The 15th Annual Step Outdoors TRYathlon and 5K Trail Run/Walk will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16, at Hills Creek State Park, 111 Spillway Road, seven miles northeast of Wellsboro in Charleston Township via Charleston Street and Hills Creek Lake Road.

There are no competitive categories in the triathlon or 5K. Every finisher will receive a medallion.

To register online, visit www.stepoutdoors.org.

Those who pre-register by Friday, Sept. 1 will be guaranteed a free event T-shirt in the size they order.

The deadline to register online is at noon on Wednesday, Sept. 13.Most who register by then will also get a free event T-shirt. Extras are ordered and assigned to entrants based on the date they register.

This year, for the first time since 2019, in-person registration is back. Both check-in and registration will be from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 16 in the tent between the park’s bathhouse and concession stand.

Those who register in-person will pay a $25 entry fee to do the 5K Trail Run/Walk only and a $30 entry fee to do the three legs of the TRYathlon solo. For two- or three-person teams, the entry fee for the TRYathlon is $60 per team. At registration on race day, any surplus event T-shirts will be available for purchase while supplies last. 

Organizers are encouraging participants to register in advance online even though there is registration on the day of the event, Sept. 16. 

The pre-race talk for all entrants, especially those participating for the first time, will be at 9:45 a.m. 

The start time for both the TRYathlon and the 5K is 10 a.m. sharp.

Individuals of all ages can take part in this triathlon. Those who want to solo can do all three legs themselves or two or three people can form a team and do them. Also included is a 5K stand-alone option for runners and walkers who only want to do the 5K.

The triathlon starts with the 5K on park roads and trails around the perimeter of Hills Creek Lake. All runners and walkers, whether they are participating in the 5K only or the triathlon, will start at the same time and location and follow the same course. 

The next leg of the triathlon is paddling on the lake with competitors either kayaking or canoeing a 1.75-mile course identified with temporary markers.

The triathlon ends with bikers traveling 8 miles on a course of dirt and hardtop roads in and around the park.

The focus of the Step Outdoors TRYathlon is on trying rather than winning, on camaraderie rather than competition and on personal challenge rather than place of finish. That is the reason age and gender categories were eliminated in 2015.

Individuals who register online for the 5K Trail Run/Walk will pay a $25 entry fee; to do the three legs of the triathlon solo, a $30 entry fee; and to do the triathlon as a member of a two- or three-person team, a $60 entry fee. There is also a processing fee. 

More information and past results are posted at www.stepoutdoors.org.

To find out where to rent bikes, kayaks or canoes, contact Tim Morey by calling 570-724-8561 or emailing tmorey@pa.gov.