With nearly a month to go before the actual event, Tooele City’s second annual sprint triathlon is already near capacity.
The sprint triathlon, with consists of a 5K foot race, a 10K bicycle course and a 400 yard swim, already has 110 athletes registered for the competition. The shorter kids’ triathlon for ages 12 and under has 61 participants registered.
It is likely that the city will have to close registration for both events in the near future, said Terra Sherwood, Tooele City’s director of family recreation. The sprint triathlon will be capped at 125 participants and the kids’ triathlon will be capped at 100, she said.
“We don’t want to have too many people out on the course and, specifically, in the pool,” Sherwood said.
Both events’ capacity was increased from last year’s inaugural races, which the city capped at 111 sprinters and 89 kids, Sherwood said. The city intends to test the logistics of the slightly larger races this year, she said, and, if all goes well, may continue to expand the race in the future.
What the city doesn’t want to do is limit who is eligible to participate in the triathlons, Sherwood said. The races are intended to provide city residents with more community events that promote an active life style, and so the city does not want the race to exclude inexperienced athletes in favor of time trials or other means of restricting registration according to past performance.
Both triathlons are currently open to all who would like to participate. The kids’ triathlon will take place on June 27, and the full sprint triathlon will take place the following day, on June 28. Interested athletes of all levels of ability may register online at tooelecity.org for a $25 fee.
The city will also host informational training sessions for all those who wish to participate prior to the triathlons. The next training session will be held on June 4 at the Pratt Aquatic Center. Training for children is at 6:30 p.m. Adult training will be at 7:30 p.m.
