Challenge Roth race director: “Hopefully Ironman can get back on its feet”
As he gears up for the 40th anniversary event in Roth, Felix Walchshöfer offers some fierce criticism of Ironman
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
Challenge Roth race director Felix Walchshöfer is gearing up for the 40th anniversary event in Roth this weekend and looking forward to yet another record-setting weekend. While the field size has been reduced slightly from years past, a speedy pro field is ready to post some fast times, while a record-sized crowd of 300,000 is expected to come and watch the racing.
Earlier today Walchshöfer spoke with Bob Babbitt on the “Breakfast with Bob” show, and was quite open about with his criticism of former Ironman CEO Andrew Messick and of the choices Ironman has made over the last few years. (You can see the full video of today’s interview below.)
Challenge Cap-Quebec and Challenge Esprit to offer elusive entries to Challenge Roth
Before it became Challenge Roth, the event had been Ironman Germany. According to Walchshöfer, the issues between Ironman and his family, the organizers and owners of the Ironman event, arose because the event was competing with the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.
“We (were) too big, we (were) as big as Kona,” Walchshöfer told Babbitt. “In the early years Ironman tried to kill us, but we always focussed on our strength … to concentrate on the athletes and to exceed their expectations.”
Walchshöfer said that after years of competition between Challenge Roth and Ironman, there’s hope that the two entities can work together to enhance the sport.
“It was unpleasant times, to be honest, because my mentality is that we should all work together,” he said. “I think there has been a big change in Ironman with Andrew Messick leaving, who more divided the sport, towards Scott (DeRue, the new CEO at Ironman), who, I have the feeling, wants to unite the sport.”
According to Walchshöfer, DeRue has inherited a tough situation.
“There were many mistakes being made before his time, with the split of Kona and Nice, which is absolutely horrible, it’s ridiculous,” he said. “A couple of weeks ago in Hamburg the announcers were shouting out ‘Hey, is there anyone here who wants a slot?’ No one took them. It hurts the sport, it hurts the Ironman brand. If you look at Ironman, so many Ironman races can’t survive any more, they need 70.3s on the same day, which I find to be a dangerous development.”
“Hopefully Ironman gets back on its feet with Scott,” Walchshöfer continued. “If we are talking more, if we are cooperating more, this is a really good sign.”
Stay tuned for more coverage from Challenge Roth, including more Breakfast with Bob interviews.
