Construction nixes triathlon

To Tri or not to Tri -- that was the question facing organizers of the annual Tsalteshi Trails Association-sponsored Peninsula Triathlon, scheduled for Memorial Day weekend.

Unfortunately, organizers were forced to call off this year's event due to the extensive road construction along Kalifornsky Beach Road.

"We looked for alternatives, but there weren't any that would be safe for competitors," said Mindee Morning of the Peninsula Running Club.

"The running is done on Tsalteshi Trails, but the bike portion leaves (Skyview High School), goes across Echo Lake and Gas Well Road, and then back on K-Beach. That road is barely in condition for a mountain bike."

Morning said that while holding the competition without the cycling portion was possible, it would have deflated the atmosphere of the event.

"It would have been kind of flat without the biking," Morning said, adding that, in her experience, most triathletes wouldn't mind skipping the swim but the cycling would be irreplaceable.

In fact, for those triathletes who would prefer to forgo the swim, the running club is organizing a duathlon with a three-kilometer run, a seven-kilometer mountain bike ride and a five-kilometer run, scheduled for July 1.

In the meantime, athletes looking to get a race in over Memorial Day weekend will have to look for one off the peninsula. Several runs are scheduled in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Douglas and Kodiak.