22nd Annual Triathlon
DESTIN - For hundreds of triathletes throughout the Southeast, Saturday, Aug. 23, is already marked for the 22nd annual Sandestin Triathlon, at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. The main event - a half-mile Gulf of Mexico swim, a 20-mile bike ride along Scenic Highway 30-A, and a four-mile run through Sandestin's beach and bayside community - kicks off at 6:30 a.m. on the beach in front of Finz beachside restaurant.
Each year, since the event was established in 1986, the swim-bike-run race attracts as many as 700 contenders from the experienced to beginners. This year's event organizers expect nothing less.
"We will have every type of triathlete imaginable from first-timers to people who have being competing for more than 20 years," said Mandy Martin, Sandestin's director of recreation.
Participants will compete to break the 1991 men's division course record of 1:14:27 set by James LeFebvre of Fort Walton Beach, and the women's division record set in 1992 by Karen Copeland of Minneapolis, Minn. at 1:26:45. The Sandestin Triathlon was established in 1986.
An awards ceremony will follow the Triathlon at the Finz pool deck. In addition to naming the winners, one triathlete will receive the Scott Christmas Award. After surviving a near-fatal plane accident, Scott Christmas went on to win the Sandestin Triathlon a year later in 1997. Each year, this award is presented to a participant who has faced similar experiences of bravery.
Though free to spectators, the triathlon requires a fee to compete. The event, which is a USA Triathlon-sanctioned , is limited to 700 entries and is expected to sell out this year. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Sacred Heart Hospital in Santa Rosa Beach.
For registration forms and more information, visit www.sandestintriathlon.com.