Aerothlon Running, Paragliding, Mountain Bike Race in Pemberton - Press Release

By Peter Chrzanowski

I am a Canadian adventure filmmaker and journalist living near the mountain bike trails above Pemberton, BC. I've been helping promote the Aerothlon event, a running, paragliding, and mountain bike relay race that originated with a friend in Mexico before going to Peru and Colombia, and we're bringing the Aerothlon to Canada and Pemberton for the first time this coming September. And since the Aerothlon is a one-day race, we'll hold some other events, film evenings, and celebrations that weekend from different sports as well.




I am an avid paraglide pilot but also an old-school mountain biker with going back to 1982. My main reason for supporting and promoting this event is because I wish to introduce our beautiful paragliding sport to the mountain bike and running enthusiasts. Paragliding is relatively small, with maybe 250,000 of us worldwide, but cycling and running are huge. Therefore, we hope to reach a lot of potential new flyers and educate the public on paragliding. Besides the relay race where a different person does each sporting event leg, we also have a category where the runner goes tandem with the paragliding pilot.

Then there is the hardcore category for strong athletes, many being Red Bull athletes which do all three sports. Presently we are looking at three alternative venues to stage the race. The run would be 8 - 10km up to the upper McKenzie launch, then a paraglide flight determined in length by weather that day, and ending with a 30km ride from the vicinity of the former Music Festival Grounds, the gravel pit, or private land in the vicinity.

I believe that Pemberton can use more sustainable events like Aerothlon which can bring several hundred eco-minded people to Pemberton and leave only a small footprint. Please stay tuned here for more news as we progress. Feel free to contact me for any more info at petrercperu@hotmail.com.

Visit the Aerothlon website for more information.