The Cross Triathlon is an off-road triathlon. It consists of a Swim, Bike and Run. The hub for all the off-road events is at Pallarenda Park 15 minutes from the town centre of Townsville.
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The Cross Triathlon is situated in the stunning surrounds of Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park, only 8.5km from Strand Park, the central event hub.
Once athletes rack their bikes pre race they will stretch their legs out with a 1km stroll along the waters edge to the swim start. Athletes will take to the water off Pallarenda Beach for a point to point swim parallel to the shoreline.
Exiting the water athletes will enter transition before heading out on the bike course.
The Bike course will take athletes over varied terrain on a 1 lap course out and around Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park. The first 6 kms will be a fast and mostly flat access track allowing athletes to settle into the bike leg with plenty of overtaking space. From here the course takes athletes onto the first section of single track on the Under the Radar trail, a sharp left turn will then take athletes over a no pass bridge and onto Reverse Smedley’s, here the course will take athletes up to The Knoll, providing athletes with some scenic north facing views to the islands on the Great Barrier Reef. After the views a short and sharp grassy downhill returns riders to the Shelly Beach Trail, this section of the course leads athletes to the Self Serve Repair and Water station. From here athletes will pass Sea View corner and back onto Under the Radar Part 2 for the final 4 kilometres of technical single track which includes a rock garden, some more switchbacks before hitting the fast open gravel of the Shelly Cove trail for the home stretch back to transition.
Bike Course Preview
Following a quick transition athletes will hit the 2 lap run course.
The run course starts with a short road section to connect athletes from transition to the trails. Leaving transition athletes will head along the road before taking a sharp left past the historic Heritage listed buildings of the old Quarantine Station. From here athletes will pass the Graves Memorial before turning right onto the Graves Circuit, a flat and fast wide track allows athletes the space to stretch their legs out along the fire trails which leads to the base of the run course single track climb. The climb incorporates a number of natural rock stairs and leads athletes to the old weir before the course opens back up onto a gravel section where athletes will find the Water station. Following this athletes will hit a fast gravel downhill section on the Forts Walk before heading up and over a scaffold bridge over the bike course. From here athlete will tackle a steep rock scramble section taking them down onto the sandy beach. A short beach section will bring athletes to their 2nd lap / finish decision point. On their first lap athletes will make the turn, heading back down the beach before turning left into a connection track and taking another right for a short road section, this short section will take athletes to a ‘bridge under a bridge’ scramble- watch your head on this one! After conquering the bridge under the bridge athletes will navigate through more historic buildings before returning to the Graves Memorial and commencing their second lap.
Following the same course athletes will then find themselves at the decision point on the beach, this time continuing on along the beach before taking a right turn off the sand and a sharp left down the finish chute.
| Cross Triathlon – Age Group – Start Waves | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wave | Time | Categories | Gender | Cap Colour |
| 1 | 8.05am | 18 / 44 M | Male | Light Blue |
| 2 | 8.10am | 45 / 59 M | Male | Red |
| 3 | 8.15am | 60 / 89 M | Male | Yellow |
| 4 | 8.20am | 18 – 49 W | Female | Fluro Green |
| 5 | 8.25am | 50 – 89 W | Female | Orange |
The Cross Triathlon is situated in the stunning surrounds of Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park, only 8.5km from Strand Park, the central event hub.
Once athletes rack their bikes pre race they will stretch their legs out with a 1km stroll along the waters edge to the swim start. Athletes will take to the water off Pallarenda Beach for a point to point swim parallel to the shoreline.
Exiting the water athletes will enter transition before heading out on the bike course.
The Bike course will take athletes over varied terrain on a 1 lap course out and around Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park. The first 6 kms will be a fast and mostly flat access track allowing athletes to settle into the bike leg with plenty of overtaking space. From here the course takes athletes onto the first section of single track on the Under the Radar trail, a sharp left turn will then take athletes over a no pass bridge and onto Reverse Smedley’s, here the course will take athletes up to The Knoll, providing athletes with some scenic north facing views to the islands on the Great Barrier Reef. After the views a short and sharp grassy downhill returns riders to the Shelly Beach Trail, this section of the course leads athletes to the Self Serve Repair and Water station. From here athletes will pass Sea View corner and back onto Under the Radar Part 2 for the final 4 kilometres of technical single track which includes a rock garden, some more switchbacks before hitting the fast open gravel of the Shelly Cove trail for the home stretch back to transition.
Bike Course Preview
Following a quick transition athletes will hit the 2 lap run course.
