The 2024 USAT Multisport National Championships were held in Omaha NE from the 5th though the 9th of June. ST has little/no coverage of this age group event that is the primary qualifier for 2025 World Championships. I’ve participated in USAT Nationals since 2020 and have been on Team USA/participated in Worlds since 2022. Here is my report about the Omaha event and my race – it’s long, sorry in advance.
The Omaha race location was Lake Cunningham, northwest of downtown Omaha. The run courses were paths that adjoined the lake and that made for flat profiles, although the pavement was a bit narrow, creating congestion in some spots. The bike course is lumpy and more so for the Olympic distance events than the sprints (or so I am told – I competed in the sprint duathlon). The pavement was fresh on the fast downhills and much appreciated. As a race location, and compared to the Las Colinas site in Irving TX (in 2022 and 2023), Lake Cunningham seemed remote, lacking walkable dining or hotels. USAT and the Omaha Sports Commission recognized this and provided some end-of-the-day activities, but I was told that they were poorly attended (I did not go to these). That is no surprise since the morning events are over by 9.00 or so, awards happen at 11.15-ish – so who is going to hang around until the late afternoon for beer and music (as nice as that sounds)? Maybe attendance at these social events makes more sense from afternoon event participants, but I think that most folks – even the afternoon race participants - wanted to head back to their hotels and clean up – and not return to the race site. This is a big disadvantage for the overall appeal, although I can appreciate that permitting and road closures are easier in such a location compared to a busier area. Parking/access was also an issue. Parking close to the venue required an extra cost parking pass and those were quickly sold out. The other option was parking farther away and getting a shuttle to the race site. On site camping was also an option. To be fair, they provided a free bike valet, so you could drop your bike near the venue and leave it overnight – or overnights – so that the shuttle made more sense (no bikes on the shuttle). Omaha is the location for this event in 2025 and USAT should really think about ways to increase athlete engagement on site. There were extra cost options for VIP access – food, drinks, shade, etc. - and another extra cost option for a ‘comfort package’ to access showers, coffee, device charging, etc. The location is physically attractive but has insufficient amenities to keep athletes engaged except for their race. That’s different than Irving (and Tuscaloosa AL before TX) and a big disadvantage in my opinion. It was great to meet up with friends you might only see at Nationals and walk to a bar/restaurant after your race (in Irving and Tuscaloosa) to hang out - that is just impossible in Omaha. Now, there are other considerations (TX was wicked hot compared to NE but direct flights with your bike are generally far more plentiful into/out of DFW or DAL than OMA, for example). The attractiveness of Omaha depends on what you seek. If you are after a nice race venue and nothing more, Omaha is quite good. But if you also value convenient access and social activities after the race Omaha falls short.
Now, a note about my own race… I’ve been challenged with injuries in the run up to Nationals in 2022 and 2023. This year, my coach prescribed almost all z2 runs since December – a total snoozefest – but I arrived at Nationals injury-free. And - that strategy worked on race day. In the sprint duathlon, I had a terrific (for me) 1st run. The bike was a puzzle as you wanted to draft (it’s a draft legal event) but the course limited that. Everyone works their own pace on the uphills and drafting at relatively slow speeds isn’t a big advantage, anyway. Drafting on the downhills was risky as the speeds are pretty high. So, I kept trying to draft, but mostly compromised my overall speed to try to save some energy looking for a group to join. Then, near the end of lap 1 (of a 2 lap bike course), operator error caused me to drop the chain. Ugh. I tried to backpedal, but the chain was wedged between the small chainring and the frame. I pulled over to the edge of the course, made things right, had to wait for a pack to pass and later learned from Garmin that that error cost me 90 seconds. Normally, the start of my 2nd run is a slog before I recover a bit and gain some pace. But on Saturday, I was running smoothly off the bike and had a consistently high pace through the finish. I was 5th in the M60-64 (I race as a 64, so there were mostly young whippersnappers compared to me!). That was my best placement at Nationals and qualified me for Team USA and the World Championship in 2025 at Pontevedra ESP – and that was the goal. I am super grateful for the ability to do this at my age and for all the support from my ‘team’ at home that tolerates my training obsession. Pontavedra will be my 4th Worlds in 4 tries (2022 was Targu Mures ROM, 2023 was Ibiza ESP and later this year I’ll be in Townsville AUS).
I know that we (ST) are fixated on T100, IM and the Olympics/WT – but the USAT path for AG athletes can be a motivating goal to encourage training and provide opportunities to represent the USA on a world stage in interesting places – if that’s your thing. I clearly recall an older guy (older than me!) asking a group of us eating dinner in Tuscaloosa – ‘how was your race’? It was all over the map, of course, as each of my pals summarized their race day in a sentence or two. His enthusiasm was evident and I asked him if he would reveal his AG. M70-74. I immediately said – ‘I want to be you – enjoying the multisport lifestyle and competing in that AG’. That’s still true. I’m hoping to stay (mostly) injury-free and excited to show up to do what I can do for another 10+ years. Way better than, IMO, bitching about multisport from the sofa. Although, I’m getting the popcorn ready for the Olympics!
