New Race Opportunities in Maryland for 2011!

Maryland is a wonderful area for those of us that race triathlons and individual swimming, biking, and running events. As far as triathlons go, Piranha Sports offers a number of races in both Delaware and Pennsylvania, and Setup Events has a huge number of races in Virginia and the Carolinas. DC offers the DC Triathlon, which is now part of the Ironman 5150 Series, and the Nation's Triathlon, which is a huge event. More local to me, the Columbia Triathlon Association (CTA) has a number of races in Howard County, ranging from sprints to full-Iron 140.6 races and the Ulman Cancer Fund For Young Adults has the Half Full Triathlon, which is now a collection of both half-Iron and Olympic distances. And I'm sure there are multiple other races in the Mid-Atlantic region that I just don't know about. So, for me, there's a lot to do with zero travel and a whole heck of a lot more to do with a few hours of driving.

And now, there's more. First, there is a duathlon coming to Maryland in August, the DUthe2. This is the first duathlon that I'm aware of in this general area and looks to be a great event by newcomer to the area, RipIt Events. This may be a great gateway race into multisport for those folks that love to bike and run but are turned off by the swimming component.

Second, I got a notice yesterday that Setup Events is expanding their portfolio with the introduction of the Maryland Triathlon Series (MTS). This looks to include nine races, with six sprints, two Olympic distance, and one half-Iron 70.3. The sprints are of varying distances, with one featuring a short, indoor, snake-style (here's a good video I found if you don't know what this is), swim leg. There's some that are really flat and some that are crazy hilly. And, what I'm most excited about, is that the half-Iron race is late season (early October), which should provide perfect racing weather.

The question here is...too much? With a series of great races, the Columbia Triathlon Association puts on a excellent (nationally known...did you know that Chrissy Wellington raced the Columbia Triathlon, CTA's premiere event in 2009?) product here in Maryland. Short travels to DC, Pennsylvania, Delaware, or Virginia allow access to other excellent races. Does Maryland need more? I say...yep. Despite all of these opportunities, these races sell out, and fast. Maryland is a very sports-friendly area and the amount of triathletes in Howard County alone is staggering. The demand is here and this increase in supply can only be a good thing for multisport in the area. Setup puts on great events and I'm very much looking forward to racing in a few of these MTS races this year. The DUthe2 race should be a great new opportunity as well.

Welcome to Maryland!