Back at it on a short course

Well, it was not the Ironman at Lake Placid, but I did compete in and FINISH the Wildwood Triathlon on Saturday, August 18.  The race was the day before my 40th birthday, so I was looking to have a good race.

The start was delayed 30 minutes due to the weather.  Those of you who were at the shore on Saturday morning know that it rained like hell for 45 minutes from 6:30-7:15am.  This meant all you gear was in water...not the best way to start a race.  It also meant the swim would be rough and the bike course would be slow because of the wet road.  

I will say that Stephen Del Monte, the Race Director, is great.  There were over 40 guards in the water for the swim, each intersection of the bike (about 40 intersections) was manned with 4-6 volunteers, and the run portion along the boardwalk had 2 volunteers at each intersection (about 30 intersections).  This was my 3rd Wildwood Triathlon, and 4th event run by Stephen.  He puts on a great show at a great price with good SWAG.  Safety is his first concern, hence the delay at the swim.  He keeps it light and reminds everyone to take it easy out on the course...it is not the Olympics.  I'll be at the Atlantic City Triathlon on September 15, so hopefully no rain or storm...last year the swim was cancelled after I went in the water.

Any one who complained about the event has problems and needs help.  Who cares it rained and your gear got wet.  The first portion of a triathlon is a swim, so you get wet anyway.  After the swim, you put on bike shoes as you drip with ocean water, so your shoes would probably get wet anyway.  During the bike portion, the sun started to come out and it was a nice blue sky the rest of the day.  The bike is 4 loops of Central Ave, so it gets a little tight and crowded at points.  There are even the new triathletes who ride 4-wide sometimes with buddies, but they are just getting started, just like I did 3 years ago, so I yell "On your left" and pass with a nod of the head.  Not everyone is as accomplished, but that is what makes a local sprint race fun, if you have the right attitude.  On my last loop, I tried to yell "Thanks" to as many volunteers as I could since they went through the same rain I did.

By the time the 10 miles on the bike are over the sun is shinning brightly.  I didn't even notice my running shoes were a little wet from the rain since I was sweating from the bike ride anyway.  I was about to run down the Wildwood beach, looking for packed sand at the waters edge...my shoes were going to get soaked anyway, so the rain water didn't bother me.  

The run was nice down the beach for about 1.5 miles, then we turned towards Adventure Pier and run up the ramp, through the Pier and turned north along the boardwalk.  This was a nice change to the course, rather than just a 3.1 mile beach run.  Running along the boardwalk is always fun, especially during the summer with lots of people looking on.  The two times you run onto the other piers were nice and fun, running around all the rides I put my kids on gives you a chance to just breath it all in.  Heading towards the finish line I tried to thank as many volunteers as I could.  I was competing, but they stood in the rain just to give me a safe course.  

I crossed the finish like in 1:11:17...not to bad for a to-be 40 year old.

My final stats:

Finished 25 out of 583--top 4%

5th in my Age Group--I think I won a prize

24th Male--1 lady got me which is OK with me

Next weekend Wildwood Half Marathon--13.1 miles...look for me along the boardwalk and JFK Blvd to those at the shore on August 26th!