Alcatri - Escape from the Rock Triathlon - Triathlon

Ferry goes around the front of Alcatraz, around the west side, back around the back side and stop on the east side of the island. I finish up my drink, down a gel. I put in earplugs (a tip I learned from the Golden Gate tri club group during my first swim in the bay at aquatic park a several weeks ago), my warm cap, then the race cap. The announcer does a sort of per minute countdown and people begin cheering on the boat.

First horn signals that we need to start to jump off the ferry. It’s about a 6-foot drop. Both sides of each ferry disgorge swimmers. As soon as we jump, we need to swim away to allow others to jump in and then a short ways up to the start line marked by the row of kayakers. I line up about 3 people back from the front row. I want a little space because I’m paranoid someone will kick me in the ribs.

We’re waiting for everyone to get off the boat (I jumped off fairly early) and while we’re just bobbing there, I’m getting cold. Water was a warm-for-the-bay 60 degrees (dang, last week I was swimming in a 78 degree lake in Phoenix). I have a very good fit on my wetsuit so not a lot of water gets in, but I’m scrawny and my core gets cold fairly easily and I’m shivering just a bit. Peeing in my wetsuit helps a tiny bit. There was a woman nearby w/o a wetsuit who was thrashing her arms and legs in an effort to keep warm.

Finally, the second horn goes off signaling the start. The start is pretty clean. We’re all pretty well spread out so not much incidental contact. The kayaks to right and left let you know that you just need to swim in between to go the right way. Out near the entrance to aquatic park, there is a boat with some large orange buoys on it to give you an idea of where you need to go.

The water had a little bit of chop, but not too bad. I try to stay to the left side of everyone anticipating the current. Current didn’t seem to be too much a factor out in the bay though, but it typically gets worse the closer to the park. I find that I am the left most person. Okay, so I head a bit to the right. I find that I’m in the middle, so I head a bit more to the left. I find that I’m the left most person again, so I head to the right. After a few more zigs and zags, I finally get focused straight. I also notice that I’m not pulling all the way through to my hips. I think it’s because of the initial quick start and wearing a wetsuit threw me off a bit, but I correct this and enter into a more relaxed pace. I can’t tell if I’m passing people or being passed by people (given that I started towards the front, more likely the latter).

I keep swimming and finally see the lead ship with the orange buoys. I pass it and aquatic park is fairly close now. I keep aiming for the three masted ship in the park because it’s on the left inside the park. I get near the breaker wall and I realize I successfully ended up left/east of the opening to aquatic park (far better than ending up right/west of the opening), I keep swimming along the wall and just keep following it and when I look up to see where I am, I’m just in the entrance of the park already.

It’s still 400yds or so to shore. I can see the orange buoys on the beach that mark where we need to go. I keep aiming at them and keep finding that the current has pushed me to the right. I keep aiming further left and I alternate between being on target and being pushed to the right. These last 400yds seem like a lot more distance and effort with the current. I finally make it to shore and I can hear DW cheering and taking pictures.

There are actually 3 transitions during this swim-run-bike-run race.

Swim-run transition: Top half comes off while I’m walking to my transition area. I have trouble with the ankles again, esp. the ankle with the timing chip (DW has some photos of me struggling here). It’s nice though that we’re in the grandstands for the transition area, because I can sit down during it. I slug down some water. Otherwise, transition goes fine, although I forgot to take out my earplugs until I start the run so DW has some great pictures of me pulling the earplugs from my ears.

run-bike transition: We enter on one side of the building and exit the other. I’m racked near the exit so I run the whole length of the building. Transition to bike shoes and helmet (no gloves) goes quickly. I grab my gu’s and my energy bar and stash them in the pockets of my tri top. I exit with my bike, grab some Gatorade, cross the mount line and I’m off.

The route starts out west through a back parking lot, uphill on Long St. to get to Lincoln Blvd. From there it’s more uphill. I get passed by some bikers who are obviously much stronger than I am and I pass some. There are already some bicyclists whizzing down the other way on finishing up a lap (first? Second? Third?). My nose turns into a faucet and it keeps dripping for the rest of the bike. I finally get to where the road levels out and it starts the downhill stretch. I shift gears and end up in my biggest. The road is too curvy and fast to stay on aerobars. Fortunately, there aren’t too many bikes yet on the course to cause traffic jams, so I can speed through the turns. We level off for a bit, make a right turn, curve around and turn back onto Lincoln headed back the other direction.

