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This summer's Chaleur Caisses Populaire Triathlon is undergoing some changes.

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Peter Assaff/Northern Light Photo

Event founder Henri Fournier is looking forward to the fourth annual Chaleur Caisses Populaire Acadiennes Triathlon this July in Beresford.

Peter Assaff/Northern Light Photo

Patrick Hache (left) , president of the 2008 Chaleur Caisses Populaire Acadiennes Triathlon, accepted a donation of $2,000 from the events major sponsors the Chaleur, Beresford and Fondateurs branches of the Caisses Populaire. Shown from left with Hache are Edward Cowan, general manager of the Caisses Populaire Beresford; and Yvon Cormier, general manager of the Caisses Populaire Chaleur. Missing from photo is Gilles Poirier, general manager of the Caisses Populaire Fondateurs.

Gone from the event is the Olympic distance, replaced by a duathlon for competitors that don't want to swim.

"Instead of swimming 750 metres to start the race, the people in the duathlon will run 2.5 kilometres," explained event founder Henri Fournier. "The rest of the race is the same. It should make for an exciting race."

Organizers hope that by making the change they will attract more participants for the fourth annual event, set for July 19 in Beresford. A sprint distance triathlon sees competitors swim 750 metres, bicycle 20-kilometres and then finish with a five-kilometre run. The distances are doubled in an Olympic distance event.

Last year, only 14 people took part in the Olympic distance event in Beresford, while 34 competitors were in the sprint event. Fournier said organizers are no longer going to concentrate on trying to attract participants from the southern part of the province, instead hoping the shorter distance, and the duathlon option, will see more local competitors give the event a try.

He said competitors in both the triathlon and duathlon will start at the exact same time, completing the 750-metre swim and 2.5 kilometre bike ride in similar times.

"Everybody should be arriving at the transition point at the same time getting ready for their bike ride," said Fournier. "There is going to be a lot of people there so it will be very exciting. Then the bike ride for both and the run at the end (of both races) is on the same course. They should be coming in together at the end of their races, too. That is going to be interesting."

He said the change also means that rue Principale in Beresford won't be closed as long as in previous years.

"Instead of two or two and a half hours, we will only have to close it for an hour or an hour and a half."

Fournier finished second in the Olympic distance last year with a time of 2:14:14, a minute and four seconds behind winner Gabriel Landry of Bathurst. Stephen Morrison of Rothesay won the sprint distance in a time of 1:05:27.

Also back this year is the Richelieu Kids of Steel event for participants between the ages of five and 15, to be held July 20. It will also have a duathlon with competitors tackling different distances depending on their ages.

"We don't put any emphasis on competition for the Kids of Steel," concluded Fournier. "It is a participation event. (Unlike the adult event) it will be staggered so everybody won't all be in the transition area at the same time and the parents are encouraged to be in the transition area with the kids, especially the young ones."

The start time for both the adult and children's events is 10 a.m. with both the start and finish lines at Beresford Beach. Registration forms and event information will be available soon by logging onto www.trichaleur.com.