EDEN PRAIRIE, MN -- NBC Sports will air the Life Time Fitness Triathlon nationally from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. EDT on Saturday, July 29. The triathlon, which will actually occur on Saturday, July 15, will feature more than 40 of the world's elite professional triathletes along with some 2,500 amateurs testing the course at Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, MN.
The professional race will again feature a timing system that has the women starting in front of the men by a predetermined time. Thus, the entire pro field will battle head-to-head for the event's record-setting cash and prize purse of $500,000 and first place prize of $200,000.
In 2005, the professional women's head start was 9:32. Winner Craig Alexander (1:59:32, including the 9:32 hard start) caught fellow Australian Emma Snowsill (2:00:25) to win by only 53 seconds. Alexander will return to defend his title in the Life Time Fitness event. Snowsill is also returning.
The Life Time Fitness Triathlon is a signature event of the Minneapolis Aquatennial, a premier, 67-year-old community tradition in the Twin Cities.
Early this year, Life Time Fitness announced the launch of the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series in partnership with the 2006 Nautica New York City Triathlon, 2006 Accenture Chicago Triathlon, 2006 Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon, and the 2007 Life Time Fitness Triathlon, which is held in Minneapolis. The Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series is the first-ever series to connect the four most prominent Olympic distance triathlon events in the United States and will offer a total prize purse of more than $1 million.