Elephant Man - Olympic distance triathlon, Sept 27, 2009

I'm surprised there are no race reports on the blog for this one, as this was its third year and it has been well run and a lot of fun each year. I posted some photos on the photo page, including a couple of John who went down early with Dan in order to get some fun time in on the lake with triathlon newcomer Greg Geoffrion. EB is only about 4 hours away, and packet pickup is till 5:00 (turned out to be 5:30) Saturday, or even 6-7 A race day, Sunday. Lots of Los Alamos racers this year - Frank Cherne, Bill & Cathy Bearden, Chuck Farrar, Karen Young, myself, Greg, Nick Perry & John Tapia & David McCumber (the three of whom drove an RV down and camped on the beach right next to the start). Two other Triatomics competing were Char Latham from Santa Fe and an Albuquerque guy named Mehdi who I met for the first time. Missing: Max Light Jr who had trained for it but got sick last minute, Ben Davis (Frank said he was supposed to be there but neither of us ever saw him), and Clay, who has been the overall winner the past two years but was busy at Best of the US and hasn't figured out how to be in two places at once yet. It was nice to not only see so many familiar faces, but so many familiar hats - lots of Atomic Man hats were in the crowd, as well as a number of Los Alamos Triathlon shirts.

Another gorgeous race day - got too hot towards the end, but no real wind to worry about. And although the lake is reasonably warm, it's still wetsuit legal. The race starts at a very civilized 8:00 AM, and had enough racers to start in 5 waves. The Mountain Collegiate Team Championship was held at the same time, so they got their own wave. Women 54 and younger were in the third wave. It was nice to have people out front to follow - last year we were the first wave, and I must have covered an extra quarter mile just because I am so poor at sighting during the swim. I have been swimming with the masters at lunch one or two days a week this year and it seems to have paid off. I was third or fourth out of the water, although there was a TriSporrts.com friend very nearby. I caught the two girls ahead of me on the bike pretty quickly, but then was just as easily caught by my friend around mile 8. That was OK, she wasn't too far ahead. But then another TriSports.com chick cruised past me like I was standing still and keeping her in sight was difficult. Ah well. The bike course is a nice one - challenging but doable. It is hilly and there is one significant short hill with more uphill grade after it to keep you going. It starts out around the lake so it's pretty, and then you're in desert. My biggest complaint - there is a short section before you turn around over I-25 and start heading back down on a frontage road, that is so rough/bumpy (it's a serious chip-seal surface) that it makes one wish she was back home on SR 4. It was well marked though, with hazards identified well (yes, there are a few cattle guards), and volunteers and cops were at all major intersections. I left transition something like 2:50 behind the leader, and 1:30 minutes behind #2, according to a counting spectator. The run has a sandy start that leads to a sandy uphill. Then you're on old roads that cross two dams, the second one being Elephant Butte Dam that has been closed off to the public since 9/11. This is the only time during the year anyone can cross it. The course is an out and back, that has a few little hills to the turn around. Too far before the turn around, I saw #1 coming at me, and knew that I couldn't catch her, but #2 was within my sights, and I was able to pass her just after the turn around. Then of course you just run like hell and hope she doesn't catch you back. Was able to cheer for lots of people I knew on the way back - always nice to have something to take your mind off the run itself. At least I finally had felt good coming off the bike. This entire season I had not been feeling too fresh off the bike and with heavy legs - this one finally felt right. Crossed the line 2:31:43 after I started - good enough for second overall. (First and third were both 30 years old, and were the only ones under 40 in the top SEVEN women). It was good day for a lot of LA racers - Chuck had a very solid race and came in 2nd in his AG (by a mere 25 seconds!), Nick was 1st and Greg was third in their AG, Char was 2nd in her AG, Karen was 4th in her AG, Frank had a good race (and is losing enough weight to start considering blowing off that Clydesdale category), and Cathy finished strong and wasn't last, which was outstanding.

This is a great race - very well run and supported by the town of Tor C. It capped at 375 racers this year, and there were over 150 volunteers out there supporting it. They have food afterwards and a Beer Tent. And a couple of other large tents set up for people to simply hang out under, as the sun does get hot down there. Look for tarantulas on the run (Greg saw a couple), and rattlesnakes on the bike (I saw a dead one last year). I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun way to end the season, or warm up for championship races that are later in the year.