Community groups will lead the way as Kingscliff plays host to the 2011 Pure Sport Kingscliff Triathlon and Sports Festival on September 10 and 11.
The event will be hosted by the Cudgen Headland Surf Lifesaving Club and Twin Towns Triathlon Club, while other groups will be involved in helping to see the triathlon runs smoothly.
Tweed Mayor Councillor Kevin Skinner, event organisers, Tweed tourism operators, local business people, community groups and members of the Tweed’s sporting met at the Cudgen Creek boat-ramp on Monday morning to officially launch this year’s event.
Mayor Skinner told the gathering that the Triathon was a major drawcard for the Tweed Coast and the entire Tweed Region.
“It fills a lot of the accom-modation places and brings people to the area for a few days,” he said of the event, now in its fourth year.
“We’re thrilled to once again welcome the Kingscliff Triathlon as part of the Council’s strategy to encourage sports tourism in the Tweed.”
He said Kingscliff was a beautiful place to visit and a lot of people treated the event as a holiday weekend.
At the launch, Mayor Skinner played down the impact of the publicity from the beach erosion at Kingscliff.
Race director Mike Crawley said entries were going slower than normal for the event. “Yes entries are coming in much slower than for the other three,” he said, adding he was hoping for a rush over the next three weeks before entries close.
He said people had nothing to fear about the erosion, which he thought might be the reason for the slowing in entries.
“The swim leg is held in the Creek at high tide, transition is located in the newly renovated Faulks Park and bike and run legs on the roads between Salt and Chinderah,” Mr Crawley said.
He said the main swim leg would start in the creek down near the high school and would be a spectacular sight for people as the swimmers came in under the bridge and eventually transitioned into the next leg at the boat ramp.
Mr Crawley said many businesses had gotten behind the event as they saw it as a great opportunity to bring visitors back to Kingscliff and enjoy the location.
“One day we hope the Kingscliff Triathlon will rival large events like Mooloolaba and Noosa,” he said.
“Kingscliff is an ideal location for water based activities, with the creek and the ocean.”
The Puresport Kingscliff Triathlon will be two days of activities including the Fusion Cycles 62km social ride and 5km fun run on Saturday and triathlons from the kids aged 7-9 right through to the veterans and professionals as well as teams events.
