Just wondering about strange things you may have seen at tris. I’ll kick this thread off with two.
Watched a guy finish a tri and immediately light up a smoke.
A guy ran the entire tri dressed in a clown outfit, complete with face paint. He even had a big clown horn on his bike that he honked regularly. He later explained that this was “because this is all about having fun”. Strangest thing of all was that he won his age group.
Ditto on the smoking thing - saw a guy light up twice in 20 minutes before a sprint event - said it was to calm his nerves.
Anyone ever seen GatorMan in all his glory - ran a couple of miles with him at IM Brazil last year - he did both the run and cycle in full costume and cape, face paint, shaved head - the whole nine yards - in addition he had energy to wave and dance for the crowds - especially at the Gator Aid stations…me I was just happy to be breathing at that point!!
I’ve seen smokers light up at running races, cycling races, triathlons, and even freakin’ mountain summits (where oxygen is preciously sparse as it is). I personally know a guy who likes to run the “Bay to Breakers” (running race in SF) with a fat stogie in his mouth. And then of course there are the “Bare to Breakers” who crash the race and do it nude, as well as the “Salmon”, who dress up in fish costumes and run the course backwards (upstream…).
Hashers are always a delight to see, and I’ll never forget my first hash run when upon arrival I was presented with 2 beer and a tutu. We all agreed that the guy who brought sparkles went overboard though.
The very first time I did the “Run to the Far Side” race in Golden Gate park, the 5k men’s winner did it in a bumblebee suit - and posted a 15:32 or some such madness. I was also passed by an old man dressed like a horse, and pulling his wife (a chariot) in a wheelchair.
Yea, Me - back in about 1985. It was the first triathlon I had ever done. Decided to look cool and have a custom made 1 piece Triathlon suit. It was custom made because at that time few were made commercially. Now you find them everywhere.
The lady who made it form me also made custom biker shorts, swim suits and cheerleading outfits. Not that custom fitted tri-suit was a bad idea, however there are some crucial things I learned from that experience.
…have the garment completed well BEFORE the triathlon. By that I mean, expect some delay on the part of the maker. I got mine completed the day before the big race. You need time to try it out first.
…color is important. Specially when it gets wet… This is VERY IMPORTANT. Want to know why swimsuits aren’t made of light colored material? Well, let just say it has the potential to provide an unexpected and added “visual flavor”.
Yep, the material was a medium blue gray … that WHEN WET becomes a light gray… Much to my surprise as I exited the water on the way to T1.
A permanent note to self became - Light colored Semi-Opaqe material (when wet) is bad… very bad.
During the race, I didn’t even notice it… it wasn’t until my girlfriend at that time told me about the “visual flavor”. She thought it was funny. …Yea, Funny I wasn’t thrown in jail. According to her (and a personal test wet the suit in the privacy of my own home), it really wasn’t all that bad. But, it did say something about my religion. That’s about it. (And, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.)
Lucky for me, it was very hot and dry throughout the rest of the race The suit dried before the finish line photog. got a shot at my brief moment of humility.
a late thirties arobics instructor (think she worked at a tanning salon as well) completely disrobes and changes at each transition during her first race. Next race, al the wiser, she puts her wet suit on and off a half dozen times. Can you say poser?
i don’t know that this would be considered strange as much as amazing. I had finished the race and was hanging around the finish line, as I heard a crowd of people going crazy cheering. The next thing I saw was a guy, who appeared to be in his mid-50’s with a prosthetic leg passing out a group of racers. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. This does not count as strange so much as incredible. I know this goes on at many races, but it is great to see the perseverance some people have that would be considered crippled, while others perfectly capable do absolutly nothing at all.
Along the same line, Bob, at the last Clermont sprint two guys in their early 80s raced in together toward the finish line. There were competitive friends that stayed neck-and-neck most of the race. And they were not slow. A few minutes before they came in, a guy in his 60s ran in with his bike barefooted and feet all bloody. He flatted 2-3 miles out, couldn’t change the tire, so ran in with no shoes. He proceeded to put on his running shoes and took off, blood and all. Those guys are studs. That is inspiration!
St. Anthony’s several years ago. A BOPer starts the run in a shuffle, whips out a cell phone and carries on what looked like a lengthy conversation. One way to keep from getting bored I guess.
Boston Marathon 1979. In the corral for the start and I smell something strange in the air. Sure enough two bandits are in the corral enjoying a joint. Go firure.