Now all of the fun on the downhill becomes work on the return. Up, up, up. I’m getting passed quite a bit and I pass a few. I’m thinking I need to work on my cycling strength more. Up, up, up some more and finally I’m at the top. Now, it’s time for some downhill again. Instead of twists and turns on the downhill, we get a nice sweeping turn so I can really pick up some speed.

My race bike is a road bike with aerobars and a wheel cover on the rear wheel. As part of the race tips, they said leave your aerobars and disc wheels at home since this course was all hills and somewhat technical. I’m pretty sure I was the only one with a disc cover/wheel. Carrying the extra pound was a penalty on the uphill (although a pound is not a lot in the scheme of things), but it definitely helped on the downhill. I routinely found that I went faster than others (even those that often passed me on the uphills) on the downhill.

In any case, I hit some bumps on the early part of the downhill and I feel one of my gu packets and one of then my energy bar eject from my pockets. Ugh. I hope they clear the road. Don’t want anyone to take a spill over them.

So, it’s all the way back down, level for a little bit, a couple left hand turns and then we get to start the loop all over again. I try to get a lot of speed on the last downhill bit to carry me up the steep uphill section before getting onto Lincoln blvd. again. My legs feel better and I’m moving pretty well. Many more cyclists are coming onto the course. I’m passing quite a few of them. Second loop of the course goes fine, but there is much more traffic on the twisty downhill turns, so I’m forced to slow down and pace behind others rather than blasting through the turns. There is already a runner on the trail along Lincoln asking directions for the course. The uphill goes well and I pass some of the folks on their first loop. A fast downhill on the sweeper (later I find that I hit about 40mph on this). Fortunately, the gus and energy bar that I dropped previously are nowhere to be seen on the road.

Now it’s time for the third loop. This time, my legs don’t feel quite so strong on the uphill. I’m thinking a bit ahead to the run and how much running we have in sand and eventually on the sand ladder. Cyclists are still coming out on to the course for their first loop. I pass quite a few of them. I pass one guy dressed in a black and white jailer outfit. Funny. On the return uphill, I pass a guy with a centurion type helmet riding some retro looking big steel bike with fat tires. I pass a couple on the downhill stretch and carry this into the finish on the bike where I exit towards bldg 924.

bike-run transition: I dismount before I pass the dismount line. I have to run the length of the building to get to my rack. The folks who had racked their bike didn’t leave me any room so I have to rearrange bikes a bit to fit mine in. Otherwise, transition goes quickly. I’m out the door and grab a Gatorade on the way out.

Run #1
So, it’s off for the 2.5 mi run to the T2 area. I drink some Gatorade from the aid station. My legs feel fine, but my feet feel funny. It feels like I didn’t put my socks on right and they are completely bunched under my feet. I look at my shoes and socks and they are actually on fine, it’s just that my feet are so numb from the swim that I don’t feel them right. I eventually look back into aquatic park. I can’t really see well, but I don’t see many caps in the park, so I’m thinking that I there weren’t many people left to finish the swim, I must have been slower than I thought I would be.

In any case, at the start we have the steep little hill to get up to ft. mason then along marina blvd to crissy field. I pass a few, but get passed by more. I feel fairly comfortable, but I know I have a lot of legwork to do with the upcoming bike and run, so I try to conserve a bit. At one point, I ask one guy what time we’re at and he says 1:05. I said “Ack!” out loud. I’m thinking that maybe it’s taken me 45 minutes for the swim and transition for me to be here at this time. I don’t think I can make my goal of 3 hours. Soon enough, bldg 924 comes into sight. As I approach the building there are a lot of volunteers in their day glo yellow Alcatraz shirts yelling and screaming encouragement.

Run #2
We start the run going out and back to Ft. Point at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. There are a lot of runners already on the return leg. I pass a few folks and a couple pass me. Now, it’s up the stairs to get to the trail. We cross under the bridge. A little more uphill and we get to an aid station (more Gatorade), then more trail uphill and them some stairs. We run on the trail along Lincoln Blvd. where we were biking. This trail is a single track at this point. I’m not really interested in passing anyone at this point so the pacing is fine (I’m pacing behind a tall woman with black shorts and a white top), but it get to be a bit hairy when the runners are coming back on the trail at the same time. We all managed to avoid any collisions, but it did slow me down at points.

