Bucks County Duathlon Set for September

Time to lace up your running sneakers and tune up the bike. The Bucks County Duathlon is right around the corner.

The second annual Bucks County Duathlon will be held Sept. 4 at 7:30 a.m. in Washington Crossing Park.  The duathlon consists of a two-mile run, 10-mile bike and another two-mile run.

It’s challenging enough for the experienced athlete, yet friendly enough for the novice racer, race director Harry Betz explained.  Betz is the owner and operator of Newtown Bike Shop, which is the information center for the duathlon.

The monument at Washington Crossing Park serves as the hub for the endurance event. A two-mile run through the park on the grassy fields is the first portion of the race, Betz explained. Then, the athletes come back to the monument, grab their bicycles, and head out for a 10-mile ride on Routes 29, Route 532 and Taylorsville Road. After the bike portion, the athletes come back for another two-mile run.

“It’s a little bit of controlled chaos. It’s a blast,” Betz said.

The course for the most part is flat and fast. The roads are closed to vehicular traffic for the event.

“We’re excited to finally offer a race of this type right at home,’’ Betz said. “Seasoned athletes will be challenged and novices will find a course that’s not intimidating and doable.’’

Timing and registration will be handled by Lin-Mark Sports, the Mantua, N.J.-based firm which times events up and down the East Coast, including the New York Triathlon Club’s biathlon series.

Proceeds from the event will be split between supporting the Washington Crossing Visitor’s Center and the Missy Flynn Fund.

Missy Flynn is a longtime Newtown resident and athlete who survived a brain aneurysm in 2005. “She was an amazing person. She had a love for athletics,” Betz said.

Flynn even trained for and completed the prestigious Hawaiian Ironman, an extreme endurance challenge that consists of a 2.4-mile ocean swim, a 112-mile bike ride through the volcanic and mountainous areas of Hawaii and a marathon. Betz noted she trained for this event while working two jobs.

About six years ago, Flynn suffered from a massive brain hemorrhage and has been wheelchair bound since, Betz said.

“We’ve been having various fundraisers for Missy since her issue,” Betz said, adding she needs help paying for treatments and therapy. In the past, the local athletic community held bike-a-thons and auctions. However, Betz and some others came up with the idea of the duathlon.

“They are super duper popular. We’ve been trying to do one for a long time and then we finally found a spot that would allow us to close the roads,” he said.

Last year, 150 athletes aged 16 to mid-60s participated in the inaugural Bucks County Duathlon. This year, organizers hope to have 300 involved.

“Most multi-sport events in Bucks County are held in either Nockamixon State Park or Lake Galena, both of which are in Upper Bucks County,’’ said Eric Stern, one of the race’s directors. “Now we have our own event which incorporates a bike ride along the Delaware River and a run, which takes advantage of a historical park and the towpath along the canal.’’

For more information about the race, visit www.buckscountyduathlon.org or stop by the Newtown Bike Shop on State Street.

Registration is available at www.buckscountyduathlon.org or www.lin-mark.com. You can also register via the form on the site. Send it back by mail or drop it at the Newtown Bike Shop.

The fee is $60 until Aug. 15. After that, it goes up to $75. There will also be a team relay competition. The fee for that is $100 per team.

Registration is open until 300 people sign up. Betz said he expects that to happen in the next three weeks or so.