PENTICTON – The Challenge Penticton event will add a half-challenge to its roster for 2014. The introduction of the middle-distance race will be in addition to the long-distance Challenge event on Aug. 24, 2014.

The Half-Challenge commences with a 1.9-kilometre swim in Okanagan Lake, followed by a single-loop 90 km bike ride and finally a 21.1 km out-and-back run through Penticton and along north-eastern Skaha Lake. Wave starts and relay teams will be available for this new event.

The decision to introduce the half-challenge race was athlete-driven.

"Athletes have long been asking for a half-distance race to be part of the Penticton program. Many people don’t have the time to train for the long-distance triathlon event," says Athlete liaison Bruce Schoenne.

The Half-Challenge event will be limited to 600 entries: 500 individual athlete entries and 100 relay teams, composed of two or three members. The registration fees will be $350 for an individual entry and $475 for a relay team. Race registration will be available from 9 a.m. Aug. 26 2013 at Gyro Park and online shortly after.

For further information on Challenge Penticton, visit www.challengepenticton.com, www.facebook.com/ChallengePenticton or follow @Challenge_Pen on Twitter.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065 or tweet @shannonquesnel1‎