Swimmers, bikers and runners will converge on West Lake Provincial Park on Sunday for the 29th Prince George Triathlon and Duathlon competition.
Craig Somerville, organizer of the 2012 triathlon, said 125 competitors have signed up to take part in one of the various events from the Olympic race to the sprints to the team events and corporate challenge.
"It looks like a number of first timers are signed up for the sprint this year," said Somerville.
The sprint consists of a 750 metre swim, 20 kilometre bike ride and a five kilometre run. In comparison the Olympic competition has a 1,500m swim, 40 km bike ride and a 10 km run. In the duathlon competitors do a five km run and a 40 km bike ride.
Somerville said the duathlon is becoming less popular these days and many other communities are dropping it from competition.
"We still like to have it to introduce people to the sport," said Somerville.
The 2011 Olympic distance men's and women's winners were Sam Lazer of Vanderhoof and Sonya Croker of Fraser Lake.
Somerville said they made some revisions to the course to make it more spectator friendly for people watching from the beach. In past years, observers would only be able to get a good look at the swim portion of the triathlon.
"The first few kilometres of the run will take place on the beach so people can come out and watch more of the race," said Somerville.
The final two hills were also removed from the bike portion of the race.
When the Prince George Triathlon began it took place on the Nechako River before moving to West Lake, first at the boat launch and now at the beach.
The duathlon and the Olympic races begin at 9 a.m. and the sprints start at 9:30 a.m. A barbecue at 1 p.m. will wrap up the day.
For more information on the triathlon or to see a map of the course changes visit the website at www.pgtriathlon.ca. Anyone who would like to volunteer their time and help out on race day should call Craig at 250-962-4665
