Putting On A Triathlon
Alabama sports commission strikes balance as participation swells
By Kimberly Chapman
Thirty-two miles of powdery, sugar-white sand caressed by rich blue-green Gulf waters create the perfect playground for nearly 4.5 million annual vacationers on the Alabama Gulf Coast, which is impressive for a geography-challenged nation that barely realizes Alabama touches the Gulf of Mexico. Equally impressive is how this family-oriented destination has blossomed into a premier sports Mecca, thanks in part to the development of a local sports commission that attracts and services quality sporting events.
“We became a department within the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) in 2007, and have grown by leaps and bounds ever since,” says Beth Gendler, director of sales for the CVB and the Alabama Gulf Coast Sports Commission (AGCSC), which is a partnership between the Alabama Gulf Coast Area Chamber of Commerce, the CVB and the cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.
Not wasting any time, the AGCSC began planning for its first triathlon.
“We wanted to create a signature event for our Sports Commission, and a triathlon would allow us to showcase both our Gulf waters and pristine beaches,” she says.
Building Momentum
Immediately, the group partnered with Team Magic, a Birmingham, Ala.-based race-management company that has been producing multisport events (primarily triathlons and duathlons) since 1985. Team Magic was already looking to expand its race schedule with a possible Gulf event, and was searching for the perfect venue.
"We started gradually expanding our races in the early 2000s and always had our eyes open for an opportunity on the Gulf,” says Faye Yates, co-event director for Team Magic. “Therese (Bynum, co-event director for Team Magic) and I have raced at many Gulf races over the years and thought we could bring our own touch to the area someday once we found the right venue.”
After attending a wedding in Orange Beach in 2003, Yates fell in love with the area. The new beachside pavilion at Gulf State Park had just been completed.
“It looked like a perfect location for a triathlon,” Yates says. “So Therese contacted the AGCSC, and the talks began.”
After countless meetings, conference calls and e-mails, the inaugural Alabama Coastal Triathlon began on Sunday, May 6, at the Gulf State Park Pavilion
Working Out The Kinks
Two-hundred twenty-six racers, including eight relay teams, charged into the Gulf waters for a 1,000-yard swim before navigating the coastal terrain on a 20-mile cycling loop and concluding the day with a 5-mile run to the finish line. Interestingly, this event held a unique distinction with the USA Triathlon Organization, and was designated as the Intermediate Distance Alabama State Championship for the Southeast region, a title that it also carried throughout the 2008 and 2009 races.
“Originally, we chose Sunday as the race day because traffic is usually lighter on Sunday morning than on Saturday mornings,” Gendler says. “After the first year, we decided that people traveling to the race may wish to stay on Friday and Saturday night and extend their stay to enjoy the entire weekend. To make this possible, we needed to change the race day to Saturday. After speaking with police officials, they did not see any concern with Saturday-morning traffic.”
“So other than a date change, we kept things steady for year two, and just hoped for a little growth in participation,” she says. “We had a little concern over the date after the first year, as May is just saturated with festivals and events. We decided to give it another shot, since we really liked the May weather pattern, and it was a good time on the Team Magic race calendar.”
With one triathlon event completed, the AGCSC began preparations for the 2008 event. In early January 2008, the commission welcomed Brett/Robinson Vacation Rentals as the title sponsor, a title which the company also held in 2009.
“We are excited about this great event and feel privileged to sponsor it,” says Marie Curren, director of marketing and reservations for Brett/Robinson. “We welcome the opportunity to showcase our area to these wonderful athletes.”
Nearly a year later on May 3, 2008, the Pleasure Island community once again welcomed athletes--although not in the record numbers everyone was expecting. That year, 210 people, including three relay teams, competed in the event, also held at the Gulf State Park Pavilion.
“To put it simply, we had competition,” Gendler says. “The spring and early summer is a busy time in the triathlon world, and there were a healthy number of established events. To give our event a leg up on the competition, we went back to the drawing board with Team Magic and decided to move our triathlon from May to September, and to add a mini-triathlon with shorter distances for beginners.”
After two years with little change in participation, Team Magic looked to revise its formula for the race.
“We have several established mini-triathlons that do really well and are big sell-out races,” Yates says. “So, Therese came up with the idea of offering the mini and then a standard ‘intermediate distance,’ instead of the ‘in-between distance’ we had been trying. In the first two years, we were trying to capture the beginner and elite crowd by splitting the difference for the race mileage, in hopes of it being attractive to both.”
Thinking In Mini Terms
However, Team Magic received some feedback that the 1,000-yard swim and 20-mile bike ride were just too much to really capture beginners. Hence, the idea of the mini-triathlon was born, featuring a 300-yard swim, a 10-mile bike ride and a 2-mile run. With the smaller event being offered, Team Magic and the AGCSC could go for the intermediate distance for more experienced racers.
Plus, by moving the event to The Hangout, a beachside restaurant, it became the grand finale of Team Magic’s race calendar. The change of location also allowed the AGCSC to utilize one venue for pack pick-up, race registration and the after-party.
With a new date, new location and re-energized ambition, the AGCSC and Team Magic partnership began the daunting task of growing the event and publicizing the new mini-triathlon.
“Registration got off to a slow start, which is normal, and then all of a sudden, it exploded as more and more people learned of the events and began making plans to attend,” Yates says.
Finding What Works
Two days before the September 19 event, registration stood at an impressive 693 participants for both the Brett/Robinson Alabama Coastal Triathlon and its smaller sister event, the Coastal “Tri-It-On” Triathlon. This phenomenal growth represented a 230-percent increase over 2008 registration numbers.
Part of the growth can be directly attributed to the triathlon being designated as an event of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training (TNT). Designed to provide training to individuals wishing to complete an Olympic-distance event, the TNT organization offers expert advice and group training sessions. Thanks to this group, an additional 22 TNT athletes participated in one of the two triathlons, and more than $50,000 was raised for the cause.
After finishing three races, the AGCSC and Team Magic decided to move the race date back one weekend to avoid another large fall community event that took place on the same day this year--the annual Coastal Clean-Up.
“This change will allow more locals to not have to choose between the two events,” Yates says. “We also are already making changes, just minor changes with high impact on atmosphere and race flow around the main staging area. However, the host site will be the same, and we could not be happier with the new location at The Hangout.”
“You learn something new from every event, and I’m sure that we’ll have more take-aways after the next triathlon,” Gendler says.
Team Magic is already looking forward to next year.
“We are so excited to be continuing our partnership with the AGCSC,” Yates says. “We truly expect this race to reach over 1,000 racers in 2010 since the survey results have been overwhelmingly positive. Certainly, we look forward to TNT’s involvement again as it is so rewarding to be working with such a great organization on a great cause.”
The next Brett/Robinson Alabama Coastal Triathlon is set for Saturday, September 11, 2011. For more information, visit www.alabamagulfcoastsports.com or www.team-magic.com.
Kimberly Chapman works as the public-relations manager at the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, which promotes the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach area. In addition to serving as the primary media contact for this group, she also works closely with the Alabama Gulf Coast Sports Commission, and handles its media-relations needs. She can be reached via e-mail at kchapman@gulfshores.com.