The folks that run this race are friendly and enthusiastic. It's a lot of fun and well-organized. I also like that it takes off early, so you're finished earlier.
GOALS
None, really. Finish, and not be dead last, although I didn't really care about that. This wasn't even a C race. I was relaxed and had a good time.
SWIM
This was by far the most apalling swim I've had. I was wearing a new long sleeve wet suit that i'm not used to yet, and I felt smothered. The water was decent, about 70 degrees.
If you do this race: do what I did. The rocks going down into the water are sharp. Wear your flip flops into the water and then when you get to the oogy lake bottom part take them off and toss them up on shore. Works. No wetsuit strippers here.
BIKE
This is the second race where I tried it with no socks, and it was fine. In fact, my feet felt kinda breezy. Now, of course, I'll be putting my bike shoes out into the sun to destank.
On the Olympic, there's no aid station on the bike except for the one just as you leave transition. The thing about this race is, there's abundant supplies. Water, gatorade, etc., but you have to carry them with you. In face, your race packet even includes a couple energy bars, Gatorade endurance formula, e-caps, and a gel. You just have to make sure you get the supplies and carry them with you. Which I did. The bike is somewhat challenging, but the road is in good shape with a nice wide shoulder. No potties. I put two bot
tles onto my flatwing and took off.I'll let the bike profile do the talking...
RUN
I did the 10K without socks, and it was fine except for the teeny tiny little rocks that found their wayinto my shoe...I'll need a 2nd towel next time for extra food wiping.
On the Olympic, there's two aid stations on the run, but it's an out-and-back so you get to hit aid stations 4 times. More than Adequate. Still, I carried my own stuff with me. I filled up with some water at one. No potties on the run, or in transition either. Accelerade continues to work well for me. I can drink a lot of it without the stomach cramps I usually get if I drink too much of anything else. The run included about a 1-1/2 mile run up a very steep hill. Volunteers at the aid station gave out cold water and gatorade and were extra friendly.
I'll let the annotated run profile do the talking...
RESULTS
I didn't win anything, but I wasn't last. I was nearly last. So there you go. There was no Athena or Clydesdales categories on this race, by the way. This race is a lot of fun, but challenging, especially since it starts out at 6800 feet above sea level and climbs. the weather was GORGEOUS today, and after I was done I had some muffins, oranges, and a cold beer. Then I sat in the cool shade and waited for Sweet Baboo.
All in all, a nicely done race. I recommend it! It's got beautiful scenery, not too much traffic nice roads with wide shoulders. My only change would be to somehow put some port-a-johns out on the course. The race director is friendly and enthusiastic and very hands-on. This is the 23rd year they've done this race, and it shows.
