Beauty and the Beast returns to St. Croix
After a brief post-Ironman 70.3 hiatus, middle-distance racing returns to St. Croix on 2nd December 2018 with the rebranded Beauty & the Beast Triathlon. Profits from the event will be donated to the post-Hurricane Irma recovery efforts in the US Virgin Islands.
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The legendary race began life in 1988 as the America’s Paradise Triathlon, and will once again offer more Caribbean splendour of turquoise waters, golden sands and sub-tropical rainforests… and the legendary ‘Beast’ climb that delivers a sucker punch for anyone who forgets this is one of the toughest middle-distance races on the planet.
The December 2018 event will offer three races: Long Distance Course (2km swim/90km bike/21km run), a sprint and a sprint aquathlon. Relays are offered in the Long Distance Course and Sprint Triathlon races. In addition, the Long Distance Course race is designated as the Caribbean Long Distance Triathlon Championship.
“We’re are bringing the race back to its initial grassroots nature,” says race organiser Theresa Harper after Ironman dropped their 70.3 event in 2017. “Once again as an independent race, we’re focusing on community involvement. Our goal is to bring back legendary pro triathletes who were part of the beginning years of making history on St. Croix. So far we have Michellie Jones, Karen Smyers and Wendy Ingraham coming. Karen has offered to put on a tri clinic as a contribution to our post-hurricane recovery efforts.
“Nearly 100% of the proceeds of this year’s race, including the clinic, will be donated to several local non-profits who were devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017,” adds Harper. “Recovery is happening (slowly) but there are still many homes without roofs and businesses that have yet to reopen.”
Those who came and conquered St. Croix over the past 30 years essentially reads like a who’s who of the sport’s legends. That cast list has included Mark Allen, Scott Tinley, Dave Scott, Scott Molina, Mike Pigg, Paula Newby-Fraser, Erin Baker, Karen Smyers, Greg Welch, Michellie Jones, Natasha Badmann and Spencer Smith.
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