After one year of jet setting, the HITS Triathlon Series returned to its roots in Palm Springs, California, to celebrate its ‘first anniversary of swimming, biking and running success.’ Its 10th race of the year, HITS Triathlon Series was excited to return to Palm Springs after a year of firsts.
Upholding its ‘distance for everyone!’ mantra, HITS Triathlon Series offered five distances in Palm Springs, California, and welcomed over 1,000 athletes from across the West Coast and beyond to a weekend of swimming, biking and running. The event also continued to grow the sport of triathlon as new triathletes were born from the HITS Open entry level tri format. Seasoned athletes, however, were welcomed to a picturesque open-water swim and flat, fast bike and run courses.
“We love this location and it is the perfect site for our Championship, which will continue to take place here,” said Race Director Mark Wilson. “It has been so awesome to see the series evolve and grow during 2012 and we are really excited about our 2013 race schedule.”
Tri travels far and wide
Traveling over 6,000 miles just to swim, bike and run 140.6 miles, Frank Kervarec of Villers Sur Coudun, France, made the trek from Europe to race HITS Palm Springs and crossed the line in 9:55:00 to win the Full distance race.
“This was a great experience. The pack was not huge, which I like – we were able to form a brotherhood out there,” said Kervarec. “I really wanted this win and the thought of that finish line is what kept me going on the run when I saw second place catching me.”
Accomplishments abounded over the weekend; but it was James Lawrence of Lindon, Utah, who stole the hearts of everyone following the HITS Triathlon Series this year. He set out to break the world record for most Full distance triathlons in a year and settled on racing 30 throughout 2012. Last Saturday, he completed that record.
After 72 miles of swimming, 3,360 miles of biking and 786 miles of running over 12 months, Lawrence broke the record while also raising a significant amount of money for the Quiet Way Foundation (quietway.org) through his ‘Tri and Give a Dam’ campaign (triandgiveadam.com).
The Quiet Way Foundation is a non-profit organization that helps to provide fresh water to people in Kenya by building dams.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better day out there,” said Lawrence. “There’s no better feeling than setting a goal and knocking it way out of the park. There is no way I could have done this year alone and HITS went above and beyond to help me accomplish this. I consider the HITS team part of my family after this year.”
New qualification format in 2013
The 2013 HITS Championship in Palm Springs, California, will require qualification, which will begin when HITS Triathlon Series kicks off the New Year in Naples, Florida, on 12-13 January 2013. HITS Naples will also mark the beginning of 2013 Athlete of the Year Awards qualifying process.
HITS Inc is a special events management company primarily focused on producing endurance sports events and hunter/jumper horse shows. Based in upstate New York in the village of Saugerties, HITS is dedicated to ‘creating high-quality events in desirable destinations with unmatched, professional operations.’
