Some of the nation’s fastest-growing sports are taking their events out of arenas and into the great outdoors at natural venues. Events throughout the United States let athletes compete while exploring majestic mountains, beautiful waters, and challenging terrain in stunning locations.
Franklin County, Me.
Maine’s mountains—and the entire state, to be exact—are rebranding. While the state remains a hub for skiers and for whale watching from the beaches, Maine is showcasing itself as a year-round destination with endless options for amateur and world-class athletes.
“There’s so much more of Maine including inland gems, lakes, and mountains that are becoming four-season attractions. We’re trying to get people to bring their bikes or come run the trails. It’s been exciting to see the state advance in outdoor recreation spaces,” says Sheila Brennan Nee, strategic director of the Maine Sports Commission.
An event putting Maine on the worldwide map is the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship coming to Sugarloaf, in Franklin County in 2023, 2024, and potentially 2025, says Brennan Nee. This year marks the first time XTERRA has taken place outside Hawaii.
XTERRA is considered the World Series of the trail run world. Qualifying events occur internationally, and winners will go to Maine to run the XTERRA, which offers 5k and 10k races and full and half marathons, and a coinciding festival and events for amateur runners.
“They’re coming from everywhere. I’m just ecstatic,” says Brennan Nee, who estimates 600 to 800 elite runners will compete in XTERRA.
Maine promotes its mountains and diverse landscape as places for hiking trails and mountain biking, including the emerging sport of gravel biking. The Gran Fondo Hincapie Bangor annual cycling event will return to Maine for the third year in 2024. The 2023 Hincapie challenged professional and amateur cyclists with 15-, 50-, and 80-mile courses.
Maine’s year-round sports roster also offers fishing, international dog sled races, marathons, Ironman 70.3, endurance races, and the U.S. National Toboggan Championship.
More information: visitmaine.com and mainesportscommission.com
Grand Junction, Colo.
Colorado’s landscape spans from high desert to water to soaring mountains. Athletes will find sports for every climate within the greater Grand Junction area.
“We consider ourselves high desert—we sit at about 4,500 feet of elevation—and that’s an extension of Utah’s red dirt hot climate, and we have the 11,000-foot Grand Mesa (the world’s largest flat top mountain),” says Ben Snyder, executive director of the Greater Grand Junction Sports Commission (GGJSC). “We have a really unique opportunity to have the best of both worlds.”
Mountain biking is a driving force in outdoor recreation, as are skiing, utility terrain vehicles, kayaking, fishing, and a tremendous amount of hiking, Snyder explains.
“In 2022, we took over a large mountain bike music festival, Grand Junction Rides and Vibes. It’s two days of mountain biking, and riders finish downtown to be welcomed by a music festival,” he says. “The professionals have $30,000 in prize money divided between the men’s and women’s winners. We’ve had a number of Olympians come through and race, as these are some of the most technical trails. We have a lot of amateurs come through and race as well.”
The community and its sports venues create a desirable destination for athletes. Since 1959, Grand Junction has hosted the Junior College Baseball World Series (JUCO).
“To be in one location for 65 years is special. It speaks to our ability to support an event to the fullest extent. The entire community comes out and supports it,” Snyder says.
He says event planners can expect a high standard of hospitality from Grand Junction. “Your event [becomes] the most important thing in our community,” says Snyder.
According to Snyder, Colorado Mesa University is building some of the best sports facilities in the state and already has popular stadiums for volleyball, softball, and more.
More information: grandjunctionsports.org
Treasure Coast, Fla.
Treasure Coast’s three-county region boasts nearly 50 miles of public shoreline beaches for basking in the sunshine, and more than 50 public and private golf courses. Sports enthusiasts may recognize St. Lucie, Indian River, and Martin counties as baseball hotspots.
“We’re one of the baseball meccas on the East Coast,” says Rick Hatcher, president and CEO of Play Treasure Coast Sports Tourism. “In 2021, we hosted a baseball qualifier for the Summer Olympics. That was the only Olympic qualifier in the United States.”
Clover Park in Port St. Lucie is the New York Mets’ spring training home, while the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach served as the spring training home for the Los Angeles Dodgers until 2009. The complex is an official training center for USA Softball.
“In the spring season, [spring training] is a major draw for tourism, as well as other baseball events,” Hatcher said. “We’ve got over 20 full-size baseball fields in our region.”
The area’s beauty and appealing year-round climate make it a sports hub, says Hatcher. Play Treasure Coast Sports Tourism welcomes about 125 events annually covering 30 sports.
The Babe Ruth Softball World Series takes place along the Treasure Coast with teams from across the United States and internationally competing, while the Cal Ripken Baseball World Series attracts 30 teams nationwide.
Perhaps the most unusual athletic competition is the 3M Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge US Nationals in October. Firefighters qualify to compete at the US Nationals from 14 regional sites nationwide.
“[The competition covers] six disciplines that a firefighter would be expected to be able to do when answering an emergency call,” Hatcher says. “I’m excited to say the team from St. Lucie County Fire District is a three-time reigning world champion.”
More information: playtreasurecoastflorida.com
Lake Tahoe, Calif./Nev.
The Lake Tahoe region bills itself as America’s year-round playground. Its spectacular namesake lake stretches into California and Nevada. At 22 miles long and 12 miles wide, it’s one of the deepest lakes in North America.
“We always say the best way to experience Lake Tahoe is in Lake Tahoe,” says Stuart Maas, senior director of marketing & business development for Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority. “We have so many different ways to get out on the lake. One of the trends now is everyone goes paddle boarding. You can see down about 70 feet.”
Lake Tahoe is surrounded by mountains soaring above 10,000 feet. They’re the setting for skiing and hiking, as well as biking trails said to be “America’s most beautiful bike rides,” says Maas.
The region contains the largest concentration of ski resorts in the United States, and Lake Tahoe is the site of many ski and snowboarding competitions. Palisades Tahoe hosted the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup in 2023 and will host it again in February 2024.
“Athletes love to train up here because of the altitude and fresh air and clean water year-round,” Maas says.
Hockey will be the next winter sport to take off in Lake Tahoe. The new Tahoe Blue Event Center, opening this fall, has announced it will have a resident professional hockey team with an owner who’s a celebrity partner.
Tahoe Blue Event Center is designed for large events, with seating for 4,200 at sports competitions.
“Because we are a resort destination, when people see a [sporting event] coming up, they love it. They can make a vacation out of it if they can book a couple of days before or after. That has been popular with event organizers,” says Maas.
More information: visitlaketahoe.com
Puerto Rico
Whether athletes travel to Puerto Rico to train or to compete, the island offers plentiful sports venues amid a tropical setting that feels like an international vacation. Puerto Rico’s location in the Caribbean means near-perfect weather year-round for outdoor sports as varied as golf, surfing, baseball, and Ironman 70.3.
Río Grande, a large town in Puerto Rico’s east region, contains the El Yunque National Forest, the only tropical rainforest in the United States forest system, according to Discover Puerto Rico. The award-winning Grand Reserve Golf Club overlooks El Yunque and is one of only two championship courses in the Caribbean. Grand Reserve’s course, designed by PGA professional Tom Kite, attracts pro golfers worldwide for events such as the PGA Puerto Rico Open.
Puerto Rico has its own Olympic training center, the Albergue Olímpico German Rieckehoff Sampayo. A boon for event planners, the facility contains multi-use courts, baseball, aquatic and tennis complexes, and gyms for sports events, and is also home to the Puerto Rico Sports Museum.
Cabo Rojo is a must for water sports enthusiasts, with its Blue Flag-certified beach Boquerón, and some of the other finest beaches in Puerto Rico. Cabo Rojo is a destination for surfing, kayaking, kiteboarding, and paddle-boarding events. Surfers compete during the best wave season at several surf spots during the Corona Pro Surf Circuit. The Association of Professional Surfing of Puerto Rico has hosted the annual competition for more than 30 years.
Puerto Rico also has built its reputation as a sports destination with annual competitions like Ironman 70.3. The Divas Half Marathon and 5K attracts thousands of runners in the name of powerful females, while the Lola Challenge Weekend is a weekend composed of a five-kilometer, 10-kilometer, and half marathon.
More information: discoverpuertorico.com
