PPD Beach2Battleship

The PPD Beach2Battleship Full moves into season number eight bringing the highly desired ultra distance back to the Carolinas. Complimented by a Half, this event will bring the 2015 triathlon season to an end in a big way! Swim: The B2B swim course will be staged at Wrightsville Beach and will be a unique point-to-point layout with a mass beach start. The swim takes place in a channel that is connected to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway; so it's a salt water swim but not in the ocean. An incoming tide with participants swimming with the current will make for some very fast times for the 2.4 mile course. The water temperature should be in the upper 60's to low 70's - perfect for wetsuit use. Bike: The 112 mile bike course takes competitors from Wrightsville Beach, through the northern section of Wilmington and then up towards White Lake - home of one of the more famous half iron distance events on the east coast. The bike course is totally flat with the only elevation change taking place when participants finish the bike course by crossing a bridge on the way into the second transition area located at the historic Battleship North Carolina. Vehicular traffic on the bike course will be extremely light throughout the course. Fully stocked aid stations will be located approximately every 15 miles along the entire course. A "Special Needs" stop will also be located at about the midpoint of the ride. Run: The two loop run course will start and finish at the Battleship North Carolina. Competitors will cross over three bridges on each of the two 13.1 mile loops. The run course is the identical course used for the Battleship Half Marathon staged each November in Wilmington. Each lap of the run will also feature a trip around picturesque Greenfield Lake. One of the featured aspects of B2B will be the run course aid stations. Located every mile along the 13.1 mile loop, each aid station will serve a variety of food, drinks, and energy products to assist each athlete. Event organizers will be conducting a contest amongst the aid stations (voted on by the participants), so each group or company assigned to a particular aid station will be trying their best to "out do" the other aid stations. Aid station volunteers will be in costume and will be playing live or recorded music. On a more serious note, all aid stations will also be fully staffed with EMS personnel, HAM radio operators, and rent-a-johns. Being that many competitors will still be out on the run course after the sun sets at about 6PM, the entire run course will be lit by portable light towers to compliment the existing street lights.