Latest News

Mitch Robins (right) from Port Macquarie won the main event, Olympic solo, at the 2014 Yamba Triathlon Festival. Yamba’s Lindsey Wall was second, followed by Richard Pearson (right) from Woolgoolga. File Pic: Jon Bunch. Inset: the Color Me Rad effect. Pic: Yamba Triathlon Festival Facebook page.

Yamba triathlon: sharing the love

Mitch Robins (right) from Port Macquarie won the main event, Olympic solo, at the 2014 Yamba Triathlon Festival. Yamba’s Lindsey Wall was second, followed by Richard Pearson (right) from Woolgoolga. File Pic: Jon Bunch. Inset: the Color Me Rad effect. Pic: Yamba Triathlon Festival Facebook page.
Mitch Robins (right) from Port Macquarie won the main event, Olympic solo, at the 2014 Yamba Triathlon Festival. Yamba’s Lindsey Wall was second, followed by Richard Pearson (right) from Woolgoolga. File Pic: Jon Bunch. Inset: the Color Me Rad effect. Pic: Yamba Triathlon Festival Facebook page.
  Following the Yamba Triathlon Festival, held in September 2014, it seemed its days were numbered when in March 2015 the Independent revealed that Elite Energy had decided to discontinue the event. Enter the Clarence Valley Triathlon Club, which convinced Elite Energy to resurrect the festival. This weekend around 600 competitors will line up for the third festival to be held in Yamba, which includes the launch of a new event on the Sunday, the Color Me Rad 5K. Elite Energy describes the 5km fun run event as a “party for the whole family”. “Party animals of all ages, shapes and sizes will be running, dancing and singing across 5km, where our volunteers will coat participants with liquids, powders and gels of blue, green, pink, purple, and yellow until their faces, shirt and body come out silkscreened like a tie-dyed hippie on the other side,” says Elite Energy. “Each section of the run adds a new explosion of colour until participants cross the finish line into a final rainbow of colour where the main event takes place, the ‘Color Throw’, where entrants will dance, party and sing, to a DJ playing the latest tunes whilst throwing packets of colour into the air. “Each entrant in the Color Me Rad 5K will receive a T-shirt, colour pack and a photograph taken by Elite Energy’s professional photographers. “The Color Me Rad 5k is a run that is derived from an ancient Hindu festival based on Holi, which is also known as the festival of colours or the festival of sharing love.” During the main event on Saturday, competitors will either compete in the sprint distance – swim 750m, ride 20km and run 5km – or the standard distance: swim 1500m, 40km and run 10km. The Minman event is back by popular demand, too: 7-9 year-olds swim 50m, ride 1.5km and run 500m; while 10-11 year-olds swim 150m, ride 3km and run 1km. All participants in the Miniman receive a finisher’s medal and singlet; the event is not timed, as it’s all about kids participating and having fun whilst giving triathlon a go. The Enticer event – swim 200m, ride 10km and run 2km – is a timed event for the more competitive youngsters. As well as the Miniman series, there’s the Tiny & Tall event, which is a great way for parents and friends to get involved with their kids race experience. This format gives a parent or friend the chance to race alongside their kids and be there every step of the way. “The festival isn’t limited to the active minded, it’s a great spectacle to watch, with many great vantage points to see over 600 competitors swim, run and ride their way around Yamba,” says Elite Energy. Clarence Valley Council is a major sponsor of the events and has stumped up $32,000 over three years through its agreement with Sports Marketing Australia. According to past event reports to Clarence Valley Council, the estimated return to the Yamba and Clarence Valley economy in 2014 was $864,120. The estimated total return from the 2013 event was $569,507. Five hundred and ten people competed in 2013, 320 of those from outside of the 2464 and 2463 postcodes. In 2014 over 700 athletes took part in the event, with 360 visiting competitors and 106 interstate athletes.