World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) is a Tampa-based company recognized for athletic excellence, distinguished events and quality products.
On October 6, 2010, WTC launched a new global event series called the 5150 triathlon.
They said, "Starting in 2011, the 5150 Series will be the largest international distance triathlon series in the world and will be the first non-drafting race of its kind, offering a competitive platform for professional and age group athletes.
The 2011 event schedule will offer 13 domestic events as well as a handful of international races.
The Hy-Vee Triathlon will host the 5150 U.
S.
Championship, offering professional athletes the opportunity to compete for $1 million in prize money".
The 5150 series is a series of Olympic distance events.
An Olympic triathlon consists of a 1.
5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run.
When you add up the numbers you get to 51.
5k (31.
9 miles) thus the 5150 series.
If you are at all familiar with the Ironman races then you know that the Half Ironman distance is 1.
6k swim, 90.
1k bike and 21k run, while the Ironman distance is double that.
This new series is off to a slow start.
The 3rd event in the new series was held in New Orleans, LA and had a turn-out of around 300 racers.
This is a small number as compared to the 70.
3 event that took place on a version of the same course (that was twice the distance) just 2 weeks prior and which had a turn-out of over 3000 racers.
I have worked the New Orleans 70.
3, for all 3 years that they have had it, as a volunteer.
Each year they get more racers and the event grows in size as well as stature.
Each year the volunteers see various group of racers; the professional, the serious amateur, and the serious idiots.
The professionals are always a pleasure to watch because they make the sport look so easy.
They fly around the course with ease, their gear is always the very best, and they seem to have a 6th sense about what to avoid and when to make a change in what they are doing or their position on the course.
The serious amateur is the person that trains hard and does their best, but they forget things or cut corners trying to perform like the professionals.
They lack that 6th sense that the professionals seem to have, so they are the ones that usually get hurt when somebody from the next group does something wrong.
Of course, that group is the serious idiot.
When you see a 350-pound person on a road bike, you know that this is an accident waiting to happen.
Most people also feel sorry for the bike! Here is the problem.
A 150-pound racer coming down the back side of a bridge is going to get their bike up to speeds of 45 to 55 mph.
A person that is fit and has serious riding experience has no problem taking a curve at the bottom of that hill, with or without sand or gravel on the road.
The over-weight, out of shape, person is going add another 5 mph to that speed, then they are going to panic! This is where the pile-ups happen and people go to the hospital.
Let me tell you that watching a beautiful young lady go head-over-heels down a cement road is not the site that anybody wants to see.
This is the type of scene that happens at a half ironman, and people die at full ironmen competitions.
Why, you ask? It is easy, they push themselves to hard, and try for more than they are trained to do.
This 5150 is a nice entry level, and I expect next year that they will be sold out as the word spreads.
This is the perfect event for those people that want to claim they did a "triathlon".
The big point is that they can get medals in some age groups for just finishing the race.
The top 5 racers in each group get medals! How many people do you know that have a triathlon medal? So let's look at those numbers again.
1.
5 kilometers is 0.
9315 miles, 40 kilometers is 24.
85 miles, and 10 kilometers is 6.
21 miles.
So you swim 1 mile, bike for 25 miles, and run for 6 miles.
This is something that most high school students should be able to do.
Most importantly, this is something that 80% of the population can train to do without hurting themselves.
This opens the door to people that would love to have that triathlon medal, and who knows, they might find a sport that they really like.
They can then train for the next level.