USA Triathlon (USAT) has announced it will waive the US$110 registration fee for the Age-Group Non-Draft Open Sprint Triathlon on 8 October at the first annual Sarasota-Bradenton Triathlon Festival in an effort to give back to the Florida triathlon community.
USAT, in conjunction with the Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates (SANCA), suggest that participants donate to Hand in Hand’s Hurricane Relief Fund and support those directly impacted by hurricanes Irma and Harvey.
USA Triathlon invites the multisport community to participate in one of the US nation’s largest triathlon festivals. The open race consists of a 750m swim, 18K bike and 5K run at Nathan Benderson Park and is positioned as being ideal for all triathletes, from first-timers to experienced athletes. The free registration does not apply to the Age Group Draft-Legal Sprint Triathlon held on 7 October, which serves as an ITU World Championship qualifier.
“We wanted to remove the registration fee for the Open Sprint Triathlon in an effort to help Florida triathletes regain a sense of normalcy following the statewide impact of Hurricane Irma,” said Rocky Harris, USA Triathlon CEO. “USA Triathlon serves and supports the very resilient multisport community, and we hope all triathletes will take this opportunity to participate in this worthwhile race and invite friends, family, co-workers and neighbours to join them.”
“We are grateful for the gesture made by USA Triathlon to not only waive the registration fee for our local participants of the Open Sprint Triathlon, but to also encourage donations to the hurricane relief fund,” said Stephen Rodriguez, President/CEO of SANCA at Nathan Benderson Park. “The Sarasota-Bradenton area felt the effects of Hurricane Irma, and to witness the sport community coming together to support local relief efforts is awe inspiring.”
In addition to the open race and draft-legal world qualifier, collegiate and elite triathletes will compete in sprint- and standard-distance events throughout the two-day triathlon festival. The event weekend is headlined by the 2017 Sarasota ITU Triathlon World Cup, which features many of the world’s fastest elite triathletes competing head-to-head to share in a US$60,000 prize purse.
Registration is now open for the Age Group Non-Draft Open Sprint Triathlon. All registrants must be USA Triathlon annual members or purchase a one-day membership (online transaction fees may apply). USA Triathlon will contact all currently registered open sprint participants to either process their registration fee as a donation for hurricane relief efforts, if they so choose, or refund their US$110 registration fee.
The Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center (SANCA) is a not-for-profit business created to manage Nathan Benderson Park, a community/public asset and multi-use sports venue. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for the community and be an economic generator for the region. SANCA’s primary purpose is to develop and promote Nathan Benderson Park as a world-class event centre, team training site and Sarasota County Park, while providing outreach programs through recreation, safety training, education and volunteering as a service to the community.
www.usatriathlon.org/2017sbtrifest
