by Mary Jimenez

This feature is a continuation of the Tinman Louisiana coverage in the July 2003 issue of Runner Triathlete News. To get a complete recap of that event, pick up a copy of the July issue of Runner Triathlete News. Subscribe to RTN today!

USA Triathlon representative Tim Yount expects 1,000 or more athletes to participate October 4 for the Age-group Championships to be held at the same site as the Tinman Louisiana course.

"For the past three championships every state has been represented," said Yount, who was away from his Colorado Springs office and in Shreveport for the June 1 Tinman. "We were looking for a great management group and a great city to support this event and based on what race director Mike Hutcheson showed us, we thought this would be a great venue."

Yount, Department director for USA Triathlon promises a full weekend for the Championships.

"It will basically be a two day event, but we will squeeze as much into those two days as possible -- coaches clinics, a carbo- loading dinner, expositions and the award ceremony will happen at night," he said.

The Tinman course should prove to be a fast course for the Age- Group Championships. Both the bike and run course are flat; however, cyclist will need good handling technique with eight turns to maneuver. The run will offer shade as it takes triathletes through a near by neighborhood where competitors have also been welcomed with plenty of sprinklers and water sprays from spectators.

USA Triathlon will stay in Shreveport for both the 2003 and 2004 Age-group nationals. Yount hopes to excite the area with the sport of triathlon.

"We (USA Triathlon) like to go places we've never been before," Yount said. "In some cases a site has worked out so well that it is now the site for an Ironman distance event."

But before athletes from the Tinman Louisiana return for the Age- Group Nationals, many promised to be back August 3 for one of the nationally most fought after sprint distance entries - the River Cities Triathlon - promoted by Matt Brown and his race management team. Brown is the owner of Sportspectrum, a popular sporting good and sportswear store in Shreveport and his newest business, Bibentucker's Bagels.

If you haven't registered for River Cities, it's already too late -- the race filled up in a record one-and-a-half days. An Ironfish Kids Triathlon will be held August 2 in conjunction with River Cities. Two age groups will race, 7-10 Guppies and 11- 14 Sharks.

To the question Brown is asked every year by participants of River Cities, he had this to say.

"The race packet will be the best it has ever been. We're not bringing in a guest speaker so all the money is going into the race packet," Brown said.