›Wilmington YMCA Triathlon Race Report

Race date: September 24, 2005
by Oliver Sendall

Well, after saying goodbye and packing up all the things I set out for the big drive back across the country. I took a week to do the whole trip this time so I was able to stop and take in some scenery, but it was still a relief when it was finally over. I arrived home on thursday, only to unpack and repack for the race in Wilmington on Saturday.

When I arrived at packet pickup on Friday night I was greeted at the bike shop by a line about 150 people deep. There were 1100 people in the race and it was a sprint. Despite the line at pick up I was really impressed with how the organizers handled everything, very efficient and professional.

As far as my race went, okay/good, not great, not terrible. I was up at 4:15 on race morning to make the 45 minute drive into Wilmington from where I was staying. The weather was typical for this time of year, not overly not, but plenty of humidity. I was sweating by the time I had lugged all my gear to the transition area, and the sun wasn't even up yet. Got everything set up and ready to go (or so I thought, i'll get to that part later) and caught the shuttle to the swim start. No wet suits here folks, water in the intercoastal waterway was a very bathtub like 84 deg. After a little warm up swim ( not that you needed much of one in that water) and waiting for two waves to start ahead of me, it was time to go.

The swim was 1500m with an incoming tide, it made it faster but not like a 750 like the website claimed. I actually felt pretty good throughout the swim, no lingering affects from my shoulder issue this summer. Out in a little over 22 min. not what I hoped for but acceptable. After a long run
to transition (300m) I hopped on the bike, and thats when the fun started.

About 1/4 mile into the bike the poor girl riding in front of me hit some sort of bump in the road that made back tire some how bounce about 3 feet up in the air. She rode the front wheel some how for about 30 feet before going over the top of the bars. She did make into the grass however and seemed to be okay. After crossing the bridge I was getting ready to pass someone ahead of me ( on the left Alan don't worry) when I was then passed by some guy who was moving along pretty fast. Maybe too fast because for no
reason apparant to me he went down too, but HARD. I looked back as I passed him and some volunteers were on their way to help him out, lots of blood. About this time is when I noticed the mistake I had made earlier when setting up my trasition. Reached for my water bottle and grabbed nothing but
cage, I'm retarded. Quite possibly the dumbest mistake ever. I quit pushing as hard as I might have in fear of completely cramping up in the heat and humidity, and just cruised the rest of the way.

After a decently fast transition where I found my water bottle under my towel I headed out on the run. I was so thankful to be at sea level with not even the slightest hint of a hill in front of me. I started to cramp slightly aobut a mile into the run but was able to hold it together okay. At roughly the two mile mark I was going along pretty well when I saw some ducks spashing in a puddle ahead of me. Expecting them to move I kept going straight at them, when I was about 3 feet away I realized they werent moving
so I tried to shoo them away gently with my foot. Unfortunatly I miscalculated the speed at which my foot was traveling and my proximity to the duck. Poor little guy, he should be okay (I hope). I got some nasty
glares from the race volunteers and fellow racers, whoops. I managed to finish the run in 21 min, which I was happy with.

Despite a dumb mistake and wounded duck I had a good day, finishing in 1:20:18. Good for 105th overall and 12th in my age group. After the race I met up with some friends for some BBQ, sweet tea, hush puppies, beer and college football. That was then followed by one of the friends bachelor party. A very good day indeed.

Thanks to everyone for making my short time in Bend such a great experience.I am going to try my best to make it back for some skiing this winter and the Pacific Crest next summer. Hope to see you all then.

Oliver

 

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