Cover Story
Chicago’s bright lights and huge and welcoming triathlon community will host a race that’s not to be missed
“[The ITU Chicago race] is a great opportunity for age-group athletes as well as spectators to experience the grandness of an ITU race,” said Chase Baraczek, a Chicago age-grouper who has raced all over the world, including at ITU events. “The scale of their races is just bigger than anything else.”
Of course, when most Americans think of the ITU, they think of professional ITU athletes such as Alistair Brownlee and Javier Gomez who compete on draft-legal courses as they pursue their Olympic dreams. But what American age-groupers might not realize is that the basic premise behind the ITU’s World Triathlon Series is that it allows age-groupers to race in the morning on a non-draft (yes: non-draft), Olympic-distance course, take a breather, and then sit down at the very same venue that afternoon and watch the Alistair Brownlees and Gwen Jorgensens of the world compete on a spectator-friendly, multiple-looped course that is simultaneously broadcast on a giant screen. During the race, the elites fight for prize money and precious Olympic and World Championship points in battles that are so fierce, they often lead to athletes being carted off in wheelchairs. These elites also finish in the very same blue-carpeted finish chute the age-groupers ran through in the morning.
“You have a lot of the best triathletes in the world competing, and they put a ton of money into the races,” Baraczek said. “It’s just really impressive — the amount of sponsors they get, the way they set up the finish line with the grandstands; and finishing on the blue carpet is an amazing experience. That’s the signature of ITU races.”
And while the racing format and venues of the World Triathlon Series are selling points for many age-groupers, Chicago-area triathletes will tell you that the best part about the 2014 ITU World Triathlon Chicago race is that it’s in Chicago.
“Every time you race in Chicago, it feels like you’re racing in a world championship because of the hype and the atmosphere around here,” said Sharone Aharon, who owns Chicago-based Well-Fit Triathlon & Training, which serves 300 to 400 triathletes per year. “There are a ton of volunteers — it’s just a really big party.”
Chicago may seem an unlikely city for a robust triathlon community, but it’s home to some of the biggest triathlon clubs in the country, and they’re known for welcoming other triathletes into their circles.
36 USA TRIATHLON FALL 2013
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108