12th ITH-Hennesee-Triathlon 2019 with record attendance

01.07.2019

The concept of the 12th ITH-Hennesee-Triathlon 2019 turned out well: More than 450 athletes took part in the special event. The marvelous lake Hennesee and the mountains of the Sauerland region in Meschede, Germany provided a challenging and appealing environment.

The event started with the kid's triathlon, where the kids completed 200 meters of swimming, 5 km of cycling and 1 km of running. Christoph Hermes, co-organizer from the Meschede Town marketing, quoted: "We are proud 30 kids took part. This shows the potential of triathlon to establish as one of the popular sports in future".

At 12 o'clock the triathletes started the Olympic discipline with 1.5 km of swimming, 44 km of cycling and 10 km of running. At that time the sun reached its peak and athletes were faced with challenging temperatures of more than 30° Celsius.

The diverse scope of different competitions was completed with the Everyman's Discipline (500 m of swimming, 20 km cycling, 5 km running). That was the distance where both single athletes and teams started. The teams consisted of three members who shared swimming, cycling and running.

For all athletes, the cycling track led through the hills of the Sauerland region close to Meschede in Germany where athletes had to fight with a challanging landscape profile. There are differences in height of 750 meters.

"Our triathlon is not about high-speed", Jörg Brouwers from the triathlon club TriFun Hennesee explains. "It is more about knowing and managing your energy over the hills. The athletes are pushed and motivated by more than 60 helpers along the track. That makes our event so special."

The many helpers provided the athlete's safety during cycling. Another benefit is that the track along public roads is completely blocked for any traffic during the race.

When swimming the athletes were observed by divers, boats and swimmers of the German Lifeguard Association DLRG. These activities for safety and a proper organisation also convinced the official race inspectors from the Federal Triathlon Organisation.

All ITH members who took part achieved respectable results. 

Two ITH teams completed the team event, where 3 athletes shared swimming, cycling and running. ITH team one only missed the winner's podium by a margin of 31 seconds which left ITH president Jörg Hohmann - who completed the swimming for his team - with mixed feelings:

"Everybody from the team performed really well. But to miss the podium feels a little ungrateful. We will be back next year and fight for a place among the top three". Remarkable: With a total running time of 0:19:02,79 ITH member Velican Polat was the second-fastest athlete of the team event.

ITH team two ended their first triathlon event with a respectable 11th place. 

In the "everyman's event" - where single starters have to complete 500 m of swimming, 20 km of cycling and 5 km of running ITH member Marcel Stevenson reached the finishing line as 101. He was happy to have finished and celebrated with his family and kids.