Hy-Vee Discontinues Popular Triathlon
Premier Event Management will continue to produce the event, but it's unclear at this point if there will be an elite race or prize purse.
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The Hy-Vee Triathlon, which used to offer the richest prize purse in the sport, has been discontinued by Hy-Vee Inc. Premier Event Management will continue to produce the event, but it’s unclear at this point if there will be an elite race or prize purse.
Hy-Vee Inc. announced Tuesday it is discontinuing the Hy-Vee Triathlon, an annual event that draws thousands of runners, bikers and swimmers and millions of dollars to the city year year.
But don’t write the obituary on the triathlon just yet.
Premier Event Management, the company that produced the Hy-Vee Triathlon, said it plans to keep the event going, starting this summer.
“We still have the permits for the city. And we will be doing the new, inaugural Des Moines Triathlon,” said Bill Burke, Premier’s race director.
“We’re just going to continue the tradition and the legacy that was the Hy-Vee Triathlon, and just try to build on that,” he said. “Unfortunately, at this point, we don’t have any sponsors. And we’re going to work aggressively to try to fill that void.”
Despite losing the title sponsor, Burke credited Hy-Vee for its contribution to the sport and for creating a unique event in Des Moines.
“Anytime you have something like that happen so quickly and so suddenly, it’s a shock. But no one in the sport of triathlon has put more into the last nine years than Hy-Vee. I mean no one. Nobody has spent the money and created the legacy that Hy-Vee has created,” he said. “We just want to try and build on that and continue the tradition that they started.”
Read more: Desmoinesregister.com