* Littleton Rotary AppleMan Triathlon

On Sunday, July 15, the Littleton Rotary Club will be hosting the ninth annual Littleton AppleMan Triathlon as a fundraiser to support the Littleton Rotary Club's many community and international charitable projects.

This year’s AppleMan Triathlon is expected to attract over 600 individual and relay team triathletes from all over New England and the United States. This is a sprint event involving the completion of three sequential endurance races: A half-mile swim, 10-mile bike and 3-mile run. Race timing and logistics is handled by FIRM. (Fiske Independent Race Management), a well-known local producer of multisport competitions with more than 20 years of race production experience. The race is sanctioned by USA Triathlon, the national sanctioning body for triathlons in the USA and sponsor of the USA Olympic Triathlon Team.

The AppleMan Triathlon is staffed by hundreds of volunteers. It has sold out every year since its inception with more than 600 triathletes entering the 2011 race. A sell-out is again expected this year.

The half-mile swim will start and finish at the Long Lake town beach. The 10-mile bike leg will go south of town along Newtown Road, Shaker Lane, Great Road, Nashoba Road and Nagog Hill Road into Acton before returning to the town beach along Newtown Road. The 3-mile run will start off along Lake Shore Drive and go through Littleton's neighborhoods north of the Long Lake to King Street before returning along the Two Brother's Trail and Lake Shore Drive and finishing at the town beach. A map of the race course is available from the race organization. The first finishers are expected to complete this course in less than an hour with most finishers completing it in less than two hours. The race will start at 8 a.m. with all race activities completed before noon.

Applications for this event are available at the race website, www.applemantriathlon.com. Race entries will be limited to the first 600 people registering. Those wanting to volunteer to help at the triathlon can contact the race directors at info@applemantriathlon.com.

Contact the following Littleton Rotary Club members for more information: Jim Barisano at 978-264-4333 or email jimbar@wheelstv.net; or Marc Saucier at 978-486-0323 or email marc@saucier.org. Additional information on FIRM and USA Triathlon can be found at www.firm-racing.com and www.usatriathlon.org.