Temperatures were running pretty high, but today athletes, spectators and organization enjoyed a great first day of Challenge Almere-Amsterdam. The four-day event – which culminates next Saturday in the European Championships Long Distance – kicked off this morning with the Junior Challenge, followed at the end of the day by the RABO Business Relay and Family Relay.
At the Junior Challenge, hundreds of children took off, from young to older and from experienced triathletes to beginners. “But all of them crossed the finish line with a big smile,” said Event Director Jefry Visser. “That is the very best thing about the Junior Challenge. It’s all about fun and children are introduced to the sport of triathlon in a wonderful way.”
In the boys race, the win went to Moshe Iseger. He completed the 400-meter swim, 18-kilometer bike ride and 2-kilometer run in a time of 40:33 minutes. Shortly behind, Lars van Zessen came in second in a time of 40:56 and further behind, Björn Engel came in third in 43:55. Among the girls there was a beautiful victory for Quinty Hersi, who crossed the finish line after 52:52 minutes. With supremacy she won the Junior Challenge, as Lotte Kooij was second after 55:21 and Alexandra Koenis was third in 56:34.
The first day of racing concluded with the RABO Business Relay/Family Relay. In relay form, all participants completed 400 meters of swimming, 9 kilometers of cycling and 2 kilometers of running before their colleagues or family members were going for the next heat. One team was by far the fastest today: Team Van der Linde Almere, which consisted of former pro athlete Tjardo Visser, and Danny Sijtzel and Jefferey Botman.
“This first day at Challenge Almere-Amsterdam was a wonderful prelude to the triathlon spectacle that awaits us the next days,” Visser explained. “Tomorrow we have the No-Limit & Senior Challenge and the Kids Run. But on Saturday it is really on with the European Championships over 3.8 kilometers of swimming, 180 kilometers of cycling and 42.2 kilometers of running. We have a spectacular field of pro athletes lining up in Almere, so we are expecting a very exciting race and pretty fast times.”
All results of today can be found here: https://challenge-almere.com/history/past-results/
