Challenge Family expands in Denmark

The new Challenge Aarhus half iron distance race on Sunday July 3, 2011 will mark the next step for big triathlon events in Denmark. Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark and will host a unique course through the beautiful city of Aarhus combining extraordinary nature and culture in this the first triathlon race in the city. Challenge Aarhus is the obvious triathlon race in Denmark after the Challenge Copenhagen iron distance event in August 2010 was a huge success and proved that Denmark has become a nation of triathletes.

What characterizes the Danish Challenge races is their ability to incorporate the natural surroundings in the city, buildings and nature into the course, as will Challenge Aarhus. The unique nature and exciting cultural life of the city will take part in the course that will lead the competitors of the inaugural Challenge Aarhus through a variety of spectacular scenery.

The race will be an intense blend of sport and culture as the athletes start off the 1.9 km swim at the bay in Aarhus and takes them along the beautiful outdoor sculpture exhibition Sculpture by the Sea.

The 90 km bike course takes the athletes along beautiful and hilly sections of the suburbs of Aarhus before the half marathon run will see the athletes run through one of Denmark’s biggest and most innovative art museums, the ARoS in downtown Aarhus.

The start and finish area is located just a few kilometres from the city centre at Tangkrogen, Marselisborg, making Challenge Aarhus an easy accessible race by both car, train, domestic flights and flights from several European countries.

“Challenge Aarhus is the new ‘must do’ half distance triathlon in Europe. A fascinating mix of sport and culture gives an incredible edge to the race that has not been seen before,” said Thomas Veje Olsen, race director of Challenge Copenhagen and Challenge Aarhus. “This half iron distance event will be the perfect warm up race for the full iron distance race Challenge Copenhagen on August 14, 2011. In 2010, half of the athletes were competing in their first ironman race ever and we expect the same number of first timers in 2011. That is why Challenge Aarhus will be the perfect warmup race for Challenge Copenhagen and will take the athletes out on a special and spectacular course in a city combining nature, sport and culture with the very best of all three. We expect athletes from over 20 countries will be competing in this race that kick-starts the beautiful Danish summer.”

The Challenge Family will celebrate its tenth anniversary next year and Challenge Aarhus is the 12th race in the fast-growing series.

“It is great to have art and culture connected to the sport in an unseen way, and Challenge Aarhus can deliver just that. We have never seen a run course passing directly through a big arts museum and it will be a spectacular race for the athletes. The city is perfectly based with Aarhus and Billund airport, train and only 3,5 hours north of Hamburg by car,” said Felix Walchshöfer, CEO of the Challenge Family.

The race website will launch on Friday December 8 at www.challengeaarhus.com.