Straddie Salute Multisport Festival – September 15 & 16 2012
Whatever is in your diary on the weekend of 15 and 16 September — cancel it! The ONLY place to be is North Stradbroke Island for the Straddie Salute Multisport Festival. This, my friends, is an event like no other. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — it is my FAVOURITE event on the Queensland sporting calendar. This weekend isn’t about work deadlines, iPhone calendar reminders, thousands of appointments for the kids or your in-laws — it is all about bikes, running shoes, a pair of sunnies, your togs, and buckets of local prawns.
On Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 September 2012, Weekend Warrior Events will host what is fast becoming one of the most popular and totally unique events on the Queensland sporting calendar. Now in its fifth year, the Straddie Salute Multisport Festival is in its best form yet. Starting in 2008, this event had only 120 competitors. In its second year, the field of 300 spots sold out almost instantly, and in the near future it looks to be a festival of over 1000 competitors.
The Festival comprises of 3 events over 2 days, all happening on the pristine beaches and surrounds of North Stradbroke Island.
Here’s the deal:
Saturday 15 September: the Sibelco Straddie 1000 Ocean Swim. Own a pair of togs? That’s the only thing you need. Throw them on and enter this swim. It’s a stunning 1km swim course in the protected waters of Cylinder Beach and is a great way to start off your weekend on Straddie.
The Festival Base is at the famous Straddie Beach Hotel (one of the best views you will ever experience), so stop by, say hello to the team and the sponsors, enjoy some great food and drink deals, and spectate!
Sunday 16 September: the Mizuno Adventure Run/Walk and the Straddie Salute Triathlon. This is where it gets exciting — Weekend Warrior Events have decided that 2012 is the year to offer competitors an offroad (the Original) AND onroad (the Roadie) option in the triathlon. The introduction of a new onroad cycle option is simply genius and means that the Roadie course will use the same swim and run leg as the Original but the mountain bike course is replaced with a slightly shorter, 15km road cycle.
Personally, I wish I could do the Mizuno Adventure Run/Walk and the Straddie Salute Triathlon both at the same time. If you’ve ever been to Straddie (and if you haven’t, this is your year!), you’ll know that it has some of the most spectacular natural coast line to run or walk along.
The Mizuno Adventure Run/Walk kicks off the action on Sunday at the Event Base and is an 8km scenic course around the beaches and trails of Point Lookout. This event is perfect for all ages and abilities, and includes roads, paved paths, some trails and some beach terrain. Bring your camera — it’s not uncommon for competitors and spectators to spot a whale or a pod of dolphins cresting a breaking wave!
The Straddie Salute Triathlon has been designed by Weekend Warrior Events with the social competitor in mind. This year, there are even fewer barriers to competing.
You can enter the tri as an individual or as a team and if you’re anything like me and like a race with a difference, then get online and get an entry in now (entries are limited to 500 for the Original and 200 for the Roadie). I can guarantee you will not find another race that has a more relaxed vibe, picturesque location, and sense of adventure and participation.
The distance is 750m/18km/8km for the Original and 750m/15km/8km for the Roadie and is achievable with limited training (start now!!). There’s no technical mountain bike section if you do the Original and if you don’t own one there will be MTB for hire, and the run is mostly on trails and coastal tracks.
Here are some more details:
Follow the action in the lead-up to the Straddie Salute Multisport Festival on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Weekend-Warrior-Events) — The ‘100 Days, 100 Photos’ gallery will provide you with the perfect motivation to get out of bed and bash out some training before September rolls around.
North Stradbroke Island as a destination is hard to beat – it has some of the best swimming, fishing, surfing, diving and 4WD tracks in Queensland. And the Stradbroke Beach Hotel is the perfect place for a post race beer and, due to its recent renovations, spa treatments!
For more info on travel or entering, check out the Weekend Warrior Events website at www.weekendwarriorevents.com.au
So, Weekend Warriors, I’ll see you at the start line or at the pub afterwards to swap race stories.