Long distance World Championship after 5 years pause

After 5 years pause, when the last long distance quadrathlon race was organised in Hannover in 2018, this year the Hungarian cities Gyékényes and Nagyatád hosted the event. Because of the geographical capabilities (no suitable lake in Nagyatád only in Gyékényes) there were some specialities to which the participants had to adapt (check in the running shoes already in previous day in Nagyatád race centre, transportation after the race back to Gyékényes to collect the cars and kayaks) Athletes performed in total 137 km (swim 3,8 km, kayak 20 km, bike 92 km, run 21,1 km). Because of the long distance and the usual expected very hot weather in this period (generally above 35 degrees!) the number of participants was lower as expected. The event was organised together with the traditional long distance triathlon race (Extrememan) using the same routes and infrastructure.
The swimming was started early in the morning at 7 o’clock in the crystal clear Gyékényes Kotro lake which is a gravel mine lake. The air temperature was below 20 degree (and it remained also during the whole day – with repeating rainfalls several times during the race). The water temperature was comfortable 25 degrees so no wetsuit was allowed. The 3 laps swim course – with a short running at the beach after each lap was led by the young Hungarian Gergő Horváth (time: 1:04) followed by fellow country Ferenc Csima and Leos Rousavy (CZE) with 1 min difference. The women’s group was led by Hella Kiss (HUN) followed by Ellen Mielke (GER) and Csilla Sápi (HUN). The second discipline was kayaking also on Kotró lake. Competitors performed 20 km in 12 laps around the small island. Laps were counted by a race marshal and a warning signal was given before the last lap – avoiding any miscounting. As expected Csima with a time of 1:30 was able to build a big gap in his favourite discipline against the pursuers. In women’s race Susanne Walter (GER) started to reduce the gap after the swimming and catch up the leaders. After the kayaking the quadrathletes left Gyékényes and were cycling to Nagyatád city. The total distance was 92 km mainly on very good asphalted flat roads with 3 refreshment stations. The route was led through 4 railway crossings where time credits were given it the bikers had to stop at the crossing. Best bike time was performed by Rousavy (2:34) Csima (2:39) and Walter (2:48) coming to the first place in this discipline. The running was done in Nagyatád with 4 laps on flat asphalted roads. There were 4 well-equipped refreshment stations on the course but light rain also helped the runners to keep low their body temperature. All the participants were able to finish the race within the time limit of 10 hours. As the race centre was located next to Nagyatád open bath – the finishers had the possibility to relax in the thermal baths until the medal ceremony.