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http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060331/NEWS08/603310355/1001
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D.M. will host major triathlon in July 2007 Hy-Vee, other sponsors establish $700,000 purse for world cup event planned for downtown area
PATT JOHNSON
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
March 31, 2006
Des Moines will play host to a world-class triathlon event next year.
Hy-Vee Inc. plans to announce today that it will sponsor a world cup triathlon competition on July 17, 2007, making Des Moines one of only four U.S. cities to ever host such an event.
"When this is announced around the world, there will be top triathletes who will be putting it on their calendars," said Bill Burke, who has been hired to plan and direct the Des Moines race.
"Every major top athlete will want to come."
The event landed in Iowa in part because Hy-Vee and other sponsors will establish a $700,000 purse, the largest ever paid out for a world cup event, said Randy Edeker, vice president of marketing at the West Des Moines-based grocery store chain.
The Hy-Vee World Cup Triathlon will be sanctioned by the International Triathlon Union. The ITU is holding 15 races this year, in locations such as Madrid, Spain; Richards Bay, South Africa; Edmonton, Alberta; Hamburg, Germany; Cancun, Mexico; and New Plymouth, New Zealand.
There are no U.S. venues on the circuit this year. The only U.S. cities to previously host an ITU world cup triathlon are New York City, St. Petersburg, Fla., and Honolulu.
About 150 professional athletes — 75 men and 75 women — will compete in three events, a 1.5 kilometer swim in Gray's Lake, a 40 kilometer bike race in downtown Des Moines and a 10 kilometer run, also downtown, according to Edeker.
In addition, about 2,000 athletes will participate in an amateur event, Burke said. Those participants won't share in the $700,000, but will be eligible for smaller monetary prizes and gifts, he said.
The event is expected to draw about 30,000 spectators.
Elite athletes participating in the event will earn points that could help them qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Two American triathletes, Hunter Kemper and Susan Williams, a bronze medalist in the 2004 Olympics, were expected to be in Des Moines today to help promote the event.
Kemper, ranked eighth in the world among men, finished second last week in the ITU World Cup event in Australia.
Edeker said Hy-Vee became interested in sponsoring the event because of the company's commitment to health and fitness. Hy-Vee has expanded its organic foods sections in its stores, added dietitians at many locations to help customers with menu planning and is opening health clinics in several stores.
Triathlons "are a young, vibrant sport," Edeker said. "This is our hometown, and this event helps put the city in the limelight. It's great exposure."
The large prizes - $200,000 to the male and female winners - were needed to draw top competitors, Edeker said.
"To establish our event at the level we wanted, we had to have a large purse," he said. "To bring people in, that's what it was going to take."
The company also hosts the Hy-Vee Classic, a women's senior golf event, which is held in Johnston.
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Dimond Bikes Superfan
http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060331/NEWS08/603310355/1001
###
D.M. will host major triathlon in July 2007 Hy-Vee, other sponsors establish $700,000 purse for world cup event planned for downtown area
PATT JOHNSON
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
March 31, 2006
Des Moines will play host to a world-class triathlon event next year.
Hy-Vee Inc. plans to announce today that it will sponsor a world cup triathlon competition on July 17, 2007, making Des Moines one of only four U.S. cities to ever host such an event.
"When this is announced around the world, there will be top triathletes who will be putting it on their calendars," said Bill Burke, who has been hired to plan and direct the Des Moines race.
"Every major top athlete will want to come."
The event landed in Iowa in part because Hy-Vee and other sponsors will establish a $700,000 purse, the largest ever paid out for a world cup event, said Randy Edeker, vice president of marketing at the West Des Moines-based grocery store chain.
The Hy-Vee World Cup Triathlon will be sanctioned by the International Triathlon Union. The ITU is holding 15 races this year, in locations such as Madrid, Spain; Richards Bay, South Africa; Edmonton, Alberta; Hamburg, Germany; Cancun, Mexico; and New Plymouth, New Zealand.
There are no U.S. venues on the circuit this year. The only U.S. cities to previously host an ITU world cup triathlon are New York City, St. Petersburg, Fla., and Honolulu.
About 150 professional athletes — 75 men and 75 women — will compete in three events, a 1.5 kilometer swim in Gray's Lake, a 40 kilometer bike race in downtown Des Moines and a 10 kilometer run, also downtown, according to Edeker.
In addition, about 2,000 athletes will participate in an amateur event, Burke said. Those participants won't share in the $700,000, but will be eligible for smaller monetary prizes and gifts, he said.
The event is expected to draw about 30,000 spectators.
Elite athletes participating in the event will earn points that could help them qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Two American triathletes, Hunter Kemper and Susan Williams, a bronze medalist in the 2004 Olympics, were expected to be in Des Moines today to help promote the event.
Kemper, ranked eighth in the world among men, finished second last week in the ITU World Cup event in Australia.
Edeker said Hy-Vee became interested in sponsoring the event because of the company's commitment to health and fitness. Hy-Vee has expanded its organic foods sections in its stores, added dietitians at many locations to help customers with menu planning and is opening health clinics in several stores.
Triathlons "are a young, vibrant sport," Edeker said. "This is our hometown, and this event helps put the city in the limelight. It's great exposure."
The large prizes - $200,000 to the male and female winners - were needed to draw top competitors, Edeker said.
"To establish our event at the level we wanted, we had to have a large purse," he said. "To bring people in, that's what it was going to take."
The company also hosts the Hy-Vee Classic, a women's senior golf event, which is held in Johnston.
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Dimond Bikes Superfan