Bad news first: the swim is cacelled due to extremely high bacteria counts in the water from all the rain we've been having. Sigh. It's now a duathlon (5K Run 40K Bike, 10K run).

They'll tell you all you need to know at the briefing.

Good news: many of the top pros willbe there. They'll be doing their whole race in the park.

I just hope it's not raining on Sunday. This water from the sky thing is getting really old.

Good luck!

Can you give us a little info? Where is the 5K run going to take place? I know that I can find out tomorrow but just wondering.

I think at one time the ITU race was going to take place entirely in the park but then they moved the swim back to the hudson, now it is back in the park. I think that this is good for spectators, more people will watch the swim.

A

First off: no swim for pros or AG's. We're all doing a duathlon albiet at different locales, sort of. The AG's will do the 5K from 79th street to 59th and back again to transition for the bike. Both the bike and the 10K routes for AG's remain unchanged. Apparently the race organizers took a finacial beating to the tune of a $100,000 because of the costs of securing the Hudson River and all the astroturf, water exit ramps, etc etc that they put in place and now will not use. I hope this is clear enough.

Go to the briefing for a much more thorough briefing than I am qualified to give. Hell, it'll still be fun, no matter what, right?

It'll be awesome when the NYC parks department decommission (sp?) the Central Park fresh water reservoir. Accoring to the www.nyc2012.com, they propose having the entire 2012 Olympic triathlon completely inside the park, free for spectators. I heard that the reservoir was to be decommissioned in 2004 or 2006. I don't remember which. Has anybody heard anything about this?

In light of the recent cancelling of the swim in the Hudson, maybe they should try to get permission to use the park's fresh water reservoir for next year or the following.

Just a thought.

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E-Z

--It ain't a good idea to swim near MY bubbles!

What's the water in the reservoir currently being used for? Does it ultimately end up in your glass at the local sushi bar? If so, I'm not so sure I'd be excited about 1,500 peeing triathletes sloshing around in there even if it does get filtered at the treatment plant.

I did a little more reading about the Central park reservoir. At one point, it did supply some of NYC's drinking water. Not anymore, thank God! I quoted the word "decommisioned" from an interview done by an nyc 2012 official sometime during the winter. I guess "decommision" was his nice way of saying "clean up." When it comes to cleaning up the reservoir, they should definately take all the time they're gonna need.

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E-Z

--It ain't a good idea to swim near MY bubbles!

Just a few additions to Tripoet's update:

The race starts at 79th street by the bike transition, not up at 96th street. The run is mostly on the west side highway, out (southbound) and back (northbound) to the transition area. Shuttles start running from the Marriot Marquis to the transition area at about 4am. First wave (Men 30-34) goes at 6:30ish.

They're going to divide the Henry Hudson Pkwy Northbound into three lanes for the bike segment: right lane for northbound riders, middle lane for emergency vehicles, left lane for southbound riders.

New York Road Runners will have two water/aid stations in the park, each with a full Gospel choir to cheer you on. How many triathlons can offer that, huh? NYC rocks.

The finish line area is going to be a zoo. Since the AGers do three lower loops, you have to run past the finish line (on the 72nd st traverse) twice before you finish. Apparently the AG finish and the Elite finish will be very close to each other, so you have to cross the *correct* finish line. And good luck finding friends and family after the race!

There will be no "spare clothes" bags brought from the run start to the finish line. (They were planning on having a shuttle take a bag of clothes and whatnot for each athlete from the swim start to the run finish, but since there's no swim start now, there's no goodie bag service.)

As near as I can tell, there's no shuttle from the finish back to the transition area to get your bike. It's not *that* far a walk.

Bikes have to be in the transition area by 9pm Saturday eve, and out by 3pm on Sunday afternoon.

Good luck everyone!

Lee

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The race starts at 79th street by the bike transition, not up at 96th street. The run is mostly on the west side highway, out (southbound) and back (northbound) to the transition area.
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Just a note about the run. This is the final portin of the ride so we out hqlf will downhill and the retun half uphill. I remember from the ride last year.

See you in NYC

A