Virginia Triathlon Series supports Organization for Autism Research

The Organization for Autism Research (OAR) is the Virginia Triathlon Series (VTS) charity for the 2009 season. OAR in conjunction with the VTS has secured over $50,000 in charitable funds during the past two seasons.

“It’s such a worthy cause and I want to do all I can to help support OAR’s mission,” says Greg Hawkins, director of the Virginia Triathlon Series. “The fact that OAR’s mission is not just about finding a cause, but helping families to better cope and grow while raising a child with autism is very admirable.”

OAR offers two programs that allow athletes to compete in various athletic events while raising money for this organization. Their programs are called Tri for Autism and Run for Autism. Tri for Autism triathletes can choose from different levels of donations and depending on the level can participate in one to any number of the VTS events.

The other program called Run for Autism which allows athletes to compete in various running events to raise money for OAR. Douglas Marocco, 45, of Montclair, is the director of this program. He manages the program of more than 1,000 participants that has secured more than $1.7 million for autism research since 2006.

Marocco is an athlete himself; and a fast one at that. Marocco is signed up for the Montclair triathlon taking place today. He participated last year and took second place with a time of 1:35:38.

The Montclair Triathlon will be held today started at 7 a.m.. The swim takes place in beautiful Lake Montclair with a sandy beach start and finish. The bike is a three-loop, 30K course through Montclair that is closed to traffic with rolling terrain and smooth pavement. The run is a two-loop, 8K course that brings athletes back through transition and parallels the bike course to make this one of the most spectator friendly events on the VTS circuit.

For event coverage information, interviews and additional information please contact Tom Crichton at 919-656-4639.

— Press release