The French have their spectacular Tour de France, but in three short weeks the people of Gloucester and Cape Ann are going to have quite an impressive sporting event of their own.
That's because coming to town on Aug. 9 is the Gloucester Triathlon, the first such event in the history of this, the oldest and most storied fishing community in America.
The brainchild of Gloucester professional triathlete Janda Ricci-Munn, whose dream for years has been to bring a major triathlon to his beloved hometown, the competition will draw 800 athletes into the city for a one-third mile harbor swim, 15.5-mile, two-loop bike segment, and 3-mile run — the latter to proceed out along the waterfront, then swing back through the downtown business district, finishing at St. Peter's Square.
Readers who have never seen a triathlon first-hand are in for a real treat. In addition to a stacked pro-elite field that includes such internationally celebrated athletes as Olympians Jarred Shoemaker and Jenny Thompson, more than 100 Cape Ann residents will be competing either as individuals or members of a 3-person, swim-bike-run relay team, the large local turnout sure to give the city's inaugural triathlon a distinctly local flavor.
For area celebrity watchers, Mayor Carolyn Kirk is hands-down the most noteworthy of the many Cape Ann entries, though her honor probably would be the first to admit that this is one race that she stands absolutely no chance of winning. But the mayor, good sport that she is, will be out there anyway, along with 800 other hardy souls helping write a new chapter in Gloucester history, while also providing a much-needed shot in the arm to the local economy and raising a bundle of money for the Gloucester Fishermen's Athletic Association, Wellspring, and Boston's Pine Street Inn.
Race director Bill Burnett, whose expanded Cohasset-Marborough Commonwealth Triathlon Series now includes Gloucester, expects receipts from entry fees, private donations, and corporate sponsorships to generate well over $100,000, a sum to be evenly divided between the above three organizations.
Ricci-Munn notes that the important fund-raising component that has been built into the race both honors and is in keeping with the extraordinary charitable example set more than a century ago by Gloucester's most legendary fisherman, and later business owner, Howard Blackburn. He also envisions that Gloucester, with its spectacular ocean backdrop, scenic roads, and historic industrial harbor and downtown business district, provides the ideal setting for what he is convinced could become one of the finest and most unique triathlons in America.
It's all enough to make one wonder. Could the day be coming when people from Maine to California might turn on their television sets to watch NBC or ESPN broadcast live action from a world-class triathlon set on the stage of the nation's oldest and most widely-recognized fishing community?
There is, after all, more to sports than the French cycling classic, Major League Baseball, and televised poker.
Now there's also the Gloucester Triathlon. If not competing early that Sunday morning, at least get out and watch. It's going to be quite a show, as well as a big winner for the city of Gloucester and surrounding communities of Cape Ann.
For more on the event, even information on how you can volunteer, go to gloucestertri.com.
Jim Munn is a regular contributor to the Times and boys' track & field coach at Gloucester High School, and the proud father of Janda Ricci-Munn.
