Activities based at South Park
By Greg Seubert
What started out as an idea to bring more people to the Waupaca area has turned into one of the community’s biggest events of the year.
The 19th annual Waupaca Area Triathlon will take place Saturday, Aug. 17, with activities based at South Park.
Hundreds of participants are registered for the triathlon, which includes a swim in Shadow Lake, a bicycle ride through Waupaca County and a run on city streets. While some of them live in the area, others come from other states and even Canada.
The triathlon has a major economic impact to the city, according to Terri Schulz, president of the Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I don’t have a dollar amount, but it definitely affects the hotels, campgrounds and some of the bed and breakfasts,” she said. “I wouldn’t say that they’re full from the event just because summer is a busy time anyway between weddings and people coming here to vacation. It’s amazing how far people come. We have a lot of people who come every year or they’ll come and they’ll bring a new friend who’s not been here before. They’re going to stop for gas or they’re going to stop for lunch. It’s a huge impact.”
As in the past, the event coincides with Waupaca’s annual Arts on the Square.
“The triathlon is actually a separate organization that has technically nothing to do with the chamber,” Schulz said. “They actually contract with the chamber to do all of the administrative stuff. We do all of the registrations and put all of the packets together.”
Several local clubs and organizations benefit from the triathlon, as they receive money that comes from sponsorships and entry fees.
“All of our volunteers indirectly get paid because we donate to their favorite organization,” Schulz said. “That’s probably close to $10,000 a year that goes back into the community to all of those clubs and organizations. I think that’s a huge success, a fundraiser for a lot of organizations. The triathlon also sponsors some scholarships to graduating high school seniors. It’s always to somebody going into a health-type career.”
Changes to event
The triathlon has changed over the years. A mini-triathlon for kids is held the day before the triathlon. Participants can now choose between a long course and a short course and can participate as an individual or as part of a relay team. A paddleboard or kayak option was recently added to the swim.
“Not everybody can swim a half-mile or a quarter-mile, so having the paddling part of it makes a difference,” Schulz said. “Those are starting to grow as the years go on. We’ll probably do some other changes. The biggest thing is the bike route and the run route if there is construction. We try to keep it the same because we have nice help and participation from the townships. It’s not just the city. You have to get the townships and the county highway department involved. All of that has to work together.
“The city crews help a lot with set-up and getting things down to the park,” she said. “We have change in board members and volunteers and all of that takes a toll, but it is always a little easier if you’ve done it so many times. We have a great board and great volunteers and each board members each has their own area that they take care of and has volunteers for. The great leadership makes the event so much easier.”
Particpants down
This year’s triathlon is capped at 900 participants and Schulz said the number of registered participants is down slightly this year.
“I think a lot of people use this event as their training event for other events,” she said. “That’s always been a big part of the good response. Probably some of the biggest responses we get on the triathlon is how well it’s organized and our volunteers: how nice they are, how helpful they are. We have volunteers out on the whole course the whole time and we have good communication between things. The other thing is people love our event because of the swimming at Shadow Lake and the bike route and running route are in beautiful areas of the state.”
Waupaca – and South Park in particular – is an ideal location for a triathlon, Schulz said.
“We actually had a consultant that had put triathlons together before,” she said. “She came in and helped us figure it all out and we had to decide if we could do it and if we could get enough support from the community in order to make it happen. Our first thought was to have it out at Hartman Creek State Park because there’s water and biking. That was harder to deal with because of where it was located. We took a look at South Park to see if it would be and OK venue and it’s worked out great. It probably took a good 1 1/2 years to put it all together.”
Whether the Waupaca Area Triathlon continues for another 19 years remains to be seen, but Schulz believes it could.
“I guess it will depend on participation,” she said. “If numbers continue to stay at a level where we can make it work, I think it’ll stay around. If it drops to a point to where we don’t have enough participation and we can’t make it work, that’ll change.
“It’s been around long enough that it’s probably here to stay for a while,” she added. “I hope so.”