looking for some "off season" motivation? Thry the 2008 - 2009 USAT National Challenge Competition!

Reposted from the Tri Talk / MI boards -

Are  you looking for motivation on this off season? If so look no further - your motivation awaits as the USAT is hosting it's 3rd annual National Challenge Competition (NCC)! 

This challenge is simple.

 Step 1 - register as a solo athlete here:

www.race-tracker.net/usat

Step 2 - log your miles.

Step 3. - Sit back and watch your rankings soar as you plow past all those other people!  or... not.

The NCC will last for three months (December 2008 through February 2009) and is composed of three separate month-long sessions.  Each session will focus on one of the three disciplines of a triathlon and will have a benchmark for each club to reach. In December the focus is swimming, in January it is cycling and in February it is running.  While those are the focus miles, all miles earned will move your rankings up because at the end of the challenge, they go by TOTAL miles swam, rode, or ran. 

USAT recognized triathlon clubs compete in this for prizes for their clubs, but the scoring is on an individual basis, so you can enter in you rmiles without club affiliation.  If you are a member of a triathlon club that is registered and is in good standing with the USAT, then talk to your club pres. to see if your club can get in on the action!  Prizes awarded to the top scoring club overall, and the first club to hit the benchmark in each session.  Details are up on the NCC website.

The only requirement - you MUST be a USAT annual member in good standing, so have your USAT membership # and expiration date handy for registration.

 The cost is NOTHING - the reward is SOMETHING , so your ROI is only limited to what you put in! 

Some questions asked in the Michigan board:

• Your USAT membership is good for 365 calendar days, if you have a membership already, odds are that you will be OK for this challenge, just double check when your membership expires.
• Also - your age will be recorded as the age you will be on 12/31/08.  Same as with typical USAT sanctioned events.
• This is FREE and fun.
• You can enter as EITHER a club member or an individual, but not both!