24 sign up for triathlon

Normal, Sports
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By HENRY MORABANG

WITH less than two weeks before the PNG Powerthon National Championships, 24 competitors have signed up for the Olympic Distance Triathlon event.
The event which consists a 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and a 10km run has attracted competitors from Port Moresby, Lihir, Manus and Madang in the individual category and eight teams from Port Moresby, Buka and Wewak in the team category.
The competitors are Caroline McGann, Ali Nott, Simon Nutley, Justin McGann, Scott Bishop, Ben Ellinger, Neil Papenfus, Mairi Feeger, Dave Whitehead, Lexsy Kila, Brendan Raftery, Stoney Masuin, Ilya Gridneff, Hunter Beirne, Andrew Schloeffel, Andrew Matz (Port Moresby), Polihau Popeliau (Manus), Tim O’Sullivan, Jan Kubat, David Grigg, Gerard Baarslag, Jonothan Hardy, Caroline Hardy (Lihir) and Richard Jones (Madang).
The teams registered so far include Hutjena High School team from Buka and Milsearch, Steamships Shipping, Theodist and PricewaterhouseCoopers – all from Port Moresby.
According to the organisers, Upsouth Events Management Company, those interested to compete as individuals or teams should advise them early so that race bibs and other staff for the race could be arranged.
The organisers have set Oct 30 as the deadline for registration.
A triathlon event held on Lihir Island last weekend was a sounding success with Cronulla Shark’s star point scorer Luke Covell adding some flavour in the triathlete mix.
The Lihir Triathlon Club had organised the event which include two children’s events from the 7-10 year-old category and the 11-15 year-old divisions and a sprint distance event for adults.
Champion Lihir triathlete, Tim O’Sullivan, won the open individual category while Caroline Hardy was the first woman to cross the line.
Mining company, Newcrest, the new owners of Lihir Gold Ltd, sponsored Covell’s visit to Lihir Island to promote rugby league in the community. 
“But we scored with his participation in the triathlon event. His presence drew a good crowd of spectators who came to cheer the participants as well as requesting for autographs at the end of the event.
“The club has been running sprint distance events on the island for the last 12 months but last weekend’s event was more significant with PNG Triathlon Association’s representative, Stephen Damien’s presence there to promote the children’s events.
“The association has been in Buka, Manus and Lihir to promote triathlon especially among the children.  
“The association will host two more events in Port Moresby and others in Manus and Wewak before we conclude our promotional activities for children for the year.”