Now, it’s downhill on a fire road to Baker Beach. I run as close as I can to the water, but running on the sand (even wet flat sand) is still harder than on the trail. After going to the west end of the beach, we cut up on loose sand to the parking lot. I grab some Gatorade. A few people seem to linger here at the aid station so I pass several. I head back east on the beach. Eventually a few of them pass me including the woman behind whom I had been pacing previously.

So, we head to the east side of the beach, past where we came down, Now we get to cutover in loose sand for the width of the beach to get to the sand ladder. This race/course seems so devious in that all the elements (a lengthy swim, the hilly bike, hilly run and beach run) all conspire to bring you to a fatigued state for the sand ladder. When I practiced running this route, I was able to trot up the sand ladder. Not today. Today I would be walking/hiking it. Everybody was walking it, with the exception of a couple hearty individuals (one was a woman with a greenish top). I passed a couple people including the tall woman I had been pacing before. One person said we were supposed to be running the sand ladder. I said that we were, but it was just in slow motion. My calves are starting to burn a bit. At the top third of the sand ladder, it’s all loose sand. I try to run again, I think I’m wasting too much energy so I walk again, but find that I’m going too slowly so I run again. We eventually get back on to the trail that runs uphill along Lincoln and run again in earnest. I’m behind this guy and we’re running up at what seems like a decent pace to me. After about 30 seconds, he pulls to the side and stops to let me pass.

I see the woman in the greenish top ahead and slowly start to reel her in. We have a lot of people running the other way on the out portion of the run and we’re all having to navigate around each other on the narrow trail. Those on the out seem very considerate of us on the way back and often stop and yield the path on the very narrow sections. I’m closing on the woman in green, but I get caught in traffic on the stairs and she gets away. By the time we get to the aid station, though, I’m right behind her so II pace behind her. She’s going plenty fast. We go back under the bridge, run along the trails and start a little downhill. I was so focused on pacing behind her that I forgot we had a turnoff to go down the stairs. She almost comes to a halt and I almost run into her. She apologizes and I apologize that I just spaced out. She lets me pass her on the stairs and I descend with some quick footwork.

At the bottom, we’re on very familiar territory for me and I know that I don’t have far to go. I kick my run into gear. I pass a couple people. The crowds are cheering my number, which is a great feeling. My form is good and my turnover rate is good. I’m flying and I see a guy off in the distance who looks like he’s been slowing (turnover is low). I want to catch up to him. I’m running and the finish is near. I hear DW cheering me and I’m sprinting. The crowd is cheering. I can’t quite catch up to the guy, but I finish right behind him. He turns around and shakes my hand and I congratulate him on a great finish.

Official results:
Cabal, Donato San Francisco, CA 38 M 2:51:39.3 22 104
Swim ( 0:43:00.0 ) run1 ( 0:24:30.8 ) T1 ( 0:01:45.1 ) Bike ( 0:52:08.9 ) T2 ( -- ) Run2 ( 0:50:14.4 )

It’s a little confusing because it doesn’t look like they timed the swim/run1 transition and I’m missing my T2. My interpretation is that run1 includes the swim/run transition time and since T2(bike/run) didn’t read (from the bike?), I suspect it was lumped in with my Bike time.

Overall 104 out of 271 OA (non-clydesdale men finishers) and 22/64 in my AG (M35-39).
On the swim, I was 122/281 OA and 30/66 AG.
On Run 1, I was 108/275 OA and 26/65 AG.
On Bike (which I think included my T2 time), I was 152/272 OA and 33/63 AG.
On Run2, I was 103/271 and 27/64 AG.

So, my take on these results is that with this group, I’m pretty well MOP in each individual event, a bit worse on the bike, but overall being relatively consistent in each event gives me a FMOP overall.

This was the longest tri I’ve done by almost double the time and the second longest race I’ve ever done (marathon was the longest). I was really happy with my performance because I survived it, my training served its purpose, I finished strongly, and I didn’t have any complications with my ribs.



Had a couple cups of Gatorade. Ate half a banana and some red vines. Stretched for a bit. There was shrimp pasta salad, chicken chunks, and a salad from Bubba Gumps so I partook of all of that. Had some other flavored water (didn’t recognize the brand). Stretched some more.


This race is a quintessential San Francisco race. You have the swim from Alcatraz, you have a run along the Marina and Crissy Field, you have a hilly bike ride, and you have a hilly run including an energy sapping stretch out and back on Baker Beach with the infamous sand ladder. This race is available as a tri, a relay, or as a swim-only event (like the Alcatraz sharkfest event).

It's a great challenge and highly recommended!