St. Anthony's Triathlon Weekend Cancelled

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The health and well-being of our athletes and volunteers are of the utmost importance to the St. Anthony's Triathlon. Because of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the weekend of Triathlon events will be cancelled this year.

"Providing for the health and safety of our athletes, volunteers and community is the top priority of St. Anthony's Hospital," said St. Anthony's President Scott Smith. "After assessing many event scenarios, we decided that it was in the best interest of our athletes and the community to cancel the 2020 events. We are grateful to all of our athletes, volunteers and sponsors for their patience and continued support as we worked to make this difficult decision."

The event weekend, which originally was scheduled for April 24-26, was postponed when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control determined earlier this year that large gatherings should not take place. Since that time, Triathlon organizers have been working diligently with the city of St. Petersburg to find new dates.

"We are grateful to city officials for their help and patience as we discussed how to stage a safe event," said Patrick McGee, Triathlon manager and race director. "We will continue to work with the city as we establish best practices and procedures to ensure a safe and successful return to racing."

Several options are available to participants who registered for the 2020 events:

• Defer to the 38^th annual race weekend, which is scheduled April 23-25, 2021.
• Once the request for deferral is made, the Triathlon team will move the registration to next year's race.
•  If add-ons, such as a parking pass, VIP passes, photo packages and post-race massages were purchased, those will be a part of the participant's account when registering for the 2021 event.
• USA Triathlon (USAT) will contact participants about one-day license or membership fee options using the email address on the athlete RunSignup account.
• Refunds can be requested if the participant registered for the 2020 event. Refunds are not available to any participant who already had deferred from any race in or prior to 2019. Refund requests must be made by Aug. 1, 2020.
• Registration fees can be donated to the St. Anthony's Hospital Foundation to help St. Anthony's team members in the fight again the COVID-19 pandemic.

Triathlon organizers will work with sponsors and vendors who were scheduled to be at the three-day Sports & Fitness Expo. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected].

For more information, please visit SATriathlon.com, RunSignup.com/Race/FL/SaintPetersburg/StAnthonys or Facebook at Facebook.com/StAnthonysTriathlon.

About St. Anthony's Hospital
St. Anthony's Hospital is a 393-bed hospital founded in 1931 as a ministry of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany and was the first faith-based hospital in Pinellas County. For more information on St. Anthony's, call (727) 953-6993.

About BayCare Health System
BayCare is a leading not-for-profit health care system that connects individuals and families to a wide range of services at 15 hospitals and hundreds of other convenient locations throughout the Tampa Bay and central Florida regions. Inpatient and outpatient services include acute care, primary care, imaging, laboratory, behavioral health, home care, and wellness. Our mission is to improve the health of all we serve through community-owned, health care services that set the standard for high-quality, compassionate care.

SOURCE St. Anthony's Triathlon