Iron Girl:Empowering women toward a healthy lifestyle
Calling all women! The 2007 RKYA Iron Girl National Women’s Event Series is underway! With many outstanding events coming up, it’s time to pick your race or races!

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By Vicki Bush
Posted Monday, 21 May, 2007

The mission of Iron Girl is to empower women toward a healthy lifestyle. Iron Girl supports women in attaining personal satisfaction by helping them aim for and conquer their personal goals. Iron Girl is about the spirit and attitude of being involved in sports. Iron Girl provides a variety of events and distances, so that a woman can achieve and build upon her successes! The events are perfect for both women who are new to sports and for those who are competitive athletes. The atmosphere is supportive and fun, with a great sense of camaraderie and joy over shared accomplishments.

Beginning in 2004, with just two events, the series is constantly growing and there are now 11 event locations throughout the country. More than 13,000 women have crossed an Iron Girl finish line! Events range from 5K to 10-Mile running events, to a duathlon and four triathlons.

Two new events have just been announced! There will be a 10K/5K event in Solana Beach, CA, on July 28, bringing an Iron Girl event to Southern California. Also, the Iron Girl Lake Las Vegas Triathlon has been added to the 2008 line-up. These are two fantastic additions to an already stellar schedule of events! In the Iron Girl tradition, both would make great destination weekends!

I have read many race reports over the years, and none have been so uniformly and overwhelmingly positive as Iron Girl reviews. Participants come away from their Iron Girl experiences very satisfied and happy. Each and every runner and walker is celebrated. The courses are beautiful, and the amenities are terrific. Each athlete will receive a performance technical shirt sized just-for-women and a personalized race bib featuring each participant’s first name. There is ChampionChip timing, custom finisher medals and lots of giveaways. Each course is certified. There will be an expo, and a fabulous post-race catered Breakfast Café at each event. The Breakfast Café is a huge hot and cold breakfast with plenty of seats and food for each and every participant.

Awards go to the top three finishers in each age division. Other than 1-9 and 80 and over, age divisions are grouped in 5-year increments. Iron Girl also offers a Mother/Daughter Category. This is a great activity for a mom to share with her daughter! Baby joggers are also welcomed at all the run/walk events, so that even the newest mother can participate with her baby.

The first event in the 2007 series, the RYKA Iron Girl Clearwater 10K and 5K was a great success. More than 750 women, ranging in age from 5 to 79, crossed the finish line. Females from more than a dozen states traveled to Florida to participate. Melanie Peters, 23, was the first to cross the 10K finish line with a time of 37:36. Fourteen-year-old Grace Vandergriff was the first to finish the 5K with a time of 20:02.

And now onto the rest of the line-up!

• Atlanta, GA - 6/17: The RYKA Iron Girl Atlanta Triathlon is a new addition to the 2007 schedule. Kicking off at Lake Lanier Islands Resort at 7 a.m., the event consists of a 1/3 Mile swim, 18-Mile bike and 3-Mile run. Athletes will enjoy a lake swim, and scenic bike and run courses in this extremely picturesque location 45 minutes northeast of downtown Atlanta.
• Denver, CO - 7/1: It’s a new date for Denver, but the same great 5-Mile and 5K races. The venue is Veteran’s Park located at the State Capitol, and you’ll tour the broad streets of the downtown area as you run. The courses are mainly flat, with one small hill near the beginning, and a fast finish!
• Irving, TX - 7/22: The second annual RYKA Iron Girl Texas Triathlon will be held in Las Colinas, an area near Dallas that has been the site of many triathlons over the years. The swim will be 500M, the bike is 20K and the run is 5K.
• Solana Beach, CA - 7/28: Iron Girl recently announced the addition of the RYKA Iron Girl Solana Beach 10K and 5K to the 2007 calendar! Located 30 Miles north of San Diego, this event will feature a beautiful course along the Pacific Coast Highway. You’ll enjoy awesome ocean views and the ideal California climate. The event will feature all the amenities that are customary at Iron Girl events. In addition, there will be a pre-race “diaper dash” hosted by Stroller Strides, an Iron Girl partner based out of San Diego.
• Columbia, MD - 8/19: The RYKA Iron Girl Columbia Triathlon is located in Ellicott City, outside of Baltimore and DC. Don’t delay in signing up; this event sold out in 2006 and will sell out soon for 2007. The race is a 1K swim, 30K bike and 5K run. You’ll race on the rolling terrain of Centennial Park after your swim in Centennial Lake. It’s a fun event and features a band performing music on the course, which always provides a great boost!
• Boston, MA - 9/3: The 2007 Boston event will take place at a new venue, the Seaport World Trade Center Boston. The 10K and 5K events are in the scenic harbor area and feature views of the famous Boston skyline. Labor Day is a great time of year to be in Boston! Enjoy a long weekend in this historic city.
• Seattle, WA - 9/9: This run/walk event takes place in Green Lake Park at 8 a.m. There will be both a 10K and a 5K race. This is yet another scenic course in a great location! There’s a lot to do and explore in Seattle; this would make another great destination weekend!
• Bloomington, MN - 9/23: The series’ only duathlon to date features a 2-Mile run, a 22-Mile bike and a 2-Mile run, and is held at scenic Normandale Lake Park at 7:30 a.m. The bike course is rolling with some hills and heads out into the city, while the run is inside the park and along the lake. 2007 marks the third year of this highly successful event.
• Tempe, AZ - 12/2: The 2007 series caps off with the fourth annual RYKA Iron Girl 10-Mile and 5K in Tempe, AZ. This is a great opportunity for an athlete who may have run a 5K at last year’s event to move up to a 10-Miler. The location is Tempe Town Lake, a beautiful location just outside of Phoenix. The courses will be on both the streets of Tempe and on the paths around the lake.

Looking ahead to 2008, registration is already open for the Iron Girl Lake Las Vegas Triathlon being held on Saturday, April 12. In fact, there will be two triathlon events! You may participate in an International-distance triathlon, consisting of a 1.5K swim, 40K bike and 10K run, or you may choose the Sprint-distance that consists of a 400M swim, 10.6-Mile bike and 5K run. The event will take place along the grounds of the gorgeous Lake Las Vegas Resort, located 17 miles from the Las Vegas Strip. Those wanting to combine an Iron Girl event with a first-class hotel and spa experience need not look any further!

Participants looking to race for a cause may raise funds for the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults, Iron Girl’s charitable partner, that assists young adults living with or recovering from cancer, and their families. Iron Girl participants who raise $750 or more for the fund will receive RYKA shoes and apparel, Iron Girl socks and a visor, and a special racing bib, in addition to all the usual Iron Girl amenities. These runners can and do make a difference, and will be recognized at the award ceremony. They will also be entered into a drawing to win an all-expense paid trip to the 2008 Iron Girl event of their choice!

Visit www.IronGirl.com for more information or to register for an event.

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