SBR WEEKEND BASS COAST
ONE WITH THE LOT WORDS BY CHRIS WEST PHOTOS SUPPLIED BY ELITE ENERGY
A NEW EVENT TO BE HELD ACROSS SEVERAL LOCATIONS IN THE BASS COAST REGION OVER TWO DAYS ON 18TH & 19TH MARCH PROVIDES SWIMMERS, CYCLISTS, RUNNERS AND TRIATHLETES WITH AN OPPORTUNITY TO COMPETE WITH GREATER FLEXIBILITY OF CHOICE. Mark ‘Emo’ Emerton is counting down the days to the SBR Weekend Bass Coast event and hoping for favourable weather to greet the competitors, organisers and volunteer crews on both days.
“Entrants can participate in one or any combination of the events. The choice is theirs. Participating in all of them as a triathlon over two days is referred to as doing The Lot,” Mark says.
The dynamic and vastly experienced CEO/Owner of organisers Elite Energy is quick to highlight the point of difference between the unique format of this event and a triathlon.
“Another beauty of this concept is that entrants can also choose from multiple swim distances, multiple bike ride distances and multiple run distances to suit their individual preferences. This level of flexibility in being able to mix and match enables whole families to be involved,” he adds.
“Across the country, everyone is familiar with specific events for open water swimmers, cyclists, runners and triathletes, but the SBR Weekend appeals to all these different styles of athletes and brings them all together,” Mark explains. A regular triathlon involves swimming, cycling and running consecutively on the same day, whereas the SBR Weekend Bass Coast will stage these as separate events at different intervals over the two days of competition. The swim will get the event under way on the morning of Saturday, 18th March, followed later that day by the bike ride. The weekend schedule then culminates on Sunday, 19th March with the run. Although these dates are fast approaching, it's not too late to be involved. Registrations are being taken right up until the day.
102
gippsland lifestyle autumn ���3
The action commences with the ‘Swim the Island’ event sponsored by Huub on Saturday morning which will take place in the ocean waters at Cowes Beach. Entrants can choose from four different distances starting from a leisurely 500 metres for beginners or youngsters, up to 1 kilometre, 2 kilometres and 4 kilometres for advanced long-distance swimmers. Several age categories apply across each of the distances, commencing at 11-15 years for the Main Beach 500 metre swim, 12-15 years for the Lovers Lane 1 kilometre swim, 13-19 years for the Silverleaves 2 kilometre swim and 14-19 years for the Silver Dreams 4 kilometre swim. The age categories increase progressively to 70 plus for the most senior of competitors.