City Hosts 10,000 Triathletes This Weekend

Chicago will host 10,000 triathletes to participate in the 29th annual Life Time Chicago Triathlon and its weekend of events from Aug. 26-28.

The Life Time Chicago Triathlon serves as the fifth of seven events in the 2011 Race to the Toyota Cup. Participants in the weekend's events include former Olympians, professionals, physically challenged, service members, elite amateurs and first-time participants from 46 states and 19 international countries.

The weekend kicks off Saturday morning as nearly 2,000 triathletes, including experienced and first-time participants and children, participate in the the Fleet Feet Sports SuperSprint (some will race the SuperSprint as the first leg of the Life Time Chicago Triathlon Triple Challenge) or the UnitedHealthcare Kids Triathlon.

Starting at 7:30 a.m. at Foster Avenue Beach, competitors in the Fleet Feet Sports SuperSprint will swim 375 meters (.25 miles) along the lakefront. They will then jump on a bike and pedal up and down Simonds Drive for a total of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). Finally, they Will run along the lake for 2.5 kilometers (1.55 miles) to the finish line.

The UnitedHealthcare Kids Triathlon, one of the country's largest kids triathlons, will begin at 9:00 a.m. Kids ages seven to 14 will swim, bike and run along Chicago's lakefront in the 21st annual event. For kids ages seven through 10, they will participate in a 100-meter swim, a four-kilometer bike ride and a one-kilometer run. For boy and girls ages 11-14, the distances will be doubled.

Sunday morning marks the start of the 29th annual Life Time Chicago Triathlon, with events kicking off around 6:00 a.m. Triathletes participating in the international distance competition will swim 1.5 kilometers through the waters of Lake Michigan, bike 40 kilometers on the lanes of scenic Lake Shore Drive and run 10 kilometers down Chicago's lakefront running paths. The race will also include a sprint distance, comprised of a .75 kilometer swim, 22 kilometer bike and five kilometer run.

A group of 109 triathletes will compete in the last two legs (back-to-back triathlons) of the Life Time Chicago Triathlon Triple Challenge as the swim, bike and run a total of 68 miles of the weekend.

The race begins at Monroe Harbor (at Lake Shore Drive and Balbo Avenue) and finishes at Balbo Avenue and Columbus Drive.

ChicagoTriathlon.com

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