TOUGHMMAN Enterprises has confirmed the inaugural TOUGHMAN Puerto Rico on October 14th in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Local race director, Annie Rivera and her race team will be ‘offering all racers the flavour of Puerto Rico for this inaugural event.’
Last year’s race was cancelled due to a hurricane; and this year has been about supporting the local area to re-build. TriLatino triathlon club of NYC will be racing as a large group with an aim at supporting the rebuild efforts.
TOUGHMAN adds that an October race means… ‘warm water, beautiful beaches and great food; a great race-cation.’
TOUGHMMAN has also heralded the return of TOUGHMAN Tennessee to Lenoir City on October 14th. Before becoming a TOUGHMAN location and qualifier, TOUGHMAN Tennessee had taken place for 13 years. In its second year as a TOUGHMAN branded event, and with the hurricanes cancelling many races in the South East USA, ‘there have been large number of athletes registering so that they can race a half before the end of the season.’
Over 400 athletes are expected to race over the race weekend. The location is one hour away from Knoxville; and TOUGHMAN adds that Race Director Kevin Mahan and his team ‘look at safety and every athlete’s race experience as the number one priority.’
According to series founder Richard Izzo “Our continued expansion in the US market is due to having event directors like Kevin who produce quality grass roots events that make the TOUGHMAN brand worth racing. This will be one of the last three race locations in 2018 in the US to qualify athletes for the TOUGHMAN NY Championship that will take place on September 15th 2019! Over 100 athletes will qualify for the cash wave of the TOUGHMAN Championship.”
TOUGHMMAN has reported that its 2018 TOUGHMAN NY Championship was a success, with a doubling of registered athletes from 2017 to over 440. Sponsored by Morgan Stanley, the 12th edition of TOUGHMAN New York took place on September 16th at Lake Welch, Harriman State Park, the second largest state park in New York State.
The company added that ‘Many international racers participated – from Chile, Brazsil and Argentina, with relays from Morgan Stanley generating a buzz.’ Over 30% of the field was from South America.
According to race organizer Richard Izzo, “This is the direction our brand is going, to be a destination event for international travellers who want to spend time in NYC. We want to thank all of our sponsors especially Morgan Stanley, Clif Bar, Lifetime Tri, Triathlete Magazine, Rudy Project, Polar, and Security Risk Associates.”
Contributions to the Morgan Stanley Children’s hospital currently stand at US$30,000. Izzo is encouraging all athletes to support the goal of topping US$100,000 for 2018. In addition, Medals 4 Mettle a charity that receives ‘earned’ medals from athletes and gives them to kids battling cancer is also a big part of the TOUGHMAN NY event.
The TOUGHMAN Series currently consists of 15 races in the US and South America, with current events including: Cambridge, Ohio; Iquique, Chile; Futrono, Chile; Paulinia, Brazil; San Pedro, Argentina; Arica, Chile; Quillon, Chile; Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; and further stateside events in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Park City, Utah, Columbia, South Carolina and Lenoir City, Tennessee.
The TOUGHMAN Series Championship in Stony Point New York, 20 miles north of New York City, offers over US$30,000 in age-group awards, a US$4,950 cash purse (top 5) for qualifiers, a scenic bike course, and over 1,400 race support volunteers.
There are no comments
Please login to post comments