Bassetlaw Triathlon Club's Gaz Hughes excells alongside world's elite at big German race

It’s the biggest iron distance race in the world with over 4,000 competitors and 7,500 volunteers at Roth just south of Nuremberg in Bavaria.

The event is very popular with the world’s professional elite triathletes with both the men's and women's world records for this distance being broken by Magnus Ditlev and Daniela Ryf,

For Gaz, this was the eighth time finishing an ironman event and his third time at Challenge Roth. Despite temperatures into the 30s he put together three great elements for the race and finished with a time of 10 hours and 22 minutes, some eight minutes inside his own target.

He said “In my opinion Challenge Roth is the best race in the world, so to do a great time here is pretty special. A big thank you as always to the coaching team at Bassetlaw Triathlon Club.”

The event starts with a 3.8km swim in the Main Donau Kanal, which is usually lined all the way with supporters and volunteers.

The cycle route of 180km bike, included the famous Solar Hill had crowds so big that the cyclists were often forced into single file.

The final component of the event is a 42km run that finishes in the biggest triathlon stadium in the world which holds 12000 people.

As entrance is free the crowds are always guaranteed to cheer the finishers over the line.

Anyone interested in starting triathlon should contact the club via www.bassetlawtriclub.co.uk/ or facebook.com/BassetlawTriClub.