XTERRA games set for Richmond, but sponsor needed | Richmond Times-Dispatch

XTERRA games set for Richmond, but sponsor needed Richmond Times-Dispatch

Richmond is keeping its popular spot on the national off-road triathlon circuit for at least one more year, but there will be a new group overseeing the local event.
The XTERRA circuit's founders are looking for sponsors for the 2009 event after being unable to reach a new operating agreement with the Richmond Sports Backers, the event's local organizer since it first came to the city in 1999.
Hawaii-based Team Unlimited, which operates what used to be known as the Nissan XTERRA circuit, said the XTERRA Atlantic Cup will be held June 13-14 in and around the James River in downtown Richmond. The Atlantic Cup will be the fifth of eight stops on the circuit's national championship schedule.
Team Unlimited is trying to raise $25,000 to cover the costs of the Richmond event, including a $10,000 prize purse for the professional triathletes.
"It is taking quite a gamble on our part," said Dave Nicholas, Team Unlimited's managing director, "but I do have faith somebody or something will come along and make it break even."
The XTERRA weekends have generated a seven-figure economic impact on Richmond-area hotels and restaurants, including an estimated $400,000 last year, according to a study conducted for the Sports Backers.
Richmond's network of off-road running and riding trails and its urban whitewater setting have made the city a favorite stop of the professional triathletes on the circuit. In turn, Richmond has become a popular venue for amateur triathletes from along the East Coast looking to test their swimming, trail running and mountain biking skills.
But the XTERRA circuit has restructured its off-road triathlon series for 2009 as part of its response to losing primary sponsor Nissan. Each of the eight venues putting on the so-called national events for professionals was asked to pay $25,000 to help defray costs such as advertising, rentals and prize purses.
Richmond is the only one of the eight venues that declined to pay, Nicholas said.
Jon Lugbill, executive director of the Sports Backers, said the trying economic times and difficulty in attracting sponsors factored into the nonprofit organization's decision.
"We're still going to be supportive," Lugbill said. "We're going to help them with promotions, volunteers and connections in town. We're just not going to be the ones that are hosting the event."
Nicholas said he was forming a Richmond committee to help organize and run the XTERRA weekend, and Lugbill said the Sports Backers could be especially helpful in providing marketing assistance. "We want them to be successful and we want them to come back," Lugbill said. "We'll do what we can to make that happen."
Nicholas said plans for the June 13-14 weekend, in addition to off-road triathlons for professionals and amateurs, will include a 10K trail race and a half-marathon, also on the trails along the river.
Lugbill said the Sports Backers still plans its own 10K trail race, the James River Scramble, on May 16. That event will be part of a weekend of river-related events, the details of which are still being finalized, he said.