Northwest Arkansas swimmers who’ve trained for today’s Ozark Open Water Swim at Hickory Creek Park in Lowell but who forgot to register can still sign up this morning - if you make it to the park before entries close at 8 a.m.
Entry this morning will cost $50, and every racer must sign a liability waiver.
Hosted by the Razorback Aquatic Club’s Aquahawgs Swim Team, this annual event offers swims of 1K (six-tenths of a mile), 2K (1.2 miles) and 4K (2.4 miles) on an out-and back course in Beaver Lake. The course will be marked using buoys and boats.
Although open to all swimmers 10 and older, the race is really only for people who are comfortable swimming long distances in the deep, open water of a lake. Swimmers younger than 18 must be registered with USA Swimming and supply a copy of their card at registration.
If the temperature is cooler than 83.9 degrees, race director Aaron Thomas will allow wetsuits. No other swimming aids (snorkels or fins) are allowed. The website is ozarkswim.com.
CHEETAH CHASE 5K
If the thought of running a 5K on a brilliant, humid morning in June makes you reach for your fake-fur mascot costume, the Little Rock Zoo has got a race for you.
Organizers of the Cheetah Chase 5K and 1K Family Fun Run suggest runners and walkers should show up for Saturday’s footrace wearing “fun, family friendly attire that is animal themed.” If you’ve got a cheetah, tiger, lion or ocelot getup, all the better. The racer with the best “big cat” costume will win a prize.
If all you’ve got is the bunny suit you wear every year at the church Easter egg hunt, don’t despair: There will also be a prize for Best Animal costume.
And if you’re the sensible sort who figures you could more sanely represent another species by, say, using a marker to draw claws on your tennies, that will do, too. In other words, dressing up as an animal is welcome but you don’t have to.
The 3.1-mile course will begin in front of the zoo, specifically at the top of a hill on Zoo Drive that many runners remember vividly from their experiences of the Firecracker Fast 5K. This time, though, they will be allowed to run down that hill, to Fair Park Boulevard.
They’ll cross West Markham Street to Van Buren Street, running uphill (but it’s not a very steep hill at this point) to Lee Avenue, where they’ll make a right turn with a sharp downhill. Lee rolls up and down; they’ll stay on it to North Pine Street, where they’ll turn downhill - oops, I mean right. Then comes a westward section with turns up and down between B Street and A Street until they encounter Monroe Street, whereupon they’ll turn left.
(I can hear you muttering that you’d like to see a map right about now, and you can. Look up littlerockzoo.com/chase).
Monroe runs downhill, crossing Markham, which is fine. But think back to the aforementioned Firecracker race. Remember that wonderful downhill kick to the finish line on Monroe? Cheetah-chasers will traverse that hill as well, but they’ll be headed the opposite direction, uphill. The finish line is in front of the zoo.
The 1K family fun run will stay inside the zoo.
Registration costs $25 ($65 for a family of four) until Thursday. It includes free admission to the zoo Saturday as well as a souvenir T-shirt. A link is available at the website or you can register in person during packet pickup from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday at Rock City Running, Bill Torrey’s new running boutique in the Colony West Shopping Center, 10300 Rodney Parham Road in Little Rock.
Race day registration will cost $35 and will be accepted beginning at 7 a.m. Saturday near the starting line at the zoo.
TRIATHLON TRAINING
Organizers of the 16th annual First Security Conway Kids’ Triathlon will once again hold a free training day to prepare young athletes for the three-sport event set for Aug. 3 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Training is open to children (any children living anywhere in the state) who will be 6 to 15 years old by the end of this year.
Training will be 8-10 a.m. June 15 at Centennial Valley Country Club, 1600 Centennial Club Drive in Conway.
Triathlons are three-part races. Children will swim in a pool, then ride their own bicycles, then run. In between each section, they will change shoes or put on other gear (like bike helmets, which are required) on their own in a transition zone. Family members are not allowed to help them in the transition areas or on the course. So the training day also aims to help families prepare to accept the rules.
Training day will also explain how children might practice so they know what it will feel like to hop on a bicycle after swimming, for instance.
The training day will group children by their experience level, so those who have already done a triathlon or two can be given more advanced information without confusing the newcomers.
Registration for training day and also for the race is at conwaykidstri.com.
XTERRA FESTIVAL
XTerra Eureka Springs, an annual off-road triathlon at Lake Leatherwood in the Northwest Arkansas city, has a new name: Lake Leatherwood XTerra Festival. Set for June 8 and 9 at the Lake Leatherwood City Park in Eureka Springs, the event is expanding to include XTerra trail runs as well as a sport-distance triathlon.
The June 8 events include 6K and 12K trail runs on the park’s rocky, hilly trails. The 6K route features short climbs and many creek crossings on the Beacham and Fuller trails. Racers will pass through an old limestone quarry and across a hand-cut-stone, Works Progress Administration-era dam. The 12K course runs straight up to the top of Twin Knobs Hill before winding down through the Lost Ridge and Hyde Hollow and joining the 6K course around the lake.
On June 9, triathletes will have a choice of two courses. They can do a revamped XTerra Eureka Springs, with a half-mile swim, a longer, 14.5-mile bike ride (two laps on a loop that’s mostly single-track trail, with a few technical bits) and a 5.1-mile trail run.
Or they can tackle the new XTerra Sport Race, which is shorter, with a half-mile swim, one loop on the 7.25-mile bike path and a 3.6-mile trail run.
More information and registration are at xterraeurekasprings.com.
ActiveStyle, Pages 30 on 05/27/2013