Statewide Campaign. Triathlon and Sea Turtle Weekend at Wrightsville Beach. Sports fans will wake up early and witness the survival of the fittest of 1,400 athletes racing at Wrightsville Beach during the 32nd Annual Wilmington YMCA Triathlon this Saturday, September 25th. Later in the day: “For Masonboro”, a benefit for the Sea Turtle Program on Masonboro Island will be held at a historic setting overlooking Masonboro Sound.
For Immediate Release
September 20, 2010
Triathlon and Sea Turtle Weekend at Wrightsville Beach
WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, NC . . . Sports fans will wake up early and witness the survival of the fittest of 1,400 athletes racing at Wrightsville Beach during the 32nd Annual Wilmington YMCA Triathlon this Saturday, September 25th.
Swimmers will enter the water at 7 a.m. in front of the Blockade Runner Beach Resort plowing through Banks Channel to Motts Channel. The 1.5k point-to-point course ends at SeaPath Marina during the first leg of the challenge. Fastest times are 15 minutes or less.
During the second leg of the race, athletes will peddle a 20k route west from Wrightsville Beach to Wilmington and back. Cyclists will rack bikes at the Wrightsville Beach Park, locking in with top times of 30 minutes or less.
Closing the distance during the last leg of the race, a 5k foot race around the John Nesbitt Loop pits runners neck and neck with best times at 16 minutes or less.
Triathlon participants hail from all parts of North Carolina. Other East Coast locales are from Massachusetts to Florida, some tri-athletes, like Campbell Frey, 27, are traveling from as far away as Eugene, Oregon with Bjarne Moller, 31, hailing from Odense, Denmark. Husband-and-wife and father-and-son teams from Wrightsville Beach will compete against a couple from San Francisco and a duo from Park City, Utah and Chicago, Illinois.
This year’s oldest contestants are 69-year old Grayson Quarles from Duck Key, Florida; 70-year old William Lynch from Leland, North Carolina, and 71-year old John Mulflur, from Easton, Maryland.
Later in the day: “For Masonboro“, a benefit for the Sea Turtle Program on Masonboro Island will be held at a historic setting overlooking Masonboro Sound. This private estate was once the legendary plantation of William Hooper, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; later became the home site of the Wright family (i.e. Wrightsville Beach); and served as the site for the first Masonic Lodge in North Carolina (Hmm..Mason-boro; that’s where it came from!). The property is now the home place of Richard and Carole Johnson. (Saturday, September 25, 5-10PM)
Tickets for the Sea Turtle benefit are $75 (limited number available). Reserve now via
e-mail: info@formasonboro.org or, contact Lisa Weeks, Project Chairman and Wrightsville Beach Alderman: (910) 262-5998.
Triathlon: Free. For information contact: Dick Jones at 910-251-9622.
Coincidentally, the North Carolina Rolls Royce Bentley Motor Club Fall Tour of automobiles will be parked at the Blockade Runner on Saturday morning, offering a spectator sport of a different kind.
