New DC triathlon race announced to go with ITU World Cup Race

I’ve heard about this for months and even had some e-mails with the ITU folks about it – and as of today, it’s FINALLY announced – The US Dextro Energy Triathlon.  As many of you already know, there’s an ITU (Pro) World Cup race that’s scheduled for WashDC on Sunday, June 21st.  It’s part of a series of races with a total money pot in excess of $3 Millllioooooonn (Dr. Evil style) dollars (huge for triathlon).

Anyway, it’s been rumored there’d be an AG race to go along with it – but the details had been super-sketchy and hard to come by.  The race is being run by the same folks that do the Nation’s Tri – so it should be pretty world class.  Last year’s Nation’s Tri race had much the same ‘branding/marketing’ feel as an Ironman branded race – high levels of organization.  So I’m hoping this will as well.

There will be an Oly and Sprint distance for age groupers (with an elite option offered within the Oly distance).  They are different courses, with the primary difference being in the ITU race the men and women do 4-8 laps of the bike/run course instead of wandering all over the city.  This is to provide spectators with a much better view of those racers.  The schedule for the day is:

6:00AM: Oly Race Starts (Holy crap-pie that’s gonna hurt on the early-morning-factor!)
6:30AM: Sprint Race Starts (Lucky ducks)
11:00AM: Men’s Pro ITU Race Starts (Nice and warm)
1:00 PM: Women’s Pro ITU Race Starts (Wow it’s gonna suck for them)

Here’s a quick look at the course maps:

Olympic Course:

Sprint Course:

So basically, same area as Nation’s Tri for the swim, and the bike for the AG race is very similar to taking the 2007 and 2008 courses and melding them together with some slight changes.  It’s a two-loop course on the bike instead of the one-loop from the Nation’s Tri (which = more spectators).  The run is similar to the second half of the 2007 course with a few extra out and backs across the mall added to build mileage.  The one good piece of news with the 6AM start is you’ll beat some of the summer heat.  That time of year here it could be 80*F or 100*F, hard to tell.  But a 6AM start means most Oly folks will be running by 8-9AM or so, and so it won’t be too bad.  I’m working on suckering in some running friends to do their first Sprint tri that weekend as well.

As for registration – it opens Friday at 8:00AM*!  All the information can be found on their website.  I’m super-excited about this race since it’s both in DC, but will also allow folks to hang out post-race and enjoy watching the pro’s do laps around the US Capitol Building up to the Whitehouse and back.  Plus, given it’s basically a rehash of the Nation’s Tri course – and by the same folks, there really shouldn’t be any of the usual ‘first race’ issues – just sorta like Nation’s Tri Part II.  So if ya needed an excuse to go to DC…now you’ve gone one.

*Update: I just got the early registration link for any USAT members.  You can register NOW!

In other news…

• As some of you noticed, I did a bit of housekeeping around here.  I redid the layout.  For those watching at home on RSS feeds, you should check it out.  I added some tabs up top to allow you to actually find some of the more useful information I’ve written up over the past few years.  All the random tidbits and tips posts are now semi-neatly organized (or at least findable).  I also broke out all the ‘How to…’ guides, as well as the product reviews. It appears to be helping folks find stuff, as the average number of pages ya’ll view more that doubled the last few days.  Finally, I’ve changed the header to display a photo of the previous week’s training/racing/etc (all taken by…me).  Mostly cause I’m easily entertained by pretty things and flashing objects.

  

• As a quick FYI – The Marine Corps Marathon registration is still open…for another few hours anyways(maybe a day or so).  Usually sells out within a week.  The Army 10-Miler opened on the 1st and already sold out, I’m registered for it – but may or may not run/race it…
   
• I was at Chipotle last night ‘refueling’ after a sweet fun short swim workout (2,700 continuous moderate  effort with the last 800y a Time Trial) – and I noticed that they sell t-shirts and stuff on their website.  Best of all, I go to their website and they have a ton of their stuff on clearance – $6.75!  There will be much Chipotle clothing arriving soon…Brilliant!

  

• This week has been a brick-week in preparation for this Saturday’s tri.  Unlike the week before  The National Half-Marathon, things are shaping up quite nicely.  HR’s are low, bike wattage is way up and still climbing and run splits are sub-6 without too much effort.  I’m looking to have a blast down there in my first tri sprint since my first tri less than two years ago.  Most importantly, I’ll be able to sit back and relax on the Floridian beaches in 80*+ weather…all by 9AM race day. :)  You can thank me after I post the palm tree and beach photo.

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