The Accenture Chicago Triathlon was selected May 31 as one of four triathlons to complete the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series.

The Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series the first-ever series to connect the four most prominent Olympic distance triathlon events in the United States and will offer a potential total prize purse of more than $1,000,000. The series will also include the Nautica New York City Triathlon, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon, and the Life Time Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis.

"We are extremely excited to partner with the benchmark triathlon events in Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New York," said Jan Caille, producer of the Accenture Chicago Triathlon - currently the largest triathlon in the world by participation. "The series features the Olympic distance established by the 2000 and 2004 Summer Games, and comes at a time when the world is experiencing exploding growth in the sport's participation."

The Chicago, New York and Los Angeles events also will serve as elite amateur qualifying events for the Life Time Fitness Series Championship. The top five male and female elite amateur finishers from the first three Series events (30 total) will qualify for a race entry to the Life Time Fitness Series Championship in Minneapolis, along with complementary airfare and lodging.