Medals hang near the finish line of the Waterfront Triathlon Sunday, June 26, 2016.For those who are familiar with the annual Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon's course, this year's main race Sunday morning will look quite a bit different and may be a little faster.
With heavy construction on part of Highway 27 where the bike portion normally is held, the 42-kilometer cycling route had to be moved to Amnicola Highway to Chattanooga State and back for safety precautions.
"We have been able to work around the construction every year, but this year it was just a little too tight," Chattanooga Track Club president-elect Jenni Berz said. "There were many things going on with the construction on 27 that it just wouldn't have been safe."
The closing 10k run course had to be relocated as well. Normally, runners would take off up the Tennessee Riverwalk to the museum district. That path included many hills and inclines along with steps, and steps are a huge thorn in a runner's side.
"Just getting up Riverfront Parkway and Riverside Drive is very hilly, plus the racers have to go up steps," Berz said. "They do not like that; they do not like that at all."
So instead of facing the dreaded steps, runners Sunday will use the new section of the Riverwalk, which is the southside section toward St. Elmo, before finishing at Ross's Landing at Riverfront Parkway.
"With the exception of one hill, (the course) is fairly flat," Berz said.
And in the case of triathlons, flat usually means a faster race for obvious reasons. However, for many the Waterfront Triathlon always has been a relatively quick race because of the beginning segment of the race: the swim portion.
As the one part of the event that remains unchanged, the 1.5k swim in the Tennessee River may be the favorite phase. It begins at the rowing barge near Scrappy Moore Field and exits downstream at Ross's Landing.
"That is one of the things that makes this race popular. In fact, when people are going out and telling other people about it, the swim is usually the leg of the race that people just like the most," Berz said. "So the fact that it is a downstream swim is really attractive to people."
So with a downstream swim, a less hilly bike ride and a steps-free run, the 2017 Waterfront Triathlon could be the flattest, and fastest, race yet.
The Waterfront event actually will begin at 6:45 a.m. Sunday with the sprint version - a quarter-mile swim, a 10.5-mile bike ride and a 3-mile run. The intermediate main race starts at 7:30.
Contact Tori McElhaney at sports@timesfreepress.com