Local triathlon draws over 100 competitors
Around 150 athletes are expected to come to town next weekend as the first ever McMinnville City Triathlon is hosted by the Civic Center.
“We’re excited about this event coming to the McMinnville area. It’s the first event of its kind and everything is going to begin and end at the Civic Center,” Parks and Recreation Director Carlene Brown said of the event, which is being managed by Team Magic, Inc., based in Nashville and Alabama.
The event, designed so beginners will be able to participate, starts out with a 500-meter swim in the Gilley Pool, transitions into an 18-mile bike ride that stretches out to Todd Lane before ending at the Civic Center and is rounded out by a 3-mile run.
Race director Faye Yates of Team Magic said she was approached by someone from McMinnville who had participated in another race and who asked if the company would be willing to hold a race here, since the addition of the new city pool would be conducive to a triathlon.
“You have a fabulous recreation complex in terms of it’s almost a one- of-a-kind outdoor Olympic-sized pool. It’s almost non-existent to find one. If you don’t have a large body water like a lake for a triathlon, you need to have a large pool. So this site, with this pool, was the first attraction,” Yates said.
“And then the city was very cooperative and very welcoming because it impacts the community in terms of using the roads for several hours and this community is willing to support that to bring in athletes into their city, into the community and into the county.”
She said 140 participants from throughout the Southeast had already registered and race organizers were expecting around 200 participants and their families. Additionally, she said there will be plenty of room for spectators.
The race, scheduled for this coming Sunday, starts at 7:30 a.m. at the Civic Center and is expected to be over by 11 a.m. Registration, which costs $60, begins at 6 a.m. and lasts through 6:45 a.m. Sunday.
There is a cash purse totaling $1,200, with top awards of $300 each going to the first place male and female individuals, $200 each for second place and $100 each for third place. Athletes may also form relay teams of either two or three competitors to complete different parts of the event, but relayed top finishers won’t be eligible for cash prizes.
Yates and Brown hope for a successful first year, with Brown stressing the need for race volunteers, who will be meeting Thursday at the Civic Center at 6 p.m.
Yates hopes the race will become a yearly event for McMinnville and grow into a regional one that would also attract more local competitors.
“We expect as the race grows, that it will grow into a Southeast regional race,” she said.
Brown added she was hoping for a fun-filled family event because so much is available to do locally.
“I bet we’ll triple [our attendance] next year,” she said, adding the event can be good for area tourism. For more information about the event, contact the Civic Center at 473-1212 or access www.team-magic.com on the Internet.