They'll bike, run, swim... and spend a lot of money here.
A triathlon is coming to downtown Riverhead this summer.
Promoters Reuben Kline and Steve Tarpinian, of Event Power, a Long Island-based race event production company, got an informal green light from the Riverhead Town Board Thursday for a July 29 Olympic-distance triathlon.
Competitors will swim 0.93 miles, bike 25 miles and run 6.2 miles. The finish line of the run, the last leg of the triathlon, would be underneath the Suffolk Theatre marquee.
The event would draw at least 200 participants, Kline said.
Dennis McDermott, owner of The Riverhead Project on East Main Street, and Business Improvement District Management Association president Raymond Pickersgill accompanied the event promoters to the work session.
McDermott said the demographics of the people participating in these events tend to be affluent. Since the event is on a Sunday, they will come on Saturday, with family and friends, to spend the weekend, he said. It will mean business for Riverhead hotels, restaurants and stores.
McDermott said the group would like to have a few "pop-up stores" open in empty storefronts on East Main Street for the weekend of the event. These might include Nike shoes, McDermott said. He also hopes to have a "pop-up" for the North Fork Animal Welfare League to showcase their pets for adoption.
Board members enthusiastically embraced the triathlon idea.
"I love it," declared the supervisor. "Does everybody love it?"
"I think this will be great for the Town of Riverhead," Councilman John Dunleavy said.
The event will be sponsored by the Riverhead Business Improvement District and the Riverhead Community Development Agency.
Event Power already has 11 events planned for locations across Long Island this year, including the Mighty North Fork Triathlon, a sprint distance event, on July 8. Riverhead would be just the third Olympic distance triathlon on the group's schedule.