Challenge Cape Town postponed

[Garfield2010]

I am truly gutted. After all thıs prep, money etc ın the fınal month one gets anxıous and excıted. To have ıt taken away lıke thıs really sucks. Wıth thıs money I could have done PE and even maybe EL.

[gripen]

Enough whining Any news on their refund policy yet? If they don't give 100% at minimum, that will be the cherry..

[Garfield2010]

Nope. Apparently they wıll phone ıs although they saıd that most athletes chose the roll over. Not sure how they got to that conclusıon!!

[gummibear]

If they took the entrance fee and knew that they didn't have the route approved.....is that not fraud?

 

Surely a good lawyer will take this case on for a group claim against the organizers

[Shebeen]

I am going to go race Slanghoek & Triple Challenge now that it's cancelled.

 

The rest of my thoughts here: http://www.urban-nin...be-the-journey/

 

not sure if this is written from the perspective of:

a)joe public racer, who put three grand from his backpocket into this race

b)semi sponsored athlete who has a team budget to play with for race costs

c)race partner, who had a comp entry for media reasons(blogging).

 

Without this knowledge, i'm not really going to comment on this post which tries to put a positive spin on the scenario.

[Garfield2010]

not sure if this is written from the perspective of:

a)joe public racer, who put three grand from his backpocket into this race

b)semi sponsored athlete who has a team budget to play with for race costs

c)race partner, who had a comp entry for media reasons(blogging).

 

Without this knowledge, i'm not really going to comment on this post which tries to put a positive spin on the scenario.

 

Or someone who possibly lives in Cape Town.................

 

I have tried to phone and email the organisers. They dont answer or respond........ I am getting worried...

[Garfield2010]

The organisers have told me only 400 people have entered........ Now I understand why they have cancelled it. Not enough profit.......

[SwissVan]

Man that sucks for all the athletes like Garf who spent $$ and many hours training and anticipating.....

 

From what i read on this thread i hear alarm bells ringing wrt to FULL entry fee refunds which I imagine most people will expect to receive??

 

Hope the organizer has enough funds left over to refund the full entry fee....

 

Unfortunately organizing an event and especialy a triathlon in a major city is not straight forward...as now experienced with this event.

I’m pretty sure that no one including the organizer wanted it to end up like this.

[Garfield2010]

Man that sucks for all the athletes like Garf who spent $$ and many hours training and anticipating.....

 

From what i read on this thread i hear alarm bells ringing wrt to FULL entry fee refunds which I imagine most people will expect to receive??

 

Hope the organizer has enough funds left over to refund the full entry fee....

 

Unfortunately organizing an event and especialy a triathlon in a major city is not straight forward...as now experienced with this event.

I’m pretty sure that no one including the organizer wanted it to end up like this.

 

Agree. Although it may seem perfect for a City like Cape Town to host an event of this magnitude, I really think the time is not right now. In Cape Town there is so many other events and sports it is incredible. Just look at what it offers on that very same weekend. Numerous open water swims, MTB events, trial run events etc.

 

Cape Town should rather focus on a loooong distance x-terra type event. No worries about road closures, plenty of athletes doing that etc.

 

Someone said the other day that they should actually have a full IM in Gauteng. I could not agree more. There will be more than enough athletes from Gauteng alone to fill up the entries. In Cape Town maybe there are too many sport options with too few people. In Gauteng we have a huge amount of Tri guys, just go ride in the cradle on a Sat morning and you will pass a few hundred tri guys on tri bikes (or mostly get passed)

 

The other thing is also that smaller towns tend to embrace these events. IM put PE and EL on the map for me. Maybe they can have an IM even in a place like Bloemfontein or Clarens?

 

Just a thought

[TNT1]

 

Someone said the other day that they should actually have a full IM in Gauteng. ed)

 

 

Noobs. In the early nineties there was one. Out at hartebeespoort. Nick Bester won it.

