Posted: September 18, 2004

Triathlon: Hundreds Ready To Race At USAT Age-Group Nationals

Nearly 900 age-group triathletes are registered to compete in Saturday's in the USA Triathlon National Age Group Championship, presented by TriGenix Sports Nutritional System, in Shreveport, Louisiana.

The top six finishers in each age-group category will qualify for the 2005 International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Triathlon Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii. Ten more qualifiers in each age group will be chosen at the 2005 age-group championships, at a site and date to be determined.

Among those scheduled to compete are former overall age-group champions John Reback of North Palm Beach, Florida, and Bruce Gennari of Brentwood, Tennessee. Many former national champions are also on the start list.

The 0.9-mile, point-to-point swim course will be held in the Red River, which runs through Shreveport. The swim course will be several meters off shore and will follow the Red River shoreline to the exit at the Stoner Boat Launch.

The 24.8-mile bike course will take competitors out of the Stoner Boat Launch Park and onto the Clyde Fant Memorial Parkway. The serpentine course will take place on a completely closed four-lane road.

The 6.2-mile run course will be a single loop that will start and finish at the Stoner Boat Launch Park. Athletes will leave the park and enter the bicycle path that runs along the Clyde Fant Memorial Parkway. The first mile and final two miles of this course will be run on the bicycle-path system that runs along the Red River and the Clyde Fant Memorial Parkway. The middle section of the course runs through the local community.

Among the other activities taking place around the race are the Women's Commission Breakfast, a post-race Mardi Gras party and Olympic triathlete Hunter Kemper discussing his Olympic experience (1, 3, and 6 p.m. Friday at the race expo). Kemper's visit is sponsored by Amino Vital.

More information is available at USAT's national-championship site at: USATriathlon.org.

From USATriathlon.