-known as one of the fastest races in the world with a course record of 7:37:46 (Kristian Hogenhaug) and 8:32:05 (Sarissa de Vries).
Registrations for Challenge Almere-Amsterdam via https://challenge-almere.com/. Full schedule here.
