Weekend Series of Events to End with Assateague Triathlon

OCEAN CITY- The resort area will play host to a weekend-long series of events this weekend associated with the 2011 Ocean City June Fitness Challenge, starting with a Boardwalk 5-mile Run early Saturday morning and culminating with the Assateague Assault Sprint Triathlon on Sunday.

Produced by OC Tri-Running Sports, the same outfit that produces the Ocean City Half Marathon and other significant events in the resort area each year, the Ocean City June Fitness Challenge features events for fitness enthusiasts of all skill levels.

The weekend gets started next Saturday with a 5-mile Boardwalk Run. The race will start at the Boardwalk Arch at North Division Street at 7 a.m., and as the name suggests, the course will be run entirely on the Boardwalk. The next event is the Viewtrail Metric Century Bike Ride, a bicycle ride across rural areas of Worcester County starting at Stephen Decatur Park in Berlin. In years past, the event has included a “show-and-go” start where competitors can start at any time, but this year OC Tri-Running Sports is starting the metric century ride with a mass start at Stephen Decatur Park at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday The event includes three course options: a 20-mile ride; a 40-mile ride or a Metric Century ride (62 miles).

Saturday’s events close with an Assateague Island Sunset 1-Mile Swim. In this event, added to the fitness challenge this year, participants will complete a one-mile swim in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Assateague Island at sunset. The event takes place at 6:30 p.m. at Assateague Island State Park.

Finally, the weekend-long series of fitness events in and around the resort culminates on Sunday morning with the Assateague Assault Triathlon, a spring distance triathlon that takes place on Sunday morning, June 19, beginning at 7:15 a.m. The triathlon, now in its third year, is held for the benefit of the Greater Ocean City chapter of the U.S. Lifesaving Association and the Friends of Assateague State Park. The course consists of a half-mile ocean swim from point to point, either north or south depending on the current, ending back up at the transition area.

From there, participants will mount their bikes and head across the Verrazano Bridge, up Route 611 to a designated turnaround point, then head back down Route 611 and across the bridge to the transition area. The competitors will then start the run portion of the triathlon with a 3.2-mile course ending up at the finish line in the state park.