The Wilmington Family YMCA will host the East Coast’s oldest triathlon at Wrightsville Beach Sept. 19, drawing as many as 700 participants of all ages, from pre-teens to triathletes well into their 70s.
The YMCA sprint triathlon’s short distances makes it accessible to more athletes, said Mick Southerland, who, at 70 years old, is racing as a relay team with his son and daughter.
Southerland entered his first YMCA sprint triathlon in 1983, 10 years after the race’s inception. At that time the triathlon was still held at the Olympic distance — a 1,500-meter swim, 40K bike ride and 10K run — but participation was slowly dropping off. Organizers decided to shorten the race to the sprint distance and the event’s popularity exploded.
“When they switched to the sprint distance, it really just took off,” Southerland said. “Now it’s one of the most well-attended events on the East Coast.”
The swim leg is still the Olympic distance because it is held on an incoming tide through Banks and Motts channels, so athletes have the benefit of swimming with the current. Swimmers leave the Blockade Runner Beach Resort in waves starting at 7 a.m. and race to Seapath Yacht Club.
Triathletes climb out of the water, grab their bikes from the transition area in Wrightsville Beach Park and start pedaling the flat 12-mile loop off the island and around Wilmington. The 5K run course around the John Nesbitt Loop also starts and ends at Wrightsville Beach Park.
Most of the participants race all three legs, but some, like Southerland, form relay teams. Southerland previously completed entire triathlons himself, but in recent years a hip replacement has limited his participation to the swim leg. When he climbs out of the water he’ll tag his son, Brad Southerland, who will complete the bike leg and then his daughter, Betsy Weinberg, will do the run.
While physical limitations are partly responsible for his transition into the relay division of the triathlon, Southerland said the relay also introduces a supportive aspect to the experience.
“[Brad and I] will be there at the finish line cheering Betsy in,” he said. “That’s the fun thing about doing it as a team.”
It’s another element of camaraderie in a race Southerland described as a reunion of sorts.
“One of the best times is when you’re at the Blockade Runner, waiting that morning to go off,” he said. “You get to see all of your old buddies that you’ve been swimming with or biking with all year.”
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