Challenge London, the world’s biggest city centre triathlon, took place on Sunday 6 August and welcomed over 5,000 triathletes from all over the world, including elite athletes. New for this year was the addition of the Community Challenge, powered by Royal Bank of Canada, aimed to break down barriers to participation and diversify audiences, with a particular focus on those new to the sport.
The RBC Community Challenge added three additional events, with more accessible distances, to the Challenge London weekend, and included an RBC Community Cycling Challenge on closed-roads through the heart of London, an RBC Community Open Water Swim and an RBC Community Super Sprint Triathlon, consisting of a 400m swim, 10km bike ride, before ending with a 2.5km run.
In addition to breaking down barriers to participation, the RBC Community Challenge supported the community, with participants encouraged to raise funds – either for Challenge London’s official charity partner, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, or a charity of choice, in return for a free place in the event.
“Promoting diversity and inclusion and supporting the communities where we operate are values dear to everyone at RBC. Sponsoring the inaugural RBC Community Challenge offered an exciting opportunity to encourage people who may never have considered entering such an event, or thought it out of their reach, to take part in this great triathlon. It was a brilliant day and even better knowing we were also supporting the community through fundraising.“
Dave Thomas, CEO, RBC Europe
“It was an honour to have been able to participate in such a diverse and joyful day celebrating people from all backgrounds and walks of life being active and achieving different challenges together. Triathlons typically don’t receive a wide representation of people, which is why I founded my charity to help make the sport more accessible to women and non-binary people, which are a distinctive minority in the sport. I’m extremely proud to have been a part of this incredible event and see all the women sponsored by my charity to be able to complete their first triathlon!”
Bianca Fernandez, Director, Electronic Trading Risk, RBC Capital Markets
“The atmosphere outside the ExCel Center was terrific and it was great to see the huge number of athletes taking part in the different challenges. I participated in the 100km Community Cycle - the opportunity to pedal through central London with the roads closed to the usual traffic was a unique experience. In addition to being part of a very worthwhile community event, it was also meaningful to have been able to support both of RBC’s charity partners.”
James Solomon, Director, DCM Europe, RBC Capital Markets
Challenge London, delivered by Limelight Sports, is the world's biggest city centre triathlon open to all abilities, seeing participants ride by Big Ben, the London Eye and Houses of Parliament, setting off from the ExCeL Centre in East London, the heart of the Docklands. The triathlon, which used to be known as London Triathlon until the recent partnership with Challenge Family, consists of six distances and challenges, including: Super Sprint, Sprint, Sprint Relay, Olympic, Olympic Relay and Middle.
Thank you to all RBC employees, clients, and members of the community for taking part in Challenge London.
Partnering with Limelight Sports for the RBC Community Challenge supports RBC’s commitment to helping clients thrive and communities prosper. In addition, RBC Europe partner with a number of community projects, charity partners and responsible organisations to raise money for worthwhile causes, protect the environment and support local communities. Find out more at www.rbccm.com/europe.