PORTLAND, ME – July 15, 2008 – The Zone Urban Epic Triathlon and Festival (ZUE) will draw 300 athletes and over 1,000 spectators to downtown Portland on Saturday, July 26 for a world-class multisport event and city celebration. Professional triathletes and amateur racers from more than fifteen states are set to compete in the second annual Olympic distance race.
 
The festival, designed to showcase the vibrancy of the active lifestyle in Portland and to celebrate health, fitness, and urban culture, will run in conjunction with the triathlon. Corporate sponsors, including title sponsor Zone Labs, Inc., will join with local vendors, artists, and entertainers to celebrate with racers and spectators.
 
The ZUE event will showcase Portland’s downtown waterfront – with both the festival and race finish taking place at 58 Fore Street.
 
Athletes will shuttle out to Mackworth Island and begin the event with a mile swim through Casco Bay to East End Beach. Then, racers will run half a mile down the Eastern Promenade before transitioning inside a boat-building warehouse and heading out onto the bike course. The bike route will traverse 24-miles up through Falmouth and Cumberland and back through the industrial district of downtown Portland. Athletes will finish with a 6.2-mile run along the Eastern Prom Trail and a portion of the Back Cove Path.
 
Athletes to watch include National Champion and 2008 Olympic team alternate Becky Lavelle (who will be in Maine for the first time and interacting with local athletes before the race) and up and coming star Mary Miller, a winning amateur racer from Eliot, Maine.
 
“The Zone Urban Epic is a one-of-a kind race,” says Race Director Will Thomas. “It has evolved into a celebration of all kinds of things – Portland, health, art, the active lifestyle, the aesthetic beauty and landscape of Maine – and the triathlon remains the exciting center of it all. The venue, the city, and the people make the event an extremely contagious experience.”
 
The Zone Urban Epic Festival is free and open to the public. Festival activities include a dodge ball tournament run by Casco Bay Sports, a climbing wall, beer garden run by Sebago Brewing Company, breakdance demonstrations, DJ, local vendor booths, artist exhibits, and a live concert performance by Barefoot Truth.
 
Parking for the event is available at municipal lots, with shuttles running from the Marginal Way Parking Lot and the County Courthouse Garage. Parking is also available at the new Ocean Gateway Garage on Fore Street for $10/day.
 
To minimize event waste and reduce the overall event carbon footprint, ZUE has partnered with Athletes for a Fit Planet. Sustainable changes include biodegradable and compostable corn-based cups at water stations, composted food waste, and recycled bottles, plastic, and cans. All non-recyclable items (such as energy bar wrappers, nutritional gel packs, swim caps, polyester sports apparel) will be collected by TerraCycle and Atayne and be reused, made into eco-friendly products.
 
Strong support for the event comes from top sponsors including Zone Labs Inc, Whole Foods Market, Merrill Lynch/Boyne Jordan Group, Vitamin Water, Orthopaedic Associates, and Peak Performance Multisport.