CHANHASSEN, MN -- The Life Time Fitness Triathlon will be held Saturday in Minneapolis and will include 11 triathletes who have qualified for next month’s Summer Olympics in Beijing. The event marks the start of the 2008 Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series Race to the Toyota Cup, which offers a $1.45 million purse.
The female and male division winners of the Life Time Fitness Triathlon will each take home $60,000. The remaining top nine female and male finishers each will claim a portion of the remaining cash purse. The top finishers also will earn 15,000 points toward the Race to the Toyota Cup.
In addition to the more than 40 professional triathletes competing, 89 elite amateur triathletes will compete in Saturday’s triathlon, which will begin and end at Minneapolis’ Lake Nokomis.
The official race starter will be 90-year-old Mary Stroebe of Madison, WI. Stroebe has completed the Life Time Fitness Triathlon five times, including last year at the age of 89.
The rest of the triathlon series consists of the Nautica New York City Triathlon on July 20, the Accenture Chicago Triathlon on Aug. 24, the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon on Sept. 7 and the Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon Championship Event on Oct. 5 in Dallas. Competitors will by vying for one of only 20 spots for the championship triathlon.
More information about Saturday’s event and the triathlon series can be found at www.ltftriathlon.com.