PANAMA CITY BEACH -- Officials are urging caution as hundreds of athletes take to Bay County roads Saturday.
By 7:10 a.m., all of the Gulf Coast Triathalon’s 974 participants will have submerged in the Gulf of Mexico behind the Boardwalk Beach Resort, 9450 Thomas Drive. After the 1.2 mile swim, the athletes will set out on various streets throughout Panama City Beach winding through residential and heavily travelled roads until about 5 p.m.
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Traffic signs will be posted as bicyclists set out on the 56-mile long portion of the race but no roads are expected to be closed. The road race begins at the Boardwalk, continues along Hutchinson Boulevard, to Front Beach Road, onto State 79 — where officers will be directing traffic at the intersection of Panama City Beach Parkway — then north to Steelfield Road and back to Boardwalk to begin the foot-race portion.
The 13-mile run is an out and back course traveling along Lagoon Drive and several residential streets — mostly avoiding Thomas Drive — to St. Andrews State Park and back to the finish line.
A sprint bike course is scheduled to travel along Thomas Drive to North Lagoon and back to Boardwalk. And a sprint run course will travel along Thomas Drive then south to Surf Drive and back.
Every Mother’s Day weekend since 1983, hundreds of triathalon athletes have converged on Panama City Beach to test their endurance. This year’s event will include a two-day sports exposition beginning Friday night with a pasta dinner and a mandatory pre-race meeting for last minute announcements. An awards dinner will take place Saturday night at Spinnaker’s Beach Club with video highlights of the race.