Competitors will descend upon Horsham from all across the country for the 20th edition of the Horsham Triathlon on Saturday.
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Organisers were hoping the 20th anniversary would bring excellent participation for the twilight event beginning at 4.00pm along the bank of the Wimmera River.
Race director Mark Pumpa said the course was shaping up in excellent condition.
“The weather is looking good, the numbers are coming in and the quality of the river is looking good as well,” Pumpa said.
“We’re hoping for over 200 competitors again this year. We’d really like our 20th anniversary to be a big one.”
Pumpa said the conditions for the swimming leg were looking particularly promising. After weeks with little rain, the river received a decent top up during the week.
“It’s looking like there’s a bit more water in there than previous years, we’re very lucky with that,” Pumpa said.
“The more water in there the better so the rain has been great for us.”
Past winner Echucha’s Steven Gray is one of the many coming from across the country to participate. Gray has been attending for the last 17 years and said he looked forward to the Horsham event.
“It should hopefully be a good one being the 20th anniversary,” Gray said. “There was a few years there where the swimming leg was at the pool when the river was too low to swim which dropped the numbers a bit but it’s back to getting some really good numbers now.
“It is a great little country race so it would be a shame to see it go by the wayside.”
The triathlon includes a 500 metre swim, 20 kilometre bike ride and five kilometre run.
There is also a short course for beginners which is a 200 metre swim, seven kilometre bike ride and 2.5 kilometre run.
Organiser Simon Mentz said he was hoping the short course and the popularity of the Wimmera River parkrun would encourage more participants this year.
“With the recently introduced Wimmera River parkrun encouraging newcomers to running and walking on a regular basis, we hope to see a few people willing to take the next step and enter a triathlon,” Mentz said.
“The short course is perfect for first timers and doesn’t require a fancy bike. It’s all about participating.”