A scene from last year’s East Coast Triathlon Festival.

Richmond is fast becoming the country’s endurance hotspot, and everyone better be ready. During the first weekend of May, Richmond will host two of the country’s premier endurance events on the same weekend: USA Cycling’s Collegiate Road Cycling National Championships and USA Triathlon’s Youth/Junior Elite East Coast Cup (aka East Coast Triathlon Festival).  These events will bring the country’s top junior and collegiate athletes to Richmond from almost every state in the country where they will compete head-to-head against the very best.

The United States’ future Olympians and professional athletes in the sport of triathlon and cycling will most likely come from these two fields. More so, these two events are a prelude to the 2015 Road World Cycling Championships, which will be one of the biggest events to ever touch down in Richmond, with the world’s best cyclists and thousands of spectators traveling to Richmond.

Richmond, stand up and take your place as the country’s endurance capital. Let’s not miss this opportunity to show the country (and in 2015, the world) why these events have chosen Richmond as their host. This is our chance to take this momentum and grow our lead even further while creating endless future opportunities.

The Collegiate Road National Championships will be held May 2-4 with events each day. The East Coast Triathlon Festival featuring the Youth/Junior Elite Triathlon East Coast Cup will be held May 4 with events for youth and adult amateurs in addition to the elite races throughout the day. Be at these events! Bring your family and your friends – especially those who do not quite get the endurance thing and show them what it is all about. Come out ready to cheer hard – bring your cow bells, face paint, and what have you and let’s show the world that endurance sports are to be spectated to the extreme just like its participants. 

Let’s also go beyond that and show an amazing amount of hospitality to these athletes, too. They will be easy to recognize – just look for the cleanly-shaven, chiseled legs ready to go to work in the race of their life. Strike up a conversation with them, ask what you can do to support them while in Richmond, wish them good luck, and, if nothing else, tell them you will be there on race day cheering them on!

Stand up Richmond and take your place.  Let’s all grab this opportunity, this victory, and run away with the crown, setting ourselves apart as the forerunner in the endurance world. Stand up Richmond – the time is now.