I wouldn’t get surprised by this since my last Ironman. A guy with a prosthetic leg was heading into town about the time I was heading out. He was probably about six or seven miles ahead of me. Depressing, until I thought about it a bit. Maybe one of these years I will be able to run with him.
When I raced in Roth in 2001 I saw a guy light up a smoke on the way out of the pre-race meeting. I was stunned when I looked and saw his race band… guess he figured the lungs weren’t too important in an ironman.
At the same race, there is only one change tent and most of the volunteers inside it are women. This was a surprise for me but the Europeans are definitely a lot more relaxed about public nudity than we North Americans.
maybe not the strangest, but definitely the *worst *thing i saw was at wildflower oly course in '02. the cal poly tri team wore a louis garneau one-piece tri-suits that were paper thin. since i was in the third wave, i had the displeasure of riding past many of the men on the bike. i must admit, i set a PR on the bike leg as i sure as heck didn’t want to stay behind those guys for very long.
post script: the women’s team did not wear the same tri-suit… go figure.
A guy comes out of the water at Ironman Canada. He’s wearing a full wetsuit. My man starts bookin’ through the transition area and pulls the top half of his wetsuit down. A line of volunteers is shouting “sit down!” He sits on the grass. Two volunteers grab the guys wetsuit and unpeel him like a banana- he’s yealling “No! No!” They pull his wetsuit off. Nothing underneath.
Years ago in Indiana. A local news helicopter is following the leader of a local triathlon on the run. Helicopter hits powerline. Crashes on top of leader. That I heard, there were no survivors. Not funny, but unbelievable.
At Emerald Health Triathlon in '85 or '86 a 15 year old junior is DQ’ed for “cutting the bike course” since his bike split was four minutes faster than any pro and he won the race. Clearly, he got lost and inadvertantly took a short cut. Course marshalls say he went through every turn on the course though, and that he was “flying”. His name was Lance Armstrong.
Ed Geroux (sp?) the owner of Aerospoke here in Michigan once told me he was in a race in Florida where his hand hit something in the water during the swim. He looked down and saw the water was “Full of hammerhead sharks”. Apparently many other competitors saw them too but had no problems- they just kept swimming.
OK not a tri but at a 5k / 10 mile run a couple years ago we saw the following:
A 50 something woman doing the 5K in a pink running suit, drinking a cup of coffee and enjoying a pre race smoke.
Just before the start, a very well endowed woman with a very thin top grabbed a full cup of water and dumped it over her chest. Cost us 15-20 seconds at the start.
In 1986 or '85 at the USTS National Championships in Hilton Head, South Carolina a hurricane had just come through the area. The swim was insane: Big waves, one of those “made for TV” beach starts where you run down the beach to the water. Total Mayhem, like the mosh pit at a Black Flag/Dead Kennedys show. Once in the water the currents and debris were insane. I swam into some couch cushions, a wig, and got hit in the head by a part of a board. Normally I could have done 1.5km. in 20 minutes. That day it took me 44. That was huge. We went big that day.
Tom D took my classic one from IMC - nothing on under the Wetsuit. However, keeping with the nudity theme it was not uncommon back in the early days to see the Full Monty in the transition area when people where changing from swim to bike to running gear. Of course, this was soon outlawed.
Here’s another from IMC that may inspire further comment/input. Warning this is a bit sad/weird: A few years ago at IMC I saw a very buffed and fit couple who were both entered into the race. They both had those perfect athletic bodies with perfect sun tans. The had a daughter along with them. I guessed her to be about 14. The kid was fat! I mean really overweight. This just seemed like a very stange juxtiposition.
I have to call a 2-minute penalty on Mr. Demerly for the second Henry Rollins reference in the past month.
Reaching pretty far with the Black Flag reference there, Tom. I think your ability to compare triathlon to anything else in the world is a big reason why I enjoy your posts and your site so much.
A few years back there was a certain TRI in the Midwest that I and my brother participated in and we made the comment to a couple of fellow racers that the race director sounded like he was “drunk”…well, the comment back was “so & so” is only being his usual self!
Come to find out, “so & so’s” usual self was a few (?) drinks the night before and a few (?) more in the morning before race time along with some eggs! I just hope that he included some Gatorade (or like) to keep him from dehydrating!!!
At IM USA coming out of the out-and-back the second time I see a guy going the other way on a single-speed “Stingray” type bike. With head-high sissy bar and Peter Fonda handlebars. He was wearing canvas converse sneakers (remember the early 70s?). And I swear he was gaining on me.
Later I saw him on the run course. Knee-high white socks, the same sneakers and ***denim cutoffs ***down to his knees.