Edited October 20, 2011 by TNT1

[Zula]

Agree. Although it may seem perfect for a City like Cape Town to host an event of this magnitude, I really think the time is not right now. In Cape Town there is so many other events and sports it is incredible. Just look at what it offers on that very same weekend. Numerous open water swims, MTB events, trial run events etc.

 

Cape Town should rather focus on a loooong distance x-terra type event. No worries about road closures, plenty of athletes doing that etc.

 

Someone said the other day that they should actually have a full IM in Gauteng. I could not agree more. There will be more than enough athletes from Gauteng alone to fill up the entries. In Cape Town maybe there are too many sport options with too few people. In Gauteng we have a huge amount of Tri guys, just go ride in the cradle on a Sat morning and you will pass a few hundred tri guys on tri bikes (or mostly get passed)

 

The other thing is also that smaller towns tend to embrace these events. IM put PE and EL on the map for me. Maybe they can have an IM even in a place like Bloemfontein or Clarens?

 

Just a thought

 

Because you can really compare a lap race around the cradle to racing around the cape peninsula!

There's a reason CT has so many options, because its the outdoor sporting mecca of South Africa and is probably the most beautiful city in the world. Big events like to attract foreigners and the last time I looked JHB is a transit city and not a destination. Cant see why anyone would want to go to JHB for a holiday. Also don't forget what happened with the tour of South Africa when they went through JHB? Complete and total disaster if you remember correctly.

 

Like I said previously the blame should land squarely on the organizers shoulders. Cape Town is a world class city and understands the exposure it would have gotten through this event. Clearly they have requirements in terms of number of cyclists and road closures etc etc and this wasn't thought out to well by the organizers. The city organizes plenty of road closures each month for sporting events so clearly with Challenge something was amiss and I don't think you can point a finger at the city for that.

[onetrackmind]

The organisers have told me only 400 people have entered........ Now I understand why they have cancelled it. Not enough profit.......

That, too, is a porky pie - the number I have been told is much closer to 200. Smellier and smellier, this is getting.

[bradwentzel]

From the organisers

 

Dear athlete

 

We know it has been an extremely disappointing week for you following the announcement of Challenge Cape Town's postponement.

 

As you already know, you will receive a full refund from Challenge Cape Town or you can roll your entry over to 2012 and receive a free relay team entry for friends or family.

 

In addition, we'd like to offer you the opportunity to race at one of our other full distance Challenge events, anywhere in the world - the entry would of course be free of charge. The available races are:

 

21.01.12 - Challenge Wanaka, New Zealand

03.06.12 - Challenge Cairns, Australia

08.07.12 - Challenge Roth, Germany (limited numbers on first come first served basis)

12.08.12 - Challenge Copenhagen, Denmark

18.08.12 - Challenge Vichy, France

16.09.12 - Challenge Henley-on-Thames, UK

30.09.12 - Challenge Barcelona, Spain

 

If you wish to take advantage of this offer, please contact me before 11 November 2011 and I will put you in direct contact with each of the individual race directors to finalize your registration. Please note this applies to new entries only.

 

Next week the CEO of Challenge Family, Felix Walchshoefer, will visit Cape Town and meet with the City and the Challenge Cape Town team. While there, he will take a close look at the issues that led to the event being postponed, predominantly the road closures and why, despite having permissions in place in time for the launch in March, we were unable to achieve a course that was acceptable for the entire field. This will be both an internal and external exercise and by doing it openly and honestly we will move forward to delivering you an event, in partnership with the City of Cape Town, that South Africa can be proud of in 2012

 

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch and I look forward to providing you with a much more positive Challenge experience in the future.

 

All the best

 

Victoria

[TNT1]

From the organisers

 

Dear athlete

 

We know it has been an extremely disappointing week for you following the announcement of Challenge Cape Town's postponement.

 

As you already know, you will receive a full refund from Challenge Cape Town or you can roll your entry over to 2012 and receive a free relay team entry for friends or family.

 

In addition, we'd like to offer you the opportunity to race at one of our other full distance Challenge events, anywhere in the world - the entry would of course be free of charge. The available races are:

 

21.01.12 - Challenge Wanaka, New Zealand

03.06.12 - Challenge Cairns, Australia

08.07.12 - Challenge Roth, Germany (limited numbers on first come first served basis)

12.08.12 - Challenge Copenhagen, Denmark

18.08.12 - Challenge Vichy, France

16.09.12 - Challenge Henley-on-Thames, UK

30.09.12 - Challenge Barcelona, Spain

 

If you wish to take advantage of this offer, please contact me before 11 November 2011 and I will put you in direct contact with each of the individual race directors to finalize your registration. Please note this applies to new entries only.

 

Next week the CEO of Challenge Family, Felix Walchshoefer, will visit Cape Town and meet with the City and the Challenge Cape Town team. While there, he will take a close look at the issues that led to the event being postponed, predominantly the road closures and why, despite having permissions in place in time for the launch in March, we were unable to achieve a course that was acceptable for the entire field. This will be both an internal and external exercise and by doing it openly and honestly we will move forward to delivering you an event, in partnership with the City of Cape Town, that South Africa can be proud of in 2012

 

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch and I look forward to providing you with a much more positive Challenge experience in the future.

 

All the best

 

Victoria

 

That dimwit from the train tours should come take a look at how to write a proper apology.

[Garfield2010]

From the organisers

 

Dear athlete

 

We know it has been an extremely disappointing week for you following the announcement of Challenge Cape Town's postponement.

 

As you already know, you will receive a full refund from Challenge Cape Town or you can roll your entry over to 2012 and receive a free relay team entry for friends or family.

 

In addition, we'd like to offer you the opportunity to race at one of our other full distance Challenge events, anywhere in the world - the entry would of course be free of charge. The available races are:

 

21.01.12 - Challenge Wanaka, New Zealand

03.06.12 - Challenge Cairns, Australia

08.07.12 - Challenge Roth, Germany (limited numbers on first come first served basis)

12.08.12 - Challenge Copenhagen, Denmark

18.08.12 - Challenge Vichy, France

16.09.12 - Challenge Henley-on-Thames, UK

30.09.12 - Challenge Barcelona, Spain

 

If you wish to take advantage of this offer, please contact me before 11 November 2011 and I will put you in direct contact with each of the individual race directors to finalize your registration. Please note this applies to new entries only.

 

Next week the CEO of Challenge Family, Felix Walchshoefer, will visit Cape Town and meet with the City and the Challenge Cape Town team. While there, he will take a close look at the issues that led to the event being postponed, predominantly the road closures and why, despite having permissions in place in time for the launch in March, we were unable to achieve a course that was acceptable for the entire field. This will be both an internal and external exercise and by doing it openly and honestly we will move forward to delivering you an event, in partnership with the City of Cape Town, that South Africa can be proud of in 2012

 

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch and I look forward to providing you with a much more positive Challenge experience in the future.

 

All the best

 

Victoria

 

 

Better but this will probably only apply to 1% of the entrants.

 

Amazing that they still cannot apologise, front up and say heel we screwed up..... now they have to fly over the CEO - that suddenly makes me understand everything perfectly.

 

I guess they are doing us a moerse favour, canceling it for "safety reasons". Phew, they are so considerate!!

 

Amazing how they make it sound as if we should be greatfull in every single email.... And this wonderfull roll over options is also awesome. They firstly ensure that they protect their own market share and funds.

 

They should actually offer us all 3 years worth of free entry to this event. Since it seems less than 50 people actually entered (as I follow the trend) this should not have a big effect on their bottom line!

[onetrackmind]

predominantly the road closures and why, despite having permissions in place in time for the launch in March, we were unable to achieve a course that was acceptable for the entire field.

Victoria, you are misleading/misled. There is no way on earth the traffic department/s/City Council gave permission for the cycle route proposed. Even the Argus has to fight for it every year. Stop lying to people, and admit you f@£$%^&*d up.