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By Kyle B. Hansen (contact) 
Friday, Nov. 4, 2011 | 2 a.m.
Nearly 1,000 people from 26 countries are coming to Henderson this weekend for the 2011 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships, which will close parts of roads across Henderson Saturday.
Participants will swim 4 kilometers in Lake Las Vegas, then bike for 120 kilometers near Lake Mead before going on a 30-kilometer run near the Green Valley Ranch hotel and casino.
This is the first time the ITU world championship event has been held in Nevada, and the first time in 16 years that it has even been in the United States.
Henderson has become a hotspot for triathlons, with more than 1,600 people participating in the Ironman world championships here in September. The Silverman triathlon has been held here for five years, but is not being held this year because of the ITU event.
The race kicks off at 7 a.m. at Lake Las Vegas. The first group of athletes is expected to cross the finish line at the Henderson Pavilion about 12:30 p.m., but the race will continue until after 6 p.m. and the awards ceremony is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Lowes Lake Las Vegas Resort.
As some of the world’s top athletes work their way across the city, local residents may want to adjust travel plans due to road closures.
Most of the affected roads are not completely closed, but will have lane restrictions or be closed in one direction, officials said.
Most of the road effects on the bicycle route begin at 8 a.m. Roads should be re-opened by 4 p.m., officials said. Those roads are mostly around Lake Las Vegas and the western edge of Lake Mead.
Most of the roads on the running portion, which includes Paseo Verde Drive and Green Valley Parkway, will have closures from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., officials said.
A map and list of road closures is available on the Henderson Live website.
I live on Horizon Ridge, and imagine it will be a mess on the roads this weekend. I was a marathon runner for 25 years, and yet I don't understand this love of triathlons screwing up the city on the weekends. All the cops on overtime, doing nothing. Then again, it's a city that allowed unrestricted construction in the 2000's, so it's not surprising that the runners will be running beside abandoned dirt piles and empty buildings. "Look, Vantage Lofts, half done 5 years later, with 3 empty office buildings next door."
Led by a bunch of incompetent public boobs, hanging on to their cushy jobs. Wait until the foolish "Air and Space Museum" is built, and becomes another failure, like Lake Las Vegas and beautiful downtown Tijuana-oops Henderson. We sure wasted a lot of taxpayer money on those debacles. Hendertucky, for sure. or maybe SLC South?