The inaugural San Rafael Classic Sprint triathlon kicks off on June 28. The event will take place in Huntington, Utah. Click here to see the complete Utah triathlon calendar.

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Sorry for the lack of posts of late. We (I) am working feverishly on getting the latest print edition of TriHive out the door. We (I) will be back to full strength next week.

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Winter multisport is making a statement in Utah in ‘08. XTERRA Winter Worlds will make its inagural apperance in March, and now Wasatch Area Race Productions (WARP) has announced the BASH winter triathlon slated for February 23rd. We caught up with Erik Vernon from WARP to get his insight on the new event.

TriHive (TH)): Why a winter race?

Erik Vernon (EV): A winter triathlon is a great event for triathletes to keep in shape for summer. The ITU is also making a push to get winter triathlon included in the 2010 Winter Olympics, and with the world class winter facilities and great athletes in this state, Utah could potentially become a mecca for future Olympic winter triathletes.

TH: Are there really that many multisport athletes that also cross country ski?

EV: I don’t know the exact percentage of multisport athletes that cross country ski, but the Monticello winter triathlon had over 100 competitors last year so there are several who nordic ski. I think there are going to be two groups of people who compete at BASH: triathletes who want to keep in shape or learn another sport, and nordic skiers that bike and run in the summer to stay in shape. Most multisport athletes also started as single sport athletes either as a runner, swimmer, or cyclist and I anticipate that multisport athletes will be more receptive to nordic skiing than someone who has remained a single sport athlete.

TH: Like Battle At Midway (BAM), are you hoping to draw elites?

EV: Our main goal with BASH is to make it a fun family activity, and provide a great way for triathletes to stay in shape for their summer races. We want people to come participate in a low key event and afterward enjoy the activities that Soldier Hollow and Heber Valley have to offer, including things like cross country skiing and tubing at Soldier Hollow. Since there are few winter triathlons in the nation we may see a few elites show up for the competition, but we will not have a pro or elite division like we do at BAM.

TH: Is this tied in with the USA Triathlon winter series?

EV: No.

TH: Soldier Hollow would be a tough ski, especially for a beginner. Will there also be a Sprint event for those looking to try it out?

EV: There will only be one race distance at BASH and it is comparable to a sprint triathlon with a 5km run, a 15km bike, a 10km ski. Soldier Hollow also has approximately 13km of beginner ski trails and the ski course stays mainly on these trails and should be easy enough for beginners to classic or skate ski. If people feel uncomfortable about skiing at Soldier Hollow they also have the option to enter as two or three person team. In 2009 we are also looking at adding a division for traditional winter triathlon relay team. With these teams each member does one third of all disciplines, or in other words each team member will run 2km, bike 5km, and ski 3km. This will also make the race very spectator friendly since the course will loop back to transition.

TH: What else is up your sleeve?

EV: Stay tuned, we’re always coming up with something good! In 2008 BAM and BASH will be our only events. We have some ideas for other races, but we will not be adding them until 2009 or beyond. There are two things we consider when adding a new race: 1) Will the new race reduce the quality of our current races, and 2) Can we make the new race a high quality event like our current race list.

TH: What else should we know about the event?

EV: The Desert Sharks Triathlon Club and WARP are hosting a winter triathlon clinic that is open to the public. The clinic will be held on 19 January 2008, and you can find additional information at the following web link. http://www.bashwintertri.com/pdfs/WinterTriClinic.pdf

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This past September, World Triathlon Corporation, owner of Ironman announced Ironman 70.3, Boise. The inaugural event is to be held on Sunday, June 1, 2008. With the announcement come questions from regional athletes regarding Sunday events. Some athletes within the Intermountain West choose not to race on Sunday’s due to religious convictions.

While the number of athletes choosing not to race on Sundays may not “make or break” a race, the small group of faith honoring “tri geeks” is not afraid of letting their voices be heard.

“…yes I’m excited about a new Ironman event close to home, but yes I’m irked it’s on Sunday,” stated Leslie, a writer on the Desert Shark Triathlon Club forum. She continues by asking “…why the Half in California is on Saturday and Boise is not? Maybe they really haven’t noticed, but Spudman seems to do great on Saturday selling out, and I predict Vikingman will certainly sell out early next year.”

Serveral months after the Boise announcement came an announcement from North America Sports (NAS), the license holder to all but one of the Ironman events in North America. NAS unveiled a second Ironman Arizona in ’08, which will completely erase the April event in ‘09 and beyond. Ironman Arizona has exclusively been held on a Sunday despite the regional religious influence. Rumors of the move to the fall had been prevalent throughout the triathlon community for a year. Some athletes in the intermountain region had hoped a move would place the event on a Saturday. Ironman Arizona’s date was announced as Sunday, November 23, 2008.

Chris Bowerbank, one of the master minds behind Utah’s largest triathlon producer, TriUtah, shared his Ironman planning experience with readers of the Desert Shark forum. Bowerbank recalls working on the Ironman Utah planning committee for the event held on June 8, 2002 in Provo, Utah. “When Ironman North America awarded Utah a full Ironman event, they also initially wanted it on a Sunday. However, most of us on the planning committee knew the local demographics of Utah County, and it was HIGHLY doubtful they could get enough volunteers on a Sunday to staff even an Ironman event. They subsequently moved it to Saturday.”

TriHive spoke with Helen Manning, NAS communications director about how NAS chooses the day of an event. Manning stated NAS considers many different variables, including but not limited to historical weather data for the proposed area, how the event fits into the NAS event calendar and local calendar, what day will cause the least amount of disruption to the community, and support by the local department of transportation and police agencies. Manning further suggested that Sunday is generally the day with the least amount of traffic, thus is the most common race day on the NAS event schedule.

Traffic appears to have road blocked Ironman Arizona as a Saturday event. Sources close to Ironman Arizona have stated that for the 2005 event, organizing members hoped to have the race scheduled on a Saturday. The bike route became an obstacle committee members could not overcome as an important portion of the route travels through a major artery to the Tempe City dump. Having this high traffic road closed for even one Saturday in the year would not be acceptable to the community. This resulted in a Sunday event.

Manning suggested that athletes wanting to race NAS events are not shut out from their series of triathlons. Ironman Florida and California 70.3 events are recommended to athletes seeking an Ironman experience. Both events are sold out for ’08.

Other opportunities to race the distances are available through independent race directors. The Full Vineman is embarking on its 19^th year, and is the longest running Iron distance event in the U.S. And, some of the independent events have a proven track record of supporting athletes. Below are other Saturday options.

70.3 (Half Iron)

04/19/08 – Rage in the Sage (Las Vegas, Nevada)

6/07/08 – VikingMan (Burley, Idaho)

08/09/08 – Utah Half (Provo, Utah)

10/18/08 – PumpkinMan Triathlon (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Iron Distance

8/02/08 - Full Vineman (Santa Rosa, California)

09/13/08 – Grand Columbian (Grand Coulee, Washington)

09/20/08 – RedMan Triathlon (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

Visit the TriHive calendar for a complete listing of regional triathlons.

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