Summer Biathlon
Filed Under (Summer Biathlon) by admin on 11-04-2009
A DIFFERENT KIND OF SHOOTING
My clients know that I do a lot of shooting with my camera. In fact, it is good shooting that allows me to make a living. What many people don’t know about me is that is not the only shooting I do. Since I won the United States National Biathlon Summer Championship this July, I have been getting a lot of questions about summer biathlon. So this is my attempt to educate all of my friends and clients who have expressed an interest in the sport.
WHAT IS SUMMER BIATHLON?
The combination of running and rifle marksmanship is a spin-off of the winter Olympic version of cross-country skiing and shooting. In local Summer Biathlon the standard race distance is 5 kilometers. The rifles are .22 caliber and the standard shooting distance is 25 meters.
International and national qualifying standards differ from what one might see at a local race. At this higher level the targets are moved back to 50 meters with smaller prone targets. The most common format, known as a sprint race, is comprised of 3k race for the women (4k for the men) with two shooting stops. Additional formats include mass start and pursuit races, both of which are 5k races for women (6k for men) with four shooting stops.
In all formats of races, competitors begin by running a loop that brings them to the shooting range. Once on the range they shoot 5 shots prone (laying down) at the metal knock-down target. Competitors run penalty loops (70 meters) for each target missed. They proceed to run another loop bringing them back to the shooting range. This time, it is five shots from the standing position (depending on the number of shooting stops in the race). The race ends with a dash to the finish. Scoring is based on the competitors’ total time that includes the time spent in the range and on the penalty loops.
HOW DID I GET INVOLVED?
Even though I have seen some success this summer on the national scene, I am still a novice to the sport. I have been competing in summer biathlon at the local level at the annual Altoona Summer Biathlon in Altoona, Pennsylvania since the summer of 2003. It is my close friend and training partner, Doug Hoover, who first sparked my interest in the sport. It was through his mentoring that I was persuaded to attend the U.S. National Summer Biathlon Trails where I qualified for the 2008 World Summer Biathlon Championships in Haute Marrienne Vanoise, France.
