Feb. 26, 2007 --
Press Release: The Wildflower 100K Triathlons began as an auxiliary race to the Wildflower Bluegrass Festival in April 1983. Sally Edwards, a pioneer in the sport, blazed the first course. Nobody knew how to spell ‘triathlon', or is it ‘triathalon’, much less how to race in one. The public may have seen the sport on television where a lady crawled across the finish, but never raced in one. It was billed in the sport as the triathlon with the largest prize purse in the history of the sport with $1,000 for the first place male and female finisher. Eighty-six athletes (you couldn’t call them triathletes at the time as most had never competed in a triathlon before), came to the inaugural event mostly to see what this sport was all about.
This memorable inaugural event had constant downpour of rain throughout the entire race. Many of the swimmers had their first taste of hypothermia coming out of the water and had to be warmed up in a park staff member’s hot tub. Some cyclist got lost and others also almost froze having to spend some time in the hot tub many used during the swim. The course markings got washed away leaving the male winners of the race crossed the finish line from both directions. Even the felt tip written results were washed away by the rain and had to be completed post event. The crazy part that still amazes us is that when everyone got ready to leave they all said that it was a great event and they would be back next year. What should have been considered a complete disaster was the beginning of the Wildflower. It took only a couple of years for Triathlon to push aside the bluegrass music and take center stage at the event which would become world renowned as the Wildflower Triathlons Festival.
In the next 24 years the Wildflower Triathlons Festival has grown from the mere 86 triathletes to almost 8,600 triathletes registering for the 2007 event. What started out as a single event of 100K (2k swim, 80k bike and 18k run) has grown to a four day festival with a Long Course Triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run) a Mountain Bike Triathlon (.5 mile swim, 10 mile bike, and 2 mile run) and an Olympic Distance Triathlon (2k swim, 40k bike and 10k run). The race also features an Elite/Professional race with international and domestic champions, a collegiate championship, triathlon club events, four day festival with exhibits, training clinics, food, and music and camping. It is known as the “Woodstock of Triathlon” and lives up to its name.
This year’s event will be held May 4-6th at Lake San Antonio, California which is referred to as 80 miles from nowhere, located on the Central Coast. This will be an extraordinary year as we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the event. It is going to be a special “Tri-Celebration” as Triathlete Magazine and USA Triathlon will also be celebrating their 25th anniversary years at the event. There will be a remarkable reception co-hosted by Triathlete Magazine with guest speakers, slide shows and more; many of the legendary triathletes will be on hand to tell their story. Their will also be a history exhibit of the event and the sport available throughout the weekend to view. Triathletes who have competed in all 25 events and those who are in the prestigious ‘20 year +’ club will be honored. There will be festivities, prizes, and lots of special activities throughout the weekend. And of course Wildflower would not be Wildflower without camping everywhere. Along with the 8,600 athletes there will be over 30,000 family friends, spectators and volunteers. Everyone will have one thing on their mind. Triathlon.
You won’t want to miss this once in a lifetime event. There are still openings in the Olympic Distance and Long Course Distance triathlons. You can register at http://www.tricalifornia.com/wildflower/2007