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On 9th May 2019, TriTanium was launched at Delta Café in Johannesburg. The race is the ultimate endurance event, comprising 6 disciplines – mountain bike, road bike, trail run, road run, sea swim and inland swim; and will be held in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, from the 1st to the 3rd of November 2019.
Born from the need for a multidiscipline, multiday stage race that allows everyone and anyone to participate while searching for the supreme athlete, TriTanium is named after the metal with the highest strength-to-density ratio – titanium.
The TriTanium race is 100% woman-owned. Says race organiser and owner, Laura-Beth (LB) Eicker-Harris, “As a crossover athlete who doesn’t identify as just a triathlete or just a MTBer, I felt that we needed a new and exciting challenge – something that’s never been done before. It’s wonderful to hear the banter between athletes and to see how differently our bodies react to different disciplines. It’s time to take the smacktalk to the start line and live up to the challenges that are thrown down over Saturday morning post-training cappuccinos.”
TriTanium invites strong, durable and resistant athletes to battle it out for the TriTanium trophy. It encourages those who want to step out of their single-discipline, multiday zone, to explore more than one discipline; and those who are stuck in a multidiscipline, single-day event zone to extend their experience to multiday events.
“With seven entry options, there’s something for everyone,” says LB. The hero event is all 6 disciplines over all 3 days: Day 1 is a Ride-Run (MTB & trail run), Day 2 is a Swim-Ride (dam swim & road ride) and Day 3 is a Swim-Run (sea swim & road run). Athletes can enter Day 1, 2 or 3 only on a single day basis. Or, if they want to, runners can enter just the two run stages, cyclists can enter just the two cycling stages, and swimmers can enter just the two swim stages.
Structuring the race to cater for everyone’s needs and to create the best possible combination of events took a lot of time and planning, as did finding the right people and partners, and the right destination and venues. But the hard work has paid off.
The race has some big-name partners on board. "TriTanium is a world first and that makes it attractive to brands who play in the innovation and leadership spaces, and we can see that reflected in the calibre of partners that have already signed up,” says Commercial Director, Richard van der Schyff.
Official accommodation partner, Tsogo Sun, will provide preferential accommodation rates for TriTanium athletes at their various hotels in the area. With a heritage of 50 years of excellence in providing variety, quality, warmth and trusted service with flair, Tsogo Sun Hotels is committed to creating great experiences at its distinctive destinations.
Tsogo Sun’s Director of Operations KZN Hotels, Samantha Croft says, “As the accommodation partner we are proud to be associated with TriTanium and have been actively working with the team to create an attractive endurance experience for this year’s competitors, with the aim of this becoming a popular annual event. Not only has the uniqueness of this challenge fuelled more interest and hype, so have our discounted accommodation packages. Ultimately, we want to attract local and global participants as well as international athletes and we believe this multi-disciplined event will do exactly that. It’s an exciting prospect for the city of Durban and KZN region, particularly from an economic impact perspective”. Official race vehicle partner, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, has generously provided Amarok vehicles, the perfect match for an event that covers all terrains.
“Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is very proud to be supporting the athletes that will be competing in this multi-discipline event. Our vehicles offer outstanding versatility and support to cyclists, runners, swimmers and all other sportsmen and women and it is wonderful to find a diverse event such as this to showcase what our vehicles can do, especially the Amarok.” ~ Andile Dlamini, Head of Communications, Volkswagen Group South Africa.
Says van der Schyff, “It is fantastic to have industry leading partners such as Tsogo Sun and VW come on board. They validate our instincts about TriTanium and why we believe that the concept will be such a success. They fit perfectly with the TriTanium brand and the vision that we have for the race. We look forward to partnering with them and delivering excellent value and returns for them, developing a long and mutually beneficial relationship into the future.”
The TriTanium weekend will not only be a celebration of endurance athletes and disciplines, but the celebration of a lifestyle. With KwaZulu Natal as the destination, accessibility for Gautengers is easy and the venues are all family friendly with plenty for families to do in the area.
“TriTanium is going to be 3 days of absolute Africa. It’s going to be both fun and challenging,” says Race Director, well known race-commentator, Alistair Cronk.
TriTanium has secured high-level ambassadors to represent the brand.
“I am very excited to be part of this event,” says Terence Parkin – Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation Ambassador. “It challenges one as a multi-sportsperson, and the body to adapt to different sports. I have always been a great fan of multi-sport and taking one’s body to the extreme as is evident in my own 1120km challenges over 2 weeks. I think that this event makes for great participation over a wide range of people and wish TriTanium all the best.”
On being part of the TriTanium team, international pro-athlete, Lucie Zelenkova, had this to say: “I’m excited about TriTanium. I like that it is multidiscipline and is bringing in mountain biking and trail running. It’s good to support new and innovative events that will grow the sport. I love South Africa’s outdoor style of living and all the events SA has to offer - TriTanium is a combination of all of them.”
For more information and to register, visit www.tritanium.co.za .
Project Team: Race Owner & Organiser: Laura-Beth Eicker-Harris Race Director: Alistair Cronk Director of Commercialisation: Richard van der Schyff
Social Media: #TriTanium Facebook: TriTanium Instagram: Tritanium_challenge Website: www.tritanium.co.za