YMCA Wrightsville Beach Sprint Triathlon

The YMCA of Southeastern North Carolina's Wrightsville Beach Sprint Triathlon first held in 1979, was the brainchild of Karl Sutter, a then resident of Wrightsville Beach. Karl was competitive by nature and had been college swimmer. A few years after college, Karl had taken up running to get back in shape, and one day sprained his ankle and then turned to cycling as an outlet for fitness while his injury healed. When reading Sports Illustrated in the spring of ‘79 he noticed a small article about the first Ironman triathlon with it’s 12 participants that was held in Hawaii the prior fall. Karl approached the local YMCA which was under the direction of Jack Morris at the time, and a new event for the area was born. This triathlon originally named the Pepsi YMCA Triathlon would become the first and longest running triathlon on the east coast of the US with its start of 99 participants that September, 1979.

This event creates a lot of excitement and enthusiasm within the race community because of its scenic location in beautiful Wrightsville Beach. The course is flat and the distances are short, making it a great first event for new triathletes, and a great time trial for more experienced racers.

In recent years, the YMCA has added a Youth Triathlon event in addition to the traditional Sprint Triathlon, increasing the participation in younger athletes. The Y has also added a Corporate Relay Division to encourage local businesses to come out and compete for a very large trophy to display in their business, not to mention bragging rights for the year!