it was a mass start from the water's edge on the beach. i was worried that the water would be cold, but it was fine. there was a storm overnight and the wind was insane. there were pretty big waves and everyhting was crazy. the current was so strong we actually started an extra 100 yards down the beach so we could get out and around it in time. it was my first ever open water swim. the other people were not a problem at all, but the waves kept pushing you back so it took forever to get out there and you couldn't even see where you were going because the waves were higher than the buoy's half the time. several of the support kayaks couldn't even make it out and gave up. once you rounded the first buoy the current helped so much everyone swam way out past the turn in to shore. it ended up being fine once you made the first turn, but as gross as they may be, i am looking forward to trying a lake.

i checked my position every few strokes since it was so out of control. next time i would just put my head down and swim like mad.

this was not the best run race. the t1 time wasn't recorded because of a timing glitch (time was included in bike time), but that is understandable. it was ~1/4 mile barefoot run from the water's edge to t1 through parking lots and accross a street. that can be overlooked too since it was a nice big area so maybe it was worth the distance. the third problem was that the entrance and exit were the same for t1. meaning you went into the long transition area grabbed your bike and left the same gate you entered. that means that people at the end were ~300 yards further away than people in the front. this is one of the most basic things when setting up a transition! just put the bike exit at the other end and it's all even. there was a gate at the other end used in t2, so just use the same gate!

includes t1 time. bike was 4 laps of the 3.1 mile run loop plus a little extra. it was an ok course, if not a little boring by the 3rd loop. it was very flat, but 1 leg of the 3 sided loop was into a pretty steady 10mph wind. i started behind a lot of people because of the swim, but made up a lot of ground and felt good. there were some nice bikes out there and some guys flying at 25+ mph.

nothing.

did well. took shoes off on bike and jumped off at a full run. had to change shoes so i didn't win like last race, but took 4th in my age group. haha.

another lap of the bike course. felt great and pushed it the whole way through. passed ~20 people and didn't get passed by anyone until the last 1/4 mile. i followed the guy and sprinted by him in the last 100 yards. sorry SAM HASKELL. nothing personal, i just couldn't let that happen.


nothing.

i like the location of the race, but the t1 area and the race results not being posted for 2 days makes it below average. there was also no announcer at the finish line so it was kind of disorganized. because my mom lives there i would do it again and hopefully it would be better. all it would take would be some very easy changes to make it a great race.