A blog about triathlon, running, and other endurance stuff I like to do

This race was a few months ago but I’m trying to catch-up and do a quick race report.

Determined to get a great position in the bike transition area I got up extra early and decided I’d be parked, ready to go when the race director opened the transition area.  That meant I’d need to arrive at KOFPC slightly before 6 a.m.  As I headed out the door it wasn’t looking good.  I’d been watching weather forecasts all week and they had been getting progressively worse.  About 15 minutes after leaving home I was driving through heavy SNOW fall!  Fortunately the snow only lasted for a few miles and then it was back to just wet roads.  Thirty minutes later, as I neared the event venue, I exited the freeway.  Now, again, I was back in the snow and here the snow had accumulated on the ground.  Probably 6″ to 8″ of heavy, wet spring-time snow.

According to plan I was about the 2nd or 3rd person in the transition area.  I setup my things and threw a big blanket over everything in an attempt to keep them somewhat dry.

After taking care of check-in, timing chip pickup, etc. I had some time to just sit around and wait.  I talked with the race volunteers and there were suggestions that the bike portion of the race might be cancelled.  I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

The race directory finally had to make a tough call and she cancelled the bike portion; improvising she added a 2nd swim portion and a short, 2nd run section.  The race now boiled-down to this: 200yd swim, 5k run, 200yd swim, and a few hundred yard run from the pool over the the finish line.  It was a disappointing change but in hind-sight it was a good call; the bike course is fast and has several sharp turns and railroad crossings.  Crossing the tracks when they are wet would have surely caused many accidents.

The change-up of the course caused me to loose some of my advantage… feeling like the swim was too short and it was mostly a running race; my run isn’t currently my strength!  However, the last-minute change made the race exciting in a way and was great for making you “think on your feet”

This is the second year I’ve done this race and I’ve really enjoyed both times.  I’ll probably make it a tradition and see what Mother Nature throws at us next year!

In the end I was pretty happy with my results.  3rd in age group and 20th overall.

Filed under: Races