For Immediate Release
Winners: 2013 Wrightsville Beach Biathlon
Wrightsville Beach, N.C. ... The competitive SUP season opened today in North Carolina with the 4th Annual Wrightsville Beach Biathlon at Blockade Runner Beach Resort. All 2012 Champions enjoyed repeat victories: Bike Cycles (Matt Whistoff and Chris Johnson), Team Relay Champion; Jarrod Covington, Individual Male Champion; and Kimberly Sutton, Individual Female Champion.
The first leg of the race was a four-mile standup paddleboard route looping Banks Channel to Money Island into the Intracoastal Waterway, through Motts Channel and back to the starting point.
With the race half over, biathletes and relay team members left the water and sprinted toward the oceanfront in a four-mile pier-to-pier foot race in beach sand to the finish line.
Relay Team Winners
- Bike Cycles (Matt Wisthoff, Wrightsville Beach, and Chris Johnson, Wilmington)
- Lighthouse Beer and Wine (Jason Adams and Kevin Rhodes)
- Cape Fear Analytical (Mike Medwedeff and Rob Moore)
Individual Men's Division Winners
- Jarrod Covington, Wrightsville Beach
- Jeremy Whitted
- Will Kealy
Individual Women's Division Winners
- Kimberly Sutton, Wilmington
- Dawn Ehman
- Karen Wilson
Photography by Allison Breiner, Director of Photography, Lumina News
(see Online Updates Saturday afternoon)
Original Press Release with event details & contact information: Wrightsville Biathlon Champions Jarrod Covington, Kimberly Sutton and Matt Whistoff Return to Defend Titles Wrightsville Beach, N.C. . . . Wrightsville Beach Biathon Champions Jarrod Covington (Men's), Kimberly Sutton (Women's), and Matt Whistoff (Bike Cycles Relay Team), will return on Saturday to defend their 2012 Titles. Each year, the Wrightsville Biathlon kicks off North Carolina's competitive SUP watersport season, with rising air and water temperatures.
 | 2012 Individual Male Champion, Jarrod Covington Photography by Lumina News | Emmy Errante |
Launching the leisure and competitive SUP season, the 4th annual Wrightsville Beach Biathlon begins March 22, with practice runs and reception at Blockade Runner Beach Resort. On Saturday, March 23, extreme stand up paddleboard challengers face last year's winners, their own personal best, and experienced paddlers throughout the region. Expect strong currents, inlet chop and heavy stroking on a four-mile route that loops from Banks Channel to Money Island into the Intracoastal Waterway through Motts Channel and back to the starting point. With the race half over, biathletes (or relay team members) will leave the water and sprint toward the oceanfront to compete in a four-mile pier-to-pier foot race in Wrightsville's beach sand, dramatically increasing the degree of difficulty compared to typical road races. Relay teams are enticed into the competition with the coveted Masonboro Trophy and bragging rights for an entire year. Corporate-sponsored, male/male, male/female and husband-and-wife relay teams will battle for best times against defending relay champs Bike Cycles' Craig Stephens and Matt Whistoff. In 2012 they finished with a time of 1:13:40. Top Individual Women's finisher in 2012 was Kimberly Sutton with a time of 1:34:15. Individual Men's competitors will be up against 2012 winner, Jarrod Covington who finished in 1:20:03. In last fall's Surf to Sound Challenge, Covington placed second to Larry Cain, a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and Canadian Gold Medal Olympian. Wrightsville Beach and Blockade Runner Beach Resort host four major SUP events each year, attracting top SUP competitors in the world to North Carolina. Following the Wrightsville Beach Biathlon will be the annual Carolina Cup, planned for April 25-28; the North Carolina Surf to Sound Challenge traditionally held during the third weekend in November; and the Cold Stroke Classic in January. |