Rising lake levels bode well for upcoming Wildflower Triathlon
A photo from last year’s event. Courtesy of Tri-California Events.
Triathlon adds new sprint distance race
–The Wildflower Triathalon is anticipating a much larger crowd at this year’s race, thanks to rising lake levels at San Antonio. “The drought absolutely had an effect on the event,” said Tri-California President Colleen Bousman. “But thank God for this El Nino. The water is steadily rising at Lake San Antonio, with the water level rising every week. We anticipate opening up the field to a much larger field this year and enjoying the Wildflower spirit that means so much to the triathlon community.”
“We are planning to go with the same format as last year for the swim and transition area one,” said Bousman. “We can’t guarantee that the lake will fill enough to go back to our traditional swim start, so right now, we’re anticipating that we’ll be at Harris Creek – but we can guarantee a great race, as always.”
The various races will take place this year from April 29 – May 1. Saturday’s events will include the Sprint Off-Road race of .25 mile swim, 8.5 mile mountain bike and 2 mile trail run, as well as the main Pro attraction, the Wildflower Long Course Triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 55 mile bike, 13.1 mile run).
As always, the event will host the Collegiate Championships, with tri clubs (and newly-formed Varsity programs) from throughout the country. Triathlon clubs and age-groupers – the backbone of the sport, as well as Wildflower – will be represented by the thousands.
Wildflower this year unveils a new Sunday Sprint Distance race, offering an on-road short course featuring a .25 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike and a 3 mile run. “Our overarching purpose at Wildflower is to serve the memberships of triathlon clubs,” said Bousman. “The On-Road Sprint is a great gateway for new members and beginner triathletes to get into the sport.” In addition to the new Sunday Sprint event, Wildflower will feature on Sunday the Olympic distance race (1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run).
Event schedule:
Saturday, April 30
Long Course Triathlon: 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run
Mountain Bike Sprint Triathlon: .25-mile swim, 9.7-mile bike, 2-mile run
Sunday, May 1
Olympic Distance Triathlon: 1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run
Sprint Distance Triathlon: .25-mile swim, 20k bike, 5k run
*The WF2 (athletes race the long course Saturday and Olympic Course Sunday) is also available for the 2016 race weekend.
For complete event information, and registration visit www.tricalifornia.com.
