I am doing Escape for the first time in June and wanted to know if anyone has experience/advice for the race?
Thanks.
Bring two pair of goggles on the boat in case one won’t seal up.
Be mentally prepared for the possibility of not seeing the land during the swim.
Long run from the end of the swim to the bike racks. Buy a cheap pair of pool shoes for this if your feet are tender.
Bring your road bike with a 12-25/12-27 cassette. There are a few serious hills.
Do some run training on unusual surfaces like trails and sand.
Congrats on getting in. Best race i’ve ever done.
The search function will bring up a top of information.
Cool Thankyou for the feature hint.
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1842329;search_string=laziness%20report;#1842329
The weather was good last year so your experience may differ.
No wetsuit don’t need it, good strong current and salt water 
Site where they tell you!!! for the swim.pay attention.
When you jump off das boot the swim exit it a little towards the right but you will site way too the left of that because the tide/current is going out about 3 knots(?)If
you miss the swim exit to right ( like me about 50yds last year) you have to run back to the exit steps.
It’s an incredible race. Here’s a few things. They were covered in other posts as well.
-
As soon as you jump in from the ferry, take a few quick strokes to get out of the landing zone.
-
They assign starting brackets by age, and plan on the ferry being empty in about 6 minutes. In reality, after the pros go, it becomes a free for all. There is a chip mat on the ferry, so go whenever. I think the boat is empty in about 2 minutes other than a few stragglers.
-
Take a moment about halfway through the swim and look around. Very few people ever see SF, Golden Gate, and Alcatraz from that perspective.
-
Go to one of the prerace meetings. They will tell you how to sight during the swim. Listen to them and follow their advice. I did and had no problems with hitting the swim exit (which is a small beach).
-
If for some reason you don’t know what to sight on during the swim, then keep 1/3 of the swimmers to your left and 2/3 to your right, and you’ll be fine.
-
If for some reason you still get too far off course, a kayaker will move you back on course. There is no penalty to you if they do this. There is a penalty if you don’t do what the kayaker’s tell you.
-
There is a 1k run between the swim exit and T1. Figure out ahead of time if you want to run in your wetsuit or not, and if you want a cheap pair of shoes to run in. (The run is a little grass and mostly sidewalk, all flat. I wore shoes figuring cold feet and pavement don’t mix well). Don’t make these the same pair as your real running shoes.
-
The bike has a lot of hills, turns, and rough pavement. Expect it.
-
The run has a lot of single track trail and a resonable amount of beach. And a few stairs too if I recall.
-
Smile. You’re doing freakin’ Alcatraz!
Bring a flashlight for transition set-up. It’s long before sunrise and in my experience the lighting wasn’t very good.
Extra clothing for the bike can be a good idea. It can be cold (52F air temp with drizzle a couple years ago). I wore a jacket and I had several people ask if they could buy it from me (not kidding).
Road bike for me. I just rented one. Worked great with all the climbing, turning, and other cyclists everywhere.
The swim is all mental. Don’t let the boat full of freaked-out people get to you. Just jump in and go - the current takes you to the finish much faster than you expect.
The run is the hardest part (and I am a runner). Dirt trails, sand, and lots of people in the way. Make sure you practice on trails with hills.
Enjoy the race. It’s one of the coolest events out there!
You got all the advice you will need from the posts above except the bike pump. BRING YOUR OWN or pump your tires up in your hotel room / car. Do not count on using their pumps. Being that I flew there I counted on using someone elses. I stood in line for 30 minutes and watched all the pumps but one break. If that one broke I would have raced on about 30lbs of pressure (not kidding here).
Best race EVER.
Super good advice from everyone, especially Rokko.
I’ll add one.
Do a good recon of the bike course before the race. Shift down before you turn left up the first climb: A lot of dropped chains there.
Have a great race- it’s an epic!
Awwww Tom. I’m blushing.
Unless you’re super fast don’t worry too much about your time. It’s really easy to get caught behind groups on the run, so don’t get frustrated, just relax and enjoy the beauty of it all.
Thanks Tom…don’t know if you remember me or not…I bought my first tri-bike from you. I’m pumped to do Alcatraz and hope to finish well. I’ve ridden the bike course on the computrainer at least a dozen times…tough but right up my alley…and the harder the run the better for me. Right now my main concern is the swim…it’s my weakest discipline.
I don’t know if I’m super fast or not…I’ve ridden the bike course on the trainer pretty fast (like 54 minutes)…but we’ll see how it goes.
Like Gator said, it’s hard to have a fast run here. There is a lot of single track trail, and it’s an out and back. So not only are you trying to pass people going the same way as you, but you have to watch out for those going the other way.
So it would be a good idea to push on the bike for a good position during the run…right?
Is that fairly close to all the action?
Just curious, first time there so looking forward to it.
Getting our Tickets for Alcatraz tour soon, what does everyone recommend, day tour or evening tour?
Dan
It’s fine. You can walk or ride to the main transition area from there.
I did the early bird tour. We were able to do the tour and walk over to the expo for the pre race meeting.
To the OP- unless you are in phenomenal shape, I wouldn’t push the bike too hard for the sake of run position. But where you are when you get to the top of the sand stairs is where youll be for a bit, so plan on pushing the first 2/3s of the run hard. Its REAL narrow at the top for a while, then narrows down again, then you’ve got the long descent during which it is hard to really get speed up. The run WILL kick your ass. I am a better runner than anything else, took the swim and bike easy, and was pretty cooked at the end of the run.
It’s a great race, unless you plan on being in the top 5 of your AG, take it easy and enjoy it.
Triguy hit it right on. Running is my best of the sports, or shoud I say my least bad. Even though it’s only 8 miles, it still kicked my ass. And it’s not that it is impossible to pass anyone, just that there are stretches were it is difficult, and many places where you will find your running speed dictated by those in front of you.
This really isn’t the kind of race to set your PR (then again, are there any other races this length?). This is the race to enjoy every minute of it because you’re doing freakin’ Alcatraz.
Incidentally, this isn’t me, and I don’t know who it is, but it really tells you everything you need to know about the Sand Ladder:
