Posted by Leif Irgens on July 27, 2005 at 19:47:45:
In Reply to: Tri-ing Times posted by Bruce Coldsmith on July 27, 2005 at 16:01:22:
Bruce,
If the next 2 months is your target, I think you basically have three choices.
1. The AbitaMan series is holding a race at Navarre beach on August 21st. Web site is www.abitaman.com. It's a first-year event but the series is 5 years old, puts on 4-5 races per year and has held events at Navarre beach before (this race used to be in the spring). This race is close enough to drive over on race morning but you'll probably need to register before race day.
2. The Sandestin triathlon. This race is in Sandestin. It's on August 27th. However, it's a fairly popular race and it has a field limit so it may be full already. I think the webiste is www.sandestin.com, then do a search for the triathlon within the web site.
3. The Santa Rosa Island Triathlon on Sept. 24th. I believe their web site is www.sritri.com. This is another popular race that usually fills well in advance of the race date so it may also be full but check it out. It's held on Pensacola Island so it's also close enough to drive over on race day but you'll definitely have to register in advance for this one (if it's not already full).
If you count my doing the abitaman spring race at Navarre Beach, I've done all three and wouldn't really rank any one over the others. They're really about the same but the Abitaman race will be smaller than the others and therefore might be a better debut race because there will be less comotion. The SRI Tri gets rave reviews as a good beginner race though so don't rule it out simiply because of it's 1100 person field limit.
Leif