Posted: May 22, 2006

Multisport: Richmond, Virginia to Host 2007 Duathlon Long Course World Championship

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Richmond, Virginia has been chosen to host the 2007 World Long Course Duathlon Championships, the International Triathlon Union (ITU) has announced. The winning bid was submitted by the Metropolitan Richmond Sports Backers.

“The ITU is extremely excited to have Richmond host the 2007 Long Course Duathlon Championships,” said ITU Executive Director Loreen Barnett. “These athletes will come from all over the world and I'm sure the Richmond organizing group will do a stellar job hosting them.”

Competition in next year's event in Richmond will feature a 15k (9.3 miles) run, followed by an 80k (49.7 miles) bike ride, then another 7.5k (4.66 miles) run through the streets of downtown Richmond. As many as 500 athletes from all over the world are expected to visit Richmond to compete.

“This is a great coup for Richmond,” said Sports Backers executive director Jon Lugbill. “Richmond doesn't often have an opportunity to host a true world championship event. Having the event in 2007 just adds to the excitement. The region's celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the first permanent English settlement will give the European competitors even more reason to put this event on their schedules.”

Richmond's unique and diverse urban course should serve as a major draw for foreign and U.S. competitors alike. Richmonder Tom Jeffrey, the reigning U.S. national Duathlon champion, is looking forward to showing off his hometown course.

“The course is a beautiful, scenic route that will challenge the world's best duathletes,” said Jeffrey, who won his national title on May 6 in Mason, Ohio. “I'm really excited to have the opportunity to compete for a world championship in my hometown.”

The Sports Backers have already begun actively promoting the 2007 event to the world's top duathletes. Event director Tracey Russell, who also organizes the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k and SunTrust Richmond Marathon, will attend the 2006 Duathlon Long Course World Championships on May 28 in Frederica, Denmark.

“Our goal is to host the best World Duathlon Championships ever,” said Russell, who was named Race Director of the Year by Road Race Management last October for her stewardship of the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k. “I'm looking forward to talking with the top duathletes in the world to learn what we can do to make the Richmond event extraordinary.”

It's the success of events such as the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k and SunTrust Richmond Marathon and the track record of the Sports Backers that led to Richmond winning the bid to host the event. The Sports Backers were recently named “Best Sports Commission in America” by the National Association of Sports Commission, the type of award that speaks volumes when it comes to bidding on events.

“The Sports Backers have a well-known history of hosting first-class events,” said Jeff Dyrek, national events director for USA Triathlon, the governing body for duathlon in this country. “Events like the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k and SunTrust Richmond Marathon are considered among the best organized in the country by the people in our industry. That type of experience was crucial for the International Triathlon Union to award the event to Richmond.”

Source: Jason Mucher, USATriathlon.org.

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