Letters to The Editor: YMCA says thanks for successful triathlon

On the weekend of Sept. 6 and 7 approximately 273 triathletes were in Hartsville to compete in the Hartsville Family YMCA Triathlon. This event is held annually at Easterling’s Landing and continues to grow from a humble 90 competitors eight years ago to 280 registered participants this year. We expect well over 300 racers to participate in next year’s event.

The Hartsville Family YMCA Triathlon holds both an international distance and a Sprint Distance triathlon. The International Distance triathlon includes a 1.5K swim, a 27-mile bike, and a 10K run while the sprint distance triathlon includes a 500-meter swim, a 15-mile bike, and a 5K run.

This is a substantial event for the city of Hartsville and Darlington County. A significant impact is made to the local economy as hotel rooms are filled, meals are eaten in local restaurants, gas is purchased and money is spent on various other items. In addition, this is a great opportunity to showcase Hartsville and “the Art of Good Living.“
Of course this event could not be pulled off without the assistance of others. Sonoco and Florence-Darlington Technical College remain generous financial sponsors. The City of Hartsville and Darlington County also contributed money from the accommodations tax. Financial assistance or products were donated by Bicycle World, Pepsi, Sonic, Easterling’s Landing, Hartsville Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, McBee Farms, and Bi-lo. Lake Robinson Rescue Squad, South Carolina Highway Patrol, Darlington County Sheriff’s Office and Chesterfield Sheriff’s Office provided the extremely important jobs of controlling traffic, keeping the triathletes safe and providing necessary medical attention to the athletes.

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with the race. The volunteers are invaluable to the race and the racers as they provided protection, assistance, refreshments, food, directions, and encouragement. Comments we have received from this year’s event and from previous years show that we have the best volunteers in the entire South Carolina Triathlon Series. To everyone who was driving on our roads while the race was going on, thank you for your patience and for your safe driving.
Next year’s race should be held on Sunday Sept. 12. We expect it to be even bigger than this year’s race. We are looking forward another opportunity to watch the event, race, cheer, volunteer, become inspired and show off “the Art of Good Living” in Hartsville, South Carolina.

RAYMOND KENNEDY
Wellness Director,
Hartsville Family YMCA

HARTSVILLE FAMILY YMCA TRIATHLON COMMITTEE