Winsprint Triathlon sells out third year

It only took three years for the Winsprint Triathlon to reach its capacity, but it happened this year.

More than 100 people have registered for the third-annual event scheduled for Oct. 6, which includes a 400 meter swim, a 10-kilometer bicycle ride and a five kilometer run, Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation program director Deborah Jackson said.

As the event has grown, Jackson said they realized registration would need to be capped eventually, or the event would have to be restructured.

“We don’t want to change the swimming part,” she said. “In order to keep the swim event as it was, we decided to cap it.”

The event has grown significantly during its brief history. In 2016, there 40 participants. It more than doubled in 2017 with 86 competitors. Registration is already closed for 2018.

The event will begin at 7 a.m. with the swim at the College Park gymnasium followed by the 10K bicycle ride to George Rogers Clark High School and back before ending with the 5K run around the Holiday Hills neighborhood.

Surprisingly, Clark County participants are the minority. Jackson said about 40 of the registered runners are from Clark County. The rest are coming from as far away as Ohio and Indiana. Others are coming from western and northern Kentucky as well as throughout central Kentucky.

The triathlon serves as a fundraiser for the department’s annual Bicycle Rodeo at Lykins Park, including purchasing bicycles which are given away at the event.

“This July we had 28 bicycles,” Jackson said. “That’s the most we’ve ever given away. Every year we look to add a few more bikes.”

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