I polled quite a few people they all thought it was a great idea, to diversity the island’s calendar of activities with a world-class sporting event. This year’s inaugural half-triathlon enjoyed the participation of 303 pro and amateur athletes, competing in a variety of events, covering a total distance of 70.3km.
I met organizer Bas De Groot, event director, at the Christmas preview event at Tulip Restaurant, he handed me a business card with a local telephone and address.
Generally speaking, his people did a good job on pre-production. They posterized the entrance to town with spectacular banners, so that the date became etched in our mental calendars, October 23rd, 2016.
Then on October 22nd, I found a polite letter in my mail box, announcing the closure of the boulevard and the ban on driving in the area. I didn’t mind, it was Sunday, and I was staying put.
On the designated day at 4am, two men were conducting a loud Dutch conversation under my window in Malmok. As I walked out the terrace they were undeterred, as far as they were concerned it was time for us to wake up and cheer the race on.
They dropped Rocky, the volunteer, on my street. I found out later he was a ukulele teacher, in a local after-school enrichment program. He proceeded to tie pink ribbons blocking garage doors up and down the neighborhood. Some of the ribbons are still there.
Then the fancy bicycles started whizzing by, navigated by skinny men and women, in tight spandex, and futuristic helmets. They were chased by even fancier paparazzi motorcycles, the ones with the raised back-seats, where an in-your-face-photographer with a giant camera lives.
This went on for a couple of hours, with Rocky motioning them where not to go. Mid morning I invited him home. How can you drop a grown man in the street for eight hours and expect him to pee in the bushes?
Anyway, I offered a bathroom, and coffee. As it turned out the ukulele is a Cuarta, and his real name was Aaron, but everyone called him Rocky.
Rocky was collected at around 1pm, by bus, and later Armin Solognier sent me the list of winners. He was on the parking lot of the Hyatt Regency at the conclusion of the race and told me about the top finishers, Per Bittner, 4:03:18, and Yvonne van Vlerken 4:27:03 who happen to be a couple in real life.
If they the race takes place again in 2017, it would mean the athlete were satisfied with the arrangements, hotel guests however, were inconvenienced. One of my friends wrote to me: How about that stupid planning yesterday for the Aruba Challenge, let’s close off all the roads to the high rise area and not care about workers and guest!!! What a mess!!! I got as far as Wendy’s and was told by a Police officer that the road will open at 1pm.There was no info given to us about the parking lot being closed at our hotel. People should weigh the pros and cons of having an event like that in the hotel area.
Another serious challenge was the expo organized at the Hyatt Regency parking lot. Exhibitors paid BIG BUCKS to be included to showcase their food-, cosmetic-, banking products, and it remained a ghost town. Exhibitors spent a fortune to dress up heir booths and nothing happened! Organizers did not communicate to the masses that an expo will be available and consequently no one went. Take a look at the pictures on my FB page, the place remained empty until the conclusion of the race!
Mark your calendars:
DATE: October 22, 2017
CITY: Oranjestad, Aruba
RACES: Half-Triathlon | Half-Triathlon Relay | Sprint Triathlon | Sprint Triathlon – Relay
REGISTRATION: Opens October 23, 2016 | Closes October 1, 2017
Read the official press release: http://www.challenge-aruba.com/copy-of-travel-packages