The run course starts with a short road section to connect athletes from transition to the trails. Leaving transition athletes will head along the road before taking a sharp left past the historic Heritage listed buildings of the old Quarantine Station. From here athletes will pass the Graves Memorial before turning right onto the Graves Circuit, a flat and fast wide track allows athletes the space to stretch their legs out along the fire trails which leads to the base of the run course single track climb. The climb incorporates a number of natural rock stairs and leads athletes to the old weir before the course opens back up onto a gravel section where athletes will find the Water station. Following this athletes will hit a fast gravel downhill section on the Forts Walk before heading up and over a scaffold bridge over the bike course. From here athlete will tackle a steep rock scramble section taking them down onto the sandy beach. A short beach section will bring athletes to their 2nd lap / finish decision point. On their first lap athletes will make the turn, heading back down the beach before turning left into a connection track and taking another right for a short road section, this short section will take athletes to a ‘bridge under a bridge’ scramble- watch your head on this one! After conquering the bridge under the bridge athletes will navigate through more historic buildings before returning to the Graves Memorial and commencing their second lap.
Following the same course athletes will then find themselves at the decision point on the beach, this time continuing on along the beach before taking a right turn off the sand and a sharp left down the finish chute.
Junior and Para athletes will rack their bikes in transition and then make their way 500m down the beach to the start line. Athletes will take to the water off Pallarenda Beach for a point to point swim that hugs the shoreline.
Exiting the water athletes will enter transition before exiting to the bike course.
The Bike course will take athletes over varied terrain on a 1 lap course out and around Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park. The start of the bike leg will be a fast and flat allowing athletes to settle into the bike leg with plenty of overtaking space as they head out on the Freshwater Trail and into the Lagoon Trail. From here athletes will take a right turn following the perimeter of Cape Pallarenda on to the Shelly Beach trail. Athletes will then join the Under the Rader Link trail to Under the Radar single track, in this last 4km section athletes will pass through a technical rock garden and switch backs before hitting the gravel of the Shelly Cove Trail for a fast ride back to transition.
For our Junior and Para athletes, the course will follow the first 5km as shown, continuing on the fire trails rather than taking the right turn on to the single track at this point in the footage. The course continues on this fire trail surface until it rejoins at the Under the Radar single track at the 12.4km mark of the course- you can see this next single track section if you skip through to the 15km mark on the footage.
Bike Course Preview
Following a quick transition athletes will hit the 1 lap run course.
The run course starts with a short road section to connect athletes from transition to the course. Leaving transition athletes will head right along the road before taking a sharp left past the historic Heritage listed buildings of the old Quarantine Station. From here athletes will pass the Graves memorial before turning right onto the Graves Circuit, a flat and fast wide track allows athletes the space to stretch their legs out along the fire trails which leads to the base of the run course single track climb. The climb incorporates a number of natural rock stairs and leads athletes to the old weir before the course opens back up onto a gravel section where athletes will find the Water station. Following this athletes will hit a fast gravel downhill section on the Forts Walk before heading up and over a scaffold bridge over the bike course. From here athlete will tackle a steep rock scramble section taking them down onto the sandy beach where athletes will continue on along the beach before taking a right turn off the sand and a sharp left down the finish chute.
Junior and Para athletes will rack their bikes in transition and then make their way 500m down the beach to the start line. Athletes will take to the water off Pallarenda Beach for a point to point swim that hugs the shoreline.
Exiting the water athletes will enter transition before exiting to the bike course.
The Bike course will take athletes over varied terrain on a 1 lap course out and around Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park. The start of the bike leg will be a fast and flat allowing athletes to settle into the bike leg with plenty of overtaking space as they head out on the Freshwater Trail and into the Lagoon Trail. From here athletes will take a right turn following the perimeter of Cape Pallarenda on to the Shelly Beach trail. Athletes will then join the Under the Rader Link trail to Under the Radar single track, in this last 4km section athletes will pass through a technical rock garden and switch backs before hitting the gravel of the Shelly Cove Trail for a fast ride back to transition.
For our Junior and Para athletes, the course will follow the first 5km as shown, continuing on the fire trails rather than taking the right turn on to the single track at this point in the footage. The course continues on this fire trail surface until it rejoins at the Under the Radar single track at the 12.4km mark of the course- you can see this next single track section if you skip through to the 15km mark on the footage.
Bike Course Preview
Following a quick transition athletes will hit the 1 lap run course.
The run course starts with a short road section to connect athletes from transition to the course. Leaving transition athletes will head right along the road before taking a sharp left past the historic Heritage listed buildings of the old Quarantine Station. From here athletes will pass the Graves memorial before turning right onto the Graves Circuit, a flat and fast wide track allows athletes the space to stretch their legs out along the fire trails which leads to the base of the run course single track climb. The climb incorporates a number of natural rock stairs and leads athletes to the old weir before the course opens back up onto a gravel section where athletes will find the Water station. Following this athletes will hit a fast gravel downhill section on the Forts Walk before heading up and over a scaffold bridge over the bike course. From here athlete will tackle a steep rock scramble section taking them down onto the sandy beach where athletes will continue on along the beach before taking a right turn off the sand and a sharp left down the finish chute.
