They had us do a time trial start of four people at a time, which seemed a little less hectic than the wave starts that I am used to. While I didn’t do a warm up swim, there was no shock as I entered the water for the first time. The temperature was very comfortable and there were no waves or chop. The conditions were ideal. I swam smoothly but didn’t push the pace at all. Before I knew it, I was around the first two buoys and almost ready to start my second loop. Because the second loop started where new swimmers were entering the water, there was a lot more traffic on loop two. On top of that, when I looked at my watch, I saw that I hadn’t started it when I began the swim. I was just going to have to estimate my swim and total times for the day based on when I thought I started – a little disappointing, but not devastating.

The second loop was crowded, and there were a lot of breast- and back- strokers that made me nervous (breast-strokers are notorious for kicking other swimmers in the nose, and back-strokers can’t see where they are going, for obvious reasons). I managed to avoid them and get through loop two feeling great about the swim. While I didn’t know my time, I felt it was about as well as I have done in an Olympic (the results showed that I have had a couple of faster swims, but this one was close). On the swim, I am not (at this point) going to make up time on many people, but if I can get out of the water without panicking and thrashing around for 15 minutes wasting energy, at least I have a fighting chance for the rest of the day. I felt good as I came up the hill into T1.


Because I felt good, I probably should have tried to push the pace a little bit, especially on the second loop. I think I could have afforded trying to gain a couple of minutes.

Took my time getting up the hill and also making sure that everything was packed in the bag that the race organization would transport back to the finish – couldn’t take the chance of leaving anything behind.

The road out of the park started with a slight upgrade and I felt a little tentative getting going. However, after turning onto the main road, I started to get my legs under me and feeling like myself. Since there were two other distances in the event, there were already a lot of people on the course, most who were going slower than I was. There would be a need for a lot of passing and maneuvering my way through the field.

After the turn on Linworth Rd., I started to open it up a bit. Despite the feeling that it was slightly uphill, I was happy with the pace. Since the entire course looked like one of the flattest I would be racing this year, I wanted to see what I could do, especially with a lot less weight than the last time I had been outside on the race bike.

After making the turn on High Street, I knew I had a long stretch of road that was nearly flat (maybe even slightly downhill) with no turns. Time to really go for it. This is the ideal stretch for someone like me on the bike – all power with no gravity to contend with. I wasn’t sure where I was in the grand scheme of the race, but I knew I was flying by a lot of people and there was no one coming up from behind. Of course, since I was one of the last Olympic distance people getting into the water, most of the faster folks were likely ahead of me.

By the time we made the turn to go by the stadium, I started looking at the Garmin and trying to calculate pace. It looked a lot faster than I would have expected, and there was still an unknown stretch coming up going North on Kenny and West on Henderson, so I didn’t want to get too excited, but it was really promising. I told myself I would allow myself to check it when I got back to High Street and had seen the entire course.

On Kenny, the road was in rough shape, and on Henderson, there was a little bit of a climb to make it back up to High Street. When I made the turn, I was once again on a crowded road with the people from the shorter distances. At this point, I felt like I was chasing a personal best bike split, so I was fairly assertive with shouting ‘on your left’ to let folks know I was coming through. One time, I had to yell it three times to get the rider to clear a little space (it sounded a little like onyourleftonyourleftONYOURLEFT!!!). A few days later, I was a bit hoarse from having to shout more than I am used to. It was a little scary closing on people as quickly as I was, but I was able to avoid any incidents and only had to lay on the brakes a couple of times. After I made the turn back to the South, I was fairly confident in my ability to estimate my overall pace.

Usually, on a good day, I can average 20+ mph if the course isn’t too hilly. Once in a while, if the course is flat and not too long, I can approach 21. If my estimates were correct, I was clocking along at more than 22. I made the final two turns on Lane and into the stadium confident that I had turned in my fastest bike split ever. (according to the Garmin, 22.2 mph; according to the race timing, 22.6)


Nothing – I rode the course the way I wanted to

Efficient transition, but took a little time to get into the stadium, to the right spot, change shoes, and get out

Due to the course winding through campus, I had been looking forward to the run since first looking into the event. It was also really unique that it would start and end in the stadium. I went up the stairs to exit the stadium, and there were already a lot of crowds cheering people on, which was a great boost. After making the turn on Woodruff, things normalized a bit and it was just me, the other runners, and the volunteers at the aid stations. The first half of the course was slightly uphill and through the eastern edge of campus, which isn’t very scenic or familiar. I just focused on keeping my cadence steady and heart rate under control. Things were going to be getting interesting soon as I was coming back into the main campus area. After crossing over the river and passing the intramural fields, I was back on the campus that I knew. The course took us through the South Oval, the Main Oval, and along College Drive – with the Law Building and Ohio Union in sight. I kind of let the nostalgia wash over me as I ran. I made the last turn to head back to the stadium area, feeling like I was having a good run, but denying myself the opportunity to look at splits or paces until later. I just wanted to enjoy the run and the experience and put any goals on the back burner.

I passed the stadium and was about to start the last loop. I got to run past the energetic crowds for the second time and was soon out on the boring part of the run course again. I reminded myself it would only be about 10-15 minutes before I was to the good part again and to just keep going. I looked at the Garmin for the first time and saw that I was holding a steady pace of around 9:30 – 10:00 per mile, which is a good pace for me. I made my way back to main campus and took it in as I ran. I realized what an opportunity I had missed by not taking up running when I lived here – it would have been a nice place to start this hobby. I ran through the ovals for the final time and assessed my overall times. It looked like I was on the verge of holding a sub 10:00 pace, but a little out of reach of going under one hour for the 10k. As I approached the stadium, I realized that this was because the course was measured a little long (the Garmin had the 1-6 mile splits as correct, but instead of .2 to the finish, it was .4). I was, however, about to finish the event in under 2:50, which is the best I have done at the Olympic distance. I circled the stadium, passed the crowds one last time and entered the front of the stadium. I ran down the tunnel and onto the edge of the field through the finish chute. It was a very memorable experience.


I am happy with the way that I ran – I think I might have been close to a 10k PR if the course distance had matched the Garmin, so a good day

I collected a finisher’s medal and went back to transition to grab my bike. I stopped another athlete to take a few pictures for me (I am glad I did, because there were no event pictures of me at the finish). I found out where to get the bags from T1 and exited the stadium. I sorted through the pile and found my gross, wet swim stuff that I had left at the lake a couple of hours prior. I hopped on the bike and rode it back to the hotel.

The event and the trip to Columbus were what I envisioned when I signed up. I got to go back and see the places I had left behind in a different light and from a different perspective. I got to reflect on the time I spent there, where I am now, and all that has happened in the intervening years. I am stronger, healthier, and happier than I was then. It took nearly twenty years, but I finally feel like I made peace with the place. Back in 1995, I ran away in the middle of the night, defeated, with my tail between my legs. This time, I would leave in the light of day, redeemed, with my head held high.



Greenswell does a great job with this event. It was well organized, on time, and the venue is one of a kind. Due to the high number of participants, it seemed like there was always another line to wait in (parking, packet pick up, bike check, timing chips, shuttles, etc.), but that is the nature of any large event. If you have a soft spot in your heart for Ohio State, this is a race that you absolutely have to do.