Hundreds of athletes set for Longboat triathlon

Hundreds of athletes are expected this weekend for the Longboat Key Triathlon, which takes the opening gun at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Longboat Key Club Resort.

Triathletes and duathletes in two classes will swim, cycle and run over courses that range from 25.5 miles to 13.5 miles. Duathletes omit the swimming portion.

While the swimming and running takes place on resort property, the cycling portion will be contested on Gulf of Mexico Drive. Traffic lanes will remain open, and cyclists will ride in the bike lanes with officers present along the route. Police Chief Pete Cumming said officers will stop traffic at Longboat Club Road as the cyclists head out. 

Competitors open with the swim portion of the event, which will take place adjacent to the Tennis Garden at the Longboat Key Club. Sprint competitors will swim 400 meters in the lagoon adjacent to New Pass, while International competitors will swim 800 meters.

From there, they will grab their bicycles and make the turn on  to northbound Gulf of Mexico Drive. The sprint racers turn around and head south at Jessmyth Way (just south of Bayfront Park) to cover a 10-mile out-and-back route. The International racers continue on and make their turn at North Shore Road to cover 19.4 miles.

Back at the Longboat Key Club Resort, the running segment will take the triathletes around the  grounds of the resort. Sprint racers will run 2.5 miles along Longboat Club Road and International racers will cover 5 miles.

Earlier this year, at the Longboat Key Triathlon, Winston Schoenfield of Oviedo was the men’s overall winner in the International division, finishing in 1 hour, 34 minutes, 53.5 seconds.

Rachel Chambers of Sarasota was the overall female finisher in 1:42:41.7

In the May race, Alan Graff of Tampa won the Sprint Division with a time of 52:36.4. The top woman was Kylee Bernthisel of Bradenton in 56:47.0