Challenge Roth 2026 - Fiona
Team ‘The Master & the Appentice’
What a place to race! The atmosphere and organisation is exactly if not more than what is hyped up. 300,000 spectators on race day, 7500 volunteers and the biggest expo you can imagine.
We were fortunate for good weather - overcast, 27 degrees and a bit of a feisty wind.
Swim - water Temp 25deg = A Non wet suit swim in the murky canal. The relay teams didn’t kick off until 0920! 700 teams, I went off in wave 1 with 200 others. 6mins of treading water before the gun went off. From that moment it was hectic, old style mass start navigating between bodies and getting smashed from all directions until everyone spread out and I was left at the front of the middle pack. Following the first turn around was a strong head wind and current and by the 2000m mark I decided I’d had enough of my feet been tapped so swung out and jumped back a couple of spots to save some energy. The final turn was met with relief and felt fast after the battle of the wind and in no time the swim was done. 3.8km Time 1H02m
Run to T1 was long but met with Kate to speed up transition (I’m sure we were the only team of 2)… onto the bike - a beautiful 2 lap course with smooth roads, rolling hills, fun switch backs, gorgeous landscape & crowds through every little village. The famous climb up Solar Hill was super fun, although less crowds than the pro’s the energy was still electric. The wind gusted up to 50km/hr which was felt more on Lap 2 and resulted in seeing a few crash victims on the sidelines of the road. Rounding out the final leg to T2 my job was done, dismounted, threw the bike at the amazing volunteer and sprinted down the hill to meet Kate to hand over the timing chip for that Marathon leg (no regrets about that!)… Bike 180km 5H15m
I got to finish my day cheering on not only my teamie but the rest of the FTC crew while enjoying the atmosphere with Guy and the Tri travel team. They were sending the vibes and dancing madly to the Redbull station pumping party tunes and throwing out all the high 5’s… you can all ask Kate about her run experience!
Guy got me back to the meeting point (just ) to run the finish shoot with Kate through the stadium. We did it! Then a highlight special moment of a random meeting with Felix. IYKYK!
Forever grateful to experience the magic of Roth thanks to Kate, the Tri travel team and the rest of the FTC crew that convinced me to join them. Who I am in awe of. If anyone has been considering this race, then sign up (solo or relay). It truely is a bucket list event.
