An effort to find corporate sponsors for the Des Moines Triathlon has netted about $160,000, more than enough to continue the event in the city after Hy-Vee Inc. dropped its sponsorship after an eight-year run, said Bill Burke, president of Premier Event Management and the man who promoted and organized the event when it was sponsored by Hy-Vee. Burke said earlier this year he would take over the event, at least for this year. Hubbell Realty Co. President and CEO Rick Tollakson and Tom Hamilton, founder of the Hamilton Group, led efforts to find corporate sponsors to continue the races. Top donors were Transamerica Corp., which contributed $30,000 and will act as the presenting sponsor, and Principal Financial Group Inc., which contributed $25,000 and will act as the presenting sponsor for the Des Moines IronKids Triathlon. Burke said the youth event is the only one of its kind in the Midwest. Sponsors were announced today at the Wellmark YMCA Triathlon Training Center. Nine Greater Des Moines businesses chipped in $10,000 each. Burke said a $20,000 purse will rank the Des Moines Triathlon among the top four in the country in terms of prize money. In all, more than $45,000 in prizes will be awarded, he said. “For eight years, Hy-Vee created a legacy event that hopefully will live on as the Des Moines Triathlon,” Burke said. Hy-Vee is listed as a post-event food sponsor. Here are the other sponsors: Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino, Hubbell Realty, Knapp Properties Inc., Employers Mutual Insurance Cos., West Bank, UnityPoint Health, Iowa Realty Co. Inc., BMW of Des Moines, Wellmark Inc., Iowa Clinic, Slingshot Architecture, Arthur J.. Gallagher, & Co., Des Moines Marriott Downtown and Dimond Bikes. For more information about the event, which will be held Labor Day weekend, click here. Read more about efforts to keep the triathlon in Des Moines at BusinessRecord.com.