Did a really fun first time race on Saturday. The Tri of Champions was held at Sante Fe Dam in Irwindale, Ca. Because of a conflict with another event at the park, the race directors were forced to use a Bike-Swim-Run format. I think this scared/turned a lot of people off to the race. That was a shame since the water temp was fine and the odd format didn’t present any real problems. The start was Le Mans style. We lined up about 100 yards from the transition area and ran to our bikes.
The bike course was 2 laps across the top of the dam and then onto a service road. It was completely closed to cars which was great. Except for climbing off and onto the dam the rest of the ride was pancake flat. I train there frequently so it was fun to race where I’ve ridden 100’s of times. The course was very short for an olympic, probably closer to 18 miles. I hammered it as hard as I could, only getting passed once.
I wasn’t sure what the best approach to the swim would be, but I put on my T1 top and ran over to the start. The first lap really hurt. My arms were stiff from the ride and it took a long time to get into rhythm. The 2nd lap went much better. Because of the format and small field I spent almost the entire swim alone except for the lifeguards every 200 yards or so.
The run went out on concrete paths and switched to a flat but rocky trail after about 3/4 of a mile. The run had to be short as well. Based on the signs I was running 7:30s. I’d love to believe it, but I’m not that fast. I usually get passed a lot on the run, but only 2 guys got by me and neither was in my age group. I hit the finish and knew I did relatively well, but I was very surprised to be 1st in my A/G.
Overall the race was well organized, plenty of volunteers, and a lot of fun. We got Nike Dry-Fit t-shirts and some other nice goodies. The race was put on by Prime Time and they really impressed me. They showed how to do a grass roots local race right. The awards were quick and accurate. I can’t remember a local race where I started at 7:00 and was out of their by 10:30.
I’ve done Wildflower 8 times and this race beat it in almost every way for me. The bang for the buck was great. For me & my wife to race Wildflower costs us about $800.00. This race was $70.00. They gave nice finisher’s medals to the oly racers plus the Dri-fit shirts were great. I didn’t have to sleep in the mud and I was home 15 minutes after I left the race. The race director plans on going to a traditional format next year and I expect that the attendance will go way up. Hopefully all the fast people will be at Wildflower since I plan on being back to defend my title.
Gary Mc