XTERRA Appalachia now accepting applicants for 2012 triathlon

XTERRA Appalachia is presenting a triathlon Aug 4-5 at Yellow Creek State Park near Indiana, PA. This race is part of the XTERRA Points Series and is being presented by American Adventure Sports.

There will be a combination of swimming (800 meters), mountain biking (13 miles) and trail running (4 miles). The categories for each division are as follows:

Male: 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70+
Female: 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65+, Athena.

Cost for the event is $65 for a solo attempt and $150 for a three person relay. Register for the event by filling out a form at http://www.americanadventuresports.com/race_info.php?race=7.

There will also be a free kid’s triathlon that requires no training and is appropriate for children of all ages as there is a division for 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12 year olds. Race time is at 10 AM for the youngsters and they need to be registered by 9:30 AM. Kids aged 5-8 will be doing a 100 yard swim, a ¼ mile biking and a 200 meter run. Kids aged 9-12 will be doing double that with a 200 yard swim, a ½ mile biking and a ¼ mile run to finish the race.

All competing kids will receive a free t-shirt donated by Fast Times Screen Printing and a pizza party. They will also be eligible to win prizes such as Camelback hydration packs and bottles from Gingerbread Running Co.

Included in the package are race shirts, awards, prizes, pizza and a raffle that includes a bike donated by Trailz End Multisport. Competitors are all eligible to win over $3,000 in prizes and the male and female overall champions will each receive a pair of Oakley Sunglasses and engraved SOG knifes from American Adventure Sports.

There will be aid stations set up with Gatorade donating bike bottles full of Gatorade for the biking section. The park also has shower accommodations and a full concession stand located by the beach.

The water is warm at this time of year with the average temperature around 82 degrees F. Buoys will be set up to guide the swimmers and each participant must swim through a head count tracker for safety reasons. Lifeguards will also be stationed.

On a scale from 1 to 10, the mountain bike course runs at about a five with a combination of fire roads, single-track trail along with regular park trail. The course will be marked with blue XTERRA arrows and is typical Pennsylvania rolling terrain.

The run course will be marked with red XTERRA arrows and mostly follows the Ridge Top Trail. This makes for a very technical four miles of running and is entirely single track trails.

Wetsuits will follow the USA Triathlon guidelines which states that competitors may wear the suits if the temperature is below 78 degrees F. If the temperature is above 84 degrees F competitors are not allowed to wear wetsuits. If the temperature falls between 78 and 84, the participant has the option to wear a wetsuit but will not receive any official XTERRA points. It will however count toward the minimum amount of events needed to become eligible for awards.

Start training today to have a ball in Yellow Creek State Park come early August.