NEW ROADS - Athletes raced in the annual River Roux Triathlon in New Roads earlier this month.

The event has brought athletes through the roads and rivers of Pointe Coupee Parish for more than 10 years. Race Director Aimee Moreau said the Olympic-style race, which happened this year on Oct. 10, brings in roughly 150 athletes each year.

"It is an Olympic-distance race, which consists of 1500 meter swim, 40k bike and 10k run," Moreau said. "Most athletes use social media and find other active groups, bike groups, swim groups. Once you find that community, you learn more about different races; racing itself, there are a lot of moving parts with having three events in one race."

Moreau said that there are often people coming in from out of state, including Texas and Florida

Chris Brignac, 32, finished in 2 hours and 46 minutes. He was one of the athletes who traveled for the race.

However, he wasn't racing through unfamiliar territory.

"We've always had a camp here. We grew up here. We came back as Team Brignac. The back of our shirt is actually our old camp," Patricia Talbot, a family member of Brignac, said.

The state triathlon is also happening in New Roads in May.