The Kinesiology department is partnering up with the Student Recreation and Wellness Center to put on the Blitz Triathlon on March 23.

The event is open to students and staff alike. Deonna Shake, a professor in kinesiology and nutrition, said the event is meant to prepare students for the popular Wildcat Ironman Triathlon, which runs from March 30 to April 20.

Shake hopes the event will inspire others to partake in future triathlons and recreational activities which the SRWC and Kinesiology department will feature in coming semesters.

“The Blitz is just a one hour event with 5 minutes transition time between events and student volunteers keeping track of your distances,” said Shake. “The Blitz Tri is open to individuals who would complete all three parts, or to teams in which each team member does only one event.”

The triathlon will take place inside of the SRWC, where participants and teams will be stationed at the pool, treadmills and stationary bikes. The check-in for the Blitz Triathlon start at 9:30 a.m. The event will begin at 10 a.m on Saturday morning.

According to Shake, the Blitz Triathlon does not have a large number of participants since it is just a tune-up, but she hopes that there will be more people taking part in the fall.

“We hope that even if this is a low turnout, we can use feedback to help us bring it back stronger next year in the fall,” stated Shake. “We did have over 50 people participate in our full three-week Ironman Triathlon last year and are hoping for those same numbers again.”

Shake said that she hopes to hear plenty of feedback on the personal and physical accomplishments of any students or staff that will join in the event. Since Shake has a passion for sports, she said she loves hearing testimonies from fellow athletes with similar passions.

“The best part of the event will be to watch and hear stories of success and accomplishment,” said Shake. “He has done these types of events before and was instrumental in consulting some of the logistics.”