Online registration will end at noon this coming Wednesday, Sept. 13 for the 15th Annual Step Outdoors TRYathlon and 5K Trail Run/Walk. To register online, visit www.stepoutdoors.org.

Most who register by Sept. 13 will also get a free event T-shirt. Extras are ordered and assigned to entrants based on the date they register.

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 $65 entry fee. There is also a processing fee. 

The TRYathlon & 5K Run/Walk will start at 10 a.m. next 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.

Both check-in and in-person 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.

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. 

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.

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.