As it has for the past five years, the St. Croix welcome website, GoToStCroix.com, will kick off the upcoming St. Croix Half Ironman Triathlon with a celebratory group photo in front of its Christiansted webcam Friday evening, before Jump-Up festivities begin.
The crowd will be gathering at 5 p.m. on the Christiansted Boardwalk next to RumRunners restaurant.
The photo is a great way to welcome athletes from all over the world who have trained hard and traveled far to participate in the race, said Wendy Solomon, a 12-year St. Croix resident and owner/producer of GoToStCroix.com.
“The athletes are so happy to be there, and are talking and waving and laughing and crying with their loved ones back home," Solomon said in a statement. "We try and teach them something about St. Croix and the race history, and give them a positive memory and free souvenir. Judging from the thank-yous and cheers and faces of those in the picture, a little Crucian hospitality goes a long way.”
This year, Solomon hopes more local athletes will show up to meet visitors and answer questions about the race.
"Wouldn’t it be fun to have a group photo of our own V.I. Ironmen and women?” she said.
The Christiansted webcam is one of the site’s most widely viewed pages with an average of 100,000 page views per month and more than 1 million views per year.
According to website statistics from 2009, last year’s group photo delivered an additional 950 visitors to the webcam that day.
"It is our hope to gather a record-breaking crowd of athletes for our 2010 photo, which in turn attracts larger viewers to the webcam, and that is attention that benefits all of St. Croix," she said. "If you are participating in the triathlon, please come and represent yourself in our photo!"
The photos are then posted to the site and made available for free downloads and prints the day after the event. After the 5 p.m. photo on the boardwalk, there will be a St. Croix Trivia contest with prizes donated by island businesses. Anyone off-island who wants to watch the action online can tune into gotostcroix.com/harborcam to see the crowd gather.
Photos from previous years can be found at http://www.gotostcroix.com/triathlon/group_photo/index.php
The group photo is sponsored by GoToStCroix.com, RumRunners, The Hotel Caravelle, St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures, Centipede, Café Fresco, Namaste Café, Divi Surfside Spa, Cruzan Rum, and The Reef Golf Course.