Hazardous conditions brought on by consistent rain on Saturday forced the Antigua and Barbuda Triathlon Association (ABTA) to postpone its highly anticipated Mini Triathlon, which was slated for Sunday at Ffryes Beach.
One member of the association and former national athlete, Cordova ‘Popeye’ Simon, said there were several factors which led to the body opting to postpone the event.
“One of the main reasons is that waterlogged area at Ffryes Beach. The other thing is that we didn’t want to have cyclists risks their lives riding on the wet roads and the run was supposed to be a loop around the pond going towards little Ffryes and it [the area] as very mucky and waterlogged so we couldn’t do that route. Ffryes Beach, definitely, is like a pool so we didn’t want to risk it by doing the event so we decided to take a chance for next week Sunday at the same time and the same place and if we have to change the area then we will do that,” he said.
The event is slated to host a 200 meters swim, a six-mile bike and a two-mile run all in the area surrounding Ffryes Beach.
Simon said the response leading up to the intended day of the event had been good and believes the energy will spill into the next scheduled date for the contest.
“The response from the public was okay and a couple of people said they would be coming. Next week there will be a lot of events out, but we will still proceed with what we are doing because our aim is to get people involved with triathlon. So if you’re interested in coming then you will be there,” he said.
The mini triathlon, which will cater for athletes 16 years and under and also an open category, will now take place on May